GAME NOTES: The San Diego Toreros challenge the Pepperdine Waves in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 West Coast Conference Tournament on Saturday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

San Diego picked up the fifth seed in the tourney after going 8-10 against conference foes en route to a 15-15 overall mark. The Toreros, who own a 26-25 record in this event over the years and have one title to their credit (2008), enter the postseason mired in a three-game losing streak.

Pepperdine went 17-12 during the regular season, which included a 10-8 league ledger, earning the team the No. 4 seed. The Waves come in having won two of their last three games, and they hoping to increase their record in the WCC Tournament, which stands at 28-24, and break a tie with Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount for the second-most tourney titles (three) by going on a run over the next few days.

This bout marks the 101st meeting between San Diego and Pepperdine, with the Waves owning a 59-41 advantage in the series. The teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season, with each winning on the other's home court.

The winner will advance to face either xxxx or top-seeded Gonzaga in the semifinals on Monday.

Even though it has one of the top scorers in the West Coast Conference on its roster, San Diego is far from an offensive force as it typically puts up 65.3 ppg while shooting a rather pedestrian 42.6 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from 3-point range. The Toreros, who have only one double-digit scorer in Johnny Dee (17.4 ppg), rank third in the league in scoring defense (63.3 ppg), while coming in second in blocked shots (3.9 bpg), steals (6.4 spg) and turnover margin (+1.63). Jito Kok is averaging more than 2.5 blocks per game, and Dee is nearly automatic at the free-throw line (111-of-121, .917 - No. 3 nationally).

Pepperdine's strength is on defense as well, as the team ranks second in the conference with an average yield of 61.5 ppg. No team in the WCC defends the 3-point shot (.257) better than the Waves, and they are No. 2 in overall field goal percentage defense (.411). From an offensive standpoint, the team is netting 64.3 ppg, but knocking down just 31.1 percent of its long-range launches, and it is in the red, albeit marginally, in both rebounding (-0.3) and turnover (-0.3) margin. Stacy Davis and Jett Raines lead the way for the Waves with 15.8 and 11.2 ppg, respectively, with the former also doing a nice job cleaning the glass with his 7.9 rpg.

Neither team is going to give any ground to the other as each attempts to dial up the defense. In what will almost certainly be a low-scoring affair, the nod goes to the Waves.