Pepperdine takes on Gonzaga in a West Coast Conference matchup Thursday night.
Gonzaga leads the all time series 55-31, and Gonzaga has won a staggering 35 straight matchups against Pepperdine head to head.
Pepperdine is coming off a 72-65 loss at St. Marys on Saturday. Last Saturday (2/9) they beat San Diego 70-67, and last Thursday (2/14) they lost 89-77 at San Francisco.
Gonzaga is coming off a 79-67 win at San Diego on Saturday. Last Saturday (2/9) they beat St. Mary’s 94-46 at home, and last Thursday (2/14) they beat Loyola Marymount 73-60 on the road.
On the season, Pepperdine is 15-10 ATS, 6-6 ATS on the road, and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games. On the season, Gonzaga is 18-9 ATS, 14-3 ATS at home, and 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games.
InterTops have Gonzaga 27.5 point favourites with an O/U total of 158.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
(25-2 overall, 17-0 at home, 12-0 in conference)
Gonzaga averages 90.2 PPG, 39.6 RPG, 18.5 APG, 7.3 SPG, 5.6 BPG, and 10.3 TPG. As a team they shoot 52.8% from the floor, 76.7% from the free throw line, and 37.0% from 3 point range. Defensively they hold teams to 65.2 PPG, 33.0 RPG, 38.4% shooting from the field, and 29.6% shooting from 3 point range.
Rui Hachimura leads the way with 20.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.0 SPG and 0.8 BPG while shooting 60.1% from the field, 75.3% from the free throw line, and 42.3% from 3 point range. Brandon Clarke holds down the paint with 16.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.3 SPG and 3.0 BPG while shooting 68.8/67.2/36.4. Zach Norvell Jr. chips in 15.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.3 SPG and 38.8% shooting from 3. Josh Perkins (10.5 PPG/3.0 RPG/6.8 APG/1.4 SPG/36.2% from 3), Corey Kispert (8.7 PPG/4.0 RPG/1.2 APG/38.9% from 3), Filip Petrusev (7.0 PPG/3.0 RPG/0.6 BPG/54.8% from the field) and Geno Crandall (5.3 PPG/1.7 RPG/2.2 APG/0.8 SPG) are big contributors as well.
Key Injuries
F Killian Tillie (foot) – out
Pepperdine Waves
(12-15 overall, 2-10 on the road, 5-8 in conference)
Pepperdine averages 76.2 PPG, 32.3 RPG, 14.4 APG, 6.7 SPG, 2.6 BPG, and 12.5 TPG. As a team they shoot 44.4% from the field, 75.0% from the free throw line, and 37.6% from 3 point range. Defensively they hold teams to 73.9 PPG, 36.2 RPG, 45.7% shooting from the field, and 33.1% shooting from 3 point range.
Colbey Ross leads the way with 18.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 7.3 APG, and 1.2 SPG while shooting 42.8% from the floor, 85.0% from the free throw line, and 36.1% from 3 point range. Eric Cooper puts up 11.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 0.9 APG and 0.5 SPG while shooting 41.0/82.0/42.3. Kessler Edwards chips in 10.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.0 APG and 1.1 SPG. Jade’ Smith (9.2 PPG/6.2 RPG/1.5 SPG/40.4% from 3), Darnell Dunn (8.4 PPG/3.5 RPG/1.2 APG/40.9% from 3), Andre Ball (3.3 PPG/1.5 RPG/37.5% from 3) and Victor Ohia Obioha (3.3 PPG/1.7 RPG/0.8 BPG/78.1% from the floor) contribute as well.
Key Injuries
F Kameron Edwards (foot) – out
Predictions
Pepperdine misses Kameron Edwards, who was their 2nd leading scorer, providing inside/outside capabilities and was a huge factor on the defensive end, leading them in rebounding as well as being a more than capable defender. In their 2 games without him, they have lost by an average of 9.5 points. Pepperdine is clearly a mid/lower tier team in the WCC, but to be giving them almost 30 points is borderline crazy.
In Gonzaga’s last 10 games, they have been 20+ point favorites ATS in 5 of them, twice at home and 3 times on the road. On the road in those games, they have won by an average of 31.7 PPG (59 points against Santa Clara skews the number) and failed to cover 2 of the 3 games, while the 2 home games they have won by an average of 17 points, failing to cover both times.
Don’t take this the wrong way, Gonzaga is still leagues and bounds better than Pepperdine, to the point where if the number was 18-20 it would be silly not to take them at home. However, laying almost 30 points against a team that can shoot the 3 ball as well as Pepperdine, as well as the fact that Gonzaga has won their last 2 games by 13 points each against comparable competition almost seems incompetent. Not that Gonzaga isn’t capable of blowing this team out, but this number is too high to sway the other way.
Final Pick: Pepperdine Wave (+27.5)