Not a lot of teams have given the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs a scare this season. One of those that did will visit Spokane to threaten Mark Few’s team again, as the Pepperdine Waves look to avenge their loss to Gonzaga earlier this season. Going into the game, NCAAB Futures favor Gonzaga at +900 to win the 2020 Championship. Read on for more about this game.
Betting on the Gonzaga Bulldogs (25-1 Overall / 11-0 Conference)
The Bulldogs forced themselves out of the bed again last Saturday and lectured another team in the West Coast Conference about how close to impossible it is to defeat them in conference play, beating the Saint Mary’s Gaels on the road, 90-60. The margin of victory for the Bulldogs was emblematic of their dominance in the WCC. The Bulldogs’ offense is simply too much for the rest in the conference. They are averaging 88.5 points per game (No. 1 in the nation) and owns the widest average scoring margin per game at plus-21.7. They are shooting 51.7 percent from the field and make 39.7 percent of their 3-point shots. Gonzaga has shown enough to expect that it will get its usual share of points every game the rest of the way in conference play, which Pepperdine can see first-hand again. Gonzaga shot 49.1 percent from the field, albeit with 5-of-18 shooting from deep, in its 75-70 home win over the Waves last Sunday. Forward Killian Tillie led the Bulldogs with 20 points, while three other starters scored in double figures.
The Bulldogs are 6-4 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 games.
Betting on the Pepperdine Waves (13-12 Overall / 6-5 Conference)
The Waves almost had another three-game winning streak, but that was snapped over the weekend in a gut-wrenching 79-78 road loss to the Pacific Tigers. Despite the loss, the game was another example of how good of a scorer Pepperdine guard Colby Ross is. Ross powered the Waves’ offense with a game-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field, while Kameron Edwards chipped in 15 points. The Waves have two of the top five scorers in the WCC in Ross and Edwards. Ross and Edwards are second and third in scoring in the conference, with averages of 19.7 and 17.3 points, respectively. Pepperdine made the Bulldogs sweat in the first meeting between the two teams this season, as he scored 24 points and dished out 10 assists. Edwards had a double-double of 14 pints and 10 rebounds to go with three steals. Pepperdine gets to the free-throw line a lot but only had nine trips there in the Gonzaga game, so that’s something the Waves will have to improve on to get important freebies against the Bulldogs’ defense. Pepperdine is 14th nationally with 16.7 free-throws made per contest.
The over is 3-0-1 in the Waves’ last four home games.
