The best team in the nation in the form of the Gonzaga Bulldogs meet the worst team in the WCC in the Pepperdine Waves this coming Wednesday in a David vs. Goliath setup. Check out our preview below of this Gonzaga-Pepperdine WCC college basketball matchup in Malibu.
No one is stopping Gonzaga in the WCC, unless a miracle happens. The Bulldogs collected their 10th consecutive win in conference play last Saturday by defeating the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Spokane, 74-58. Part of Gonzaga’s long list of WCC victims this season is Pepperdine, which the Bulldogs peppered with points nonstop in a 117-83 home win back in January. In that game, Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme sleepwalked their way to 18 easy points apiece, while Anton Watson came off the bench and fired 19 points. There’s nothing to stop people from believing that Gonzaga is about to do that again to the Waves, who only have a single win in 11 games in conference play and is greatly outmatched on both ends of the field by Gonzaga.
Gonzaga, which leads the nation in scoring with 90.0 points per game, is 7-2-1 against the spread in its last 10 outings.
Pepperdine is getting showered with losses in WCC play, but that’s not going to stop the Waves from trying. In their most recent outing, the Waves fell prey to the BYU Cougars at home, 91-85. Pepperdine showed competitiveness in that game, and while the team was not rewarded with a win for that, the Waves managed to cover the spread as 12.5-point underdogs at home. The Waves are also 2-1 against the spread in their last three games. Defensively, Pepperdine is not going to do much about Gonzaga, but the Waves might bring just enough to the table this Wednesday on offense. Against BYU, Pepperdine shot 58.9 percent from the field and went 10/23 from behind the arc. Houston Mallette and Jan Zidek scored 31 and 20 points, respectively. Mallette had 21 points in the loss to Gonzaga, while Zidek put up 16. If those two keep it up, Mike Mitchell Jr. produces nicely again (had 16 vs. Gonzaga), and the Waves go crazy on their threes, the Waves could at least be able to cover the spread.
The Over is 4-1 in Pepperdine’s last five games overall.
