By all accounts, this Pepperdine squad may be the most underrated team in the country. Lets review some fact many are probably unaware of. Pepperdine has won their last 10 games straight up (4th longest winning streak in the Nation) and their last 8 ATS. Over their last 5 games, they have averaged nearly 90 points and have held their opponents to 38% from the field. In their last 10 games, they have held the all-important rebounding advantage in all but 2 contests and have simply overmatched their opponents athletically.
IMO, San Francisco does not stand much of a chance this evening and may only hope to keep it respectable. Aside from the Pepperdine hot streak, the Wave have several other factors working tonight. Pepperdine?s experienced former NBA coach Paul Westphal is going for win #100 as a collegiate coach. I fully expect his players to give a little extra tonight to get this win for him in front of their home crowd. Speaking of home crowds, Pepperdine is an unbelievable 50-8 at home since 1997!!!
Paul Westphal has an extremely deep ball club, with 5 players averaging in double figures and a tremendous amount of depth. As such, they get scoring from all over the floor and use up to 11 players in a game. The Dons on the other hand, barely go 7 deep, which is a huge problem against Pepperdine. Expect San Francisco to not only be fatigued late in the game, but be in foul trouble as well.
San Francisco is a very good team that relies heavily on their frontline for scoring. Unfortunately for them, the Wave have similar size and strength on the defensive end and will have no problems matching up. As a matter of fact, we expect the Pepperdine forwards (6?6? 210 lb. Boomer Brazel and 6?6? 200 lb. Jimmy Miggins) to have their way inside. This will force San Francisco to rely on their backcourt for production and that is not their strength. The Dons guards are only producing 17 points per game combined and that simply will not get it done against this potent Pepperdine team.
Simply put, Pepperdine is playing great basketball right now, holds a distinct home court advantage, has the emotional incentive, and are altogether more talented. They have beaten San Francisco in 6 straight games, 8 of the last 10, and are 4-0 ATS the past 4 meetings. This one has all the markings of a Pepperdine blowout and may be decided by half.
Pepperdine - 11
IMO, San Francisco does not stand much of a chance this evening and may only hope to keep it respectable. Aside from the Pepperdine hot streak, the Wave have several other factors working tonight. Pepperdine?s experienced former NBA coach Paul Westphal is going for win #100 as a collegiate coach. I fully expect his players to give a little extra tonight to get this win for him in front of their home crowd. Speaking of home crowds, Pepperdine is an unbelievable 50-8 at home since 1997!!!
Paul Westphal has an extremely deep ball club, with 5 players averaging in double figures and a tremendous amount of depth. As such, they get scoring from all over the floor and use up to 11 players in a game. The Dons on the other hand, barely go 7 deep, which is a huge problem against Pepperdine. Expect San Francisco to not only be fatigued late in the game, but be in foul trouble as well.
San Francisco is a very good team that relies heavily on their frontline for scoring. Unfortunately for them, the Wave have similar size and strength on the defensive end and will have no problems matching up. As a matter of fact, we expect the Pepperdine forwards (6?6? 210 lb. Boomer Brazel and 6?6? 200 lb. Jimmy Miggins) to have their way inside. This will force San Francisco to rely on their backcourt for production and that is not their strength. The Dons guards are only producing 17 points per game combined and that simply will not get it done against this potent Pepperdine team.
Simply put, Pepperdine is playing great basketball right now, holds a distinct home court advantage, has the emotional incentive, and are altogether more talented. They have beaten San Francisco in 6 straight games, 8 of the last 10, and are 4-0 ATS the past 4 meetings. This one has all the markings of a Pepperdine blowout and may be decided by half.
Pepperdine - 11
