Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
Pepperdine Waves (7-11) vs. BYU Cougars (13-7)
The college basketball betting action goes on with another huge Saturday card, so we are breaking down the West Coast Conference showdown between the Pepperdine Waves and BYU Cougars with the tip-off at 9:00 PM ET.
The Waves head to Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, as 10-point underdogs with a total of 148.5 points. They are winless in three straight meetings with the Cougars, but Pepperdine is 4-0 ATS in its last four dates with BYU.
The Pepperdine Waves (7-11; 5-11 ATS; 0-4 conf.) have only won two of their last 11 games overall. They are riding a five-game losing streak following a 92-89 defeat at San Diego this past Thursday. Also, the Waves haven’t covered the spread in that five-game stretch.
Pepperdine visited the Toreros as a 2.5-point dog. The Waves made 56.3% of their field goals (8-for-21 from deep) but missed 11 of their 20 attempts from the free-throw line. They posted a 15/14 assist-to-turnover ratio while allowing the Toreros to hand out 22 dimes and make 52.9% of their field goals. Freshman forward Jevon Porter led the way for the Waves with 21 points, four rebounds, and three blocks, while sophomore guard Mike Mitchell had 19 points and five assists.
&# 13;
“Watch this move”??@PeppBasketball | #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/rMFcIUSxKe
— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) January 13, 2023
The Waves play at the eighth-fastest pace in the country, tallying 73.3 possessions per 40 minutes. They score 104.2 points per 100 possessions (150th in the country) on 52.1% shooting from inside the arc (138th) and 38.4% from downtown (29th). The Waves’ defense is far away from an elite level and ranks 154th in points allowed per 100 possessions (102.5), 234th in field goal percentage (43.9%), and 267th in free throws allowed per game (19.3). Pepperdine is No. 158 in the NCAA NE T Rankings and No. 148 in the KenPom rankings.