Pepperdine Waves Vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs 2/4/12: Mitch’s Free College Basketball Pick Against the Spread Written by Mitch on February 4, 2012
Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-4) at Pepperdine Waves (8-14)
College Basketball: Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 10:00 pm (Firestone Fieldhouse) Get Tickets
The Line: Pepperdine Waves +13 — Over/Under: 124.5 See The Latest Odds
Root
Check out Our Best Bets And Picks From Top Handicappers At Sports Chat Place Premium
The Pepperdine Waves and Gonzaga Bulldogs meet on Saturday in West Coast Conference action.
The Pepperdine Waves are struggling and while Marty Wilson’s team won last time out they have lost eight of their last nine games. Pepperdine is 2-9 in the WCC, 5-5 at home this year, and in eighth place in the conference standings. Taylor Darby is averaging 12.1 points and 6.0 rebounds, Corbin Moore is averaging 9.5 points and 8.8 rebounds, and Joshua Lowery is averaging 8.9 points. As a team Pepperdine is averaging 59 points and they are shooting 39.3 percent while defensively they are allowing 63.8 points and their opponents are shooting 42.1 percent. Pepperdine lost by 28 in their earlier trip to Gonzaga.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs looked like they had a chance to run out the rest of their schedule and set up a showdown game down the road with St. Mary’s but Mark Few’s team fell flat at BYU on Thursday. Gonzaga is 7-2 in WCC play, 3-3 on the road this year, and they are in second place in the conference standings. Elias Harris is averaging 13.3 points and 7.9 rebounds, Kevin Pangos is averaging 12.9 points, and Robert Sacre is averaging 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. As a team the Zags are averaging 73.8 points and their opponents are shooting 46.1 percent while defensively they are allowing 63.7 points and their opponents are shooting 42.1 percent. Gonzaga should be part of March Madness but the loss at BYU showed them areas where they will need to improve.
Pepperdine is 3-7 against the spread in their last 10 games overall, 2-7 against the spread as an underdog, and 2-5 against the spread against a team with a winning record. Gonzaga is 0-5 against the spread following a game which they didn’t cover, 0-4 against the spread in their last four road games, and 7-2 against the spread against a team with a losing record. The road team has covered in four of the last five meetings of these two.
As big as a double digit line in favor of the road team is it doesn’t look like it’s big enough for Pepperdine here as while they would love to get revenge for the earlier beat down they don’t have the firepower to do so.
