The Pepperdine Waves and the UC Davis Aggies meet Thursday in college basketball action from the Pavilion. Both teams are 1-0 so far after victories on opening day. Pepperdine took out Concordia by 12 points, and UC Davis made short work of William Jessup in a blowout win. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Pepperdine Waves 

The Waves are coming off another rotten season in 2022-23, posting a rough 9-22 overall record with a 2-14 mark in West Coast Conference play. That run would leave Pepperdine in dead last place among the standings. The Waves were bounced in the first round of the WCC Tournament versus Pacific to end their season for good. 

Pepperdine got off to a nice start in their opener versus Concordia. The Waves were down by five points at halftime but responded with 51 points from there in a comeback win 76-64. Leading the way was Houston Mallette with 26 points and three rebounds, while Malik Moore added 16 points and five boards. Ethan Anderson finished with 12 points as well. 

UC Davis Aggies 

Over on the UC Davis side, they managed to power out an 18-14 overall record last season and a 11-8 run in Big West play. The Aggies ended up in sixth place with that effort, but their tournament run was cut very short. UC Davis lost to UC Riverside 68-52 in the first round of the conference tourney. 

The Aggies also posted a victory in their first game of the year versus an overmatched opponent. UC Davis scored 50 second-half points against William Jessup on the way to an 86-51 win. Elijah Pepper was the team’s top scorer with his 21 points and six rebounds. Ade Adebayo (14 points; six rebounds) and Francesco Borra (12 points) also scored in double-figures. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to stay with UC Davis. The Aggies started a bit slow in their opener on Monday but eventually posted some pretty solid stats. UC Davis finished with 45 percent shooting in the win with a 52-34 rebounding advantage and 17 team assists. The bad news is that UC Davis coughed up 23 turnover and shot a tepid 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from 3-point range. 

As for Pepperdine, they didn’t exactly dominate against Concordia in their first game, allowing 51.1 percent shooting from the field. The Waves didn’t shoot too badly themselves (43.1 percent) and collected 36 rebounds. UC Davis is going to mark a stiff uptick in competition though, and I don’t think Pepperdine will keep pace.