CBI Picks: Pepperdine vs Longwood 3/22/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Pepperdine Waves face the Longwood Lancers Monday in college basketball CBI action from Ocean Center. 

Coming into this CBI Tournament matchup, Longwood is sitting at 12-16 this year. The Lancers are 1-2 in their last three and coming off a loss to Winthrop. As for Pepperdine, they’re 12-12 this season. The Waves are 2-1 in the last three and fell to BYU in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Longwood began their year on an ugly skid, going 3-13 over their first 16 games. The good news is that the Lancers closed out strong, and have won nine of their last 12 outings. In their last game on March 4, Longwood fell to Winthrop in blowout fashion, however. 

In the 82-61 Big South Tournament loss to Winthrop, Longwood’s Juan Munoz led the team with 17 points, two assists and one rebound. DeShaun Wade added 12 points with five boards and one assist for the Lancers in that one as well. 

Over on the Pepperdine side, they’ve had a few nice streaks this season, but overall have struggled with staying consistent. The Waves are 2-4 in their last six games, beating Santa Clara and San Diego while otherwise falling to Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s, LMU and BYU in that stretch. 

In the 82-77 overtime loss to BYU in the West Coast Tournament, Pepperdine’s Kessler Edwards led the way on 20 points with nine rebounds and five assists. Colbey Ross added 16 points with six rebounds, and Jade Smith had 15 points with eight boards. 

The Lancers are 5-1 ATS in their last six as an underdog and 4-0 ATS in the last four after an ATS loss. Longwood is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 overall and 12-5 ATS in their last 17 neutral-site games. 

Meanwhile, the Waves are 6-1 ATS in their last seven after a straight-up loss and 5-1-1 ATS in their last seven neutral-site games. Pepperdine is 4-1 ATS in the last five overall and the over is 6-1 in their last seven neutral-site games.

PICK: I’m going with Pepperdine. The Waves pushed a good BYU team to the absolute brink in their last game, sticking with the Cougars the whole time before faltering in the extra period. Pepperdine shot a decent 40.3 percent in that one but was out-rebounded 45-34. Longwood is a pretty good scoring team so the total on this one should be on the high side. I like the Waves to ultimately outlast the Lancers and bang out a cover, though.