Pepperdine vs Santa Clara 1/5/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Santa Clara Broncos (13-4) vs. Pepperdine Waves (7-8)
January 5, 2023 10:00 pm EDT
The Line: Pepperdine Waves +1.5 / Santa Clara Broncos -1.5; Over/Under: +151
(Get latest betting odds)
The Santa Clara Broncos and the Pepperdine Waves meet in college basketball action from the Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night.
The Santa Clara Broncos will try to bounce back from a 67-64 loss to Saint Mary’s last time out. Brandin Podziemski leads the Broncos in scoring, assists and rebounding with 18.4 PPG, 3.3 APG and 8.5 RPG while Carlos Stewart has 14.8 PPG and Keshawn Justice has 12.2 PPG with 4.1 RPG and 3.1 APG as well to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Santa Clara so far this season. As a team, Santa Clara is averaging 73.4 PPG on 43% shooting from the field, 35.3% from three and 73.6% from the foul line this season.
The Pepperdine Waves will try to bounce back from a 111-88 loss to Gonzaga last time out. Maxwell Lewis leads the Waves in scoring with 19.4 PPG along with 5.9 RPG and 2.9 APG while Houston Mallette has 13.3 PPG with 3.9 RPG and 3.2 APG this season. Mike Mitchell Jr. has 11 PPG with a team-high 4.8 APG to lead the Waves in the assist department. Jevon Porter has 10.5 PPG with a team-high 7.5 RPG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Pepperdine as the Waves’ top rebounder up to this point in the year. As a team, Pepperdine is averaging 78.5 PPG on 47% shooting from the field, 38.1% from three and 69.5% from the foul line this season.
Santa Clara is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Thursday games and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 road games following three or more consecutive home games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall. Pepperdine is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record.
I’ll concede that the Waves have had some defensive issues for much of the season, Granted, playing teams like Gonzaga won’t help, but San Francisco just gave big, bad Gonzaga a game and I think they upend Pepperdine in somewhat of a beatdown. Give me the Waves as they just blow past Pepperdine here.
