The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks and the Pepperdine Waves meet Saturday in college basketball action from Firestone Fieldhouse. Southeast Missouri State sits at 5-6 this year. The Redhawks are coming off a loss to Southern Illinois. As for Pepperdine, they’re 4-8. The Waves took out Alabama State in their last matchup. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Southeast Missouri State posted a 3-3 run over the first six games, beating Missouri State, Missouri Baptist and Incarnate Word along the way. Since then it’s been a 2-3 stretch with losses to Montana State, Fort Wayne and Southern Illinois.
In the Salukis game back on Wednesday, SEMO posted a 29-23 deficit in the first half. The Redhawks fell way behind from there in an eventual 80-55 defeat. Chris Harris led the team on 12 points, while both Eric Reed and Phillip Russell added 10 points apiece.
Over on the Pepperdine side, they lost to Rice, Utah Valley, UC Irvine, Fresno State, TCU, Grand Canyon, Nevada and UC Santa Barbara in their first 10 games. In the last pair the Waves have beaten San Jose State and Alabama State, however.
Matched up against Alabama State, the Waves had a slim two-point lead at the half. Pepperdine went on a 43-28 run from there in a 79-62 win. Houston Mallette finished with 24 points, and Jan Zidek had 16 points with three boards.
The Waves are 4-1 ATS in their last five Saturday games and 4-0 ATS in their last four at home. Pepperdine is 20-9-1 ATS in their last 30 overall.
Meanwhile, the Redhawks are 2-5 ATS in their last seven Saturday games and 0-4 ATS in their last four after an ATS loss. SEMO is 0-5 ATS in their last five road games.
PICK: I’m going to try Pepperdine in this one. The Waves stumbled out of the gate this year but they’ve looked better over the last couple of games. Pepperdine has gotten their offense moving pretty well lately, with 74 or more points in three straight. The Waves are still giving up a ton of points to decent squads, though.
As for SEMO, I think they can hang around in this one if they get off to a good start offensively. The Redhawks have been at 65 points or below in consecutive games, though. Pepperdine seems a better cover option, but I’m probably staying away from this one.