San Diego vs Pepperdine 3/3/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The 10-seed Pepperdine Waves and 7-seed San Diego Toreros will face off at Orleans Arena this Thursday night in the 1^st round of the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The Pepperdine Waves finished their regular season with an overall record of 7-23 and earned the 10-seed in the West Coast Conference Championship after finishing conference play with a 1-14 record. Pepperdine struggled on both ends of the court as the Waves come into this matchup ranked just 242^nd in scoring offense, 331^st in scoring defense, & 326^th in defensive FG%. Pepperdine struggled throughout the season, especially on the road where they posted an 0-13 record and was able to pick their only conference win in a 70-64 victory at home against Pacific.

On the season, Pepperdine is averaging 68.3 ppg on 41.8% shooting from the field. The Waves are averaging 7.4 three-pointers per game on 34.1% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Pepperdine has been led by Houston Mallette (13.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.9 apg), Jaz Zidek (13.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg), Mike Mitchell Jr. (9.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.0 spg), & Jade’ Smith (8.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.6 apg).

Defensively, Pepperdine is allowing their opponents to average 77.6 ppg on 46.5% shooting from the field. The Waves have a rebound margin of -3.5 and a turnover margin of -1.5.

The San Diego Toreros finished their regular season with an overall record of 14-15 and earned the 7-seed in the West Coast Conference Championship after finishing conference play with a 7-9 record. San Diego was led by their defense which ranks 117^th in scoring defense, however, struggled on the offensive end as the Toreros come into this game ranked just 297^th in scoring offense & 235^th in FG%. San Diego went 7-6 in their non-conference schedule with a win at Nevada and started conference play winning 6 of first 9 games, however, the Toreros struggled down the stretch and come into this game losing 6 of their last 7 games.  

On the season, San Diego is averaging 65.9 ppg on 43.1% shooting from the field. The Toreros are averaging 5.5 three-pointers per game on 33.9% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, San Diego has been led by Marcellus Earlington (13.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.1 apg), Jase Townsend (11.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.9 apg), Terrell Brown (8.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.7 bpg), & Joey Calcaterra (8.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.3 apg).

Defensively, San Diego is allowing their opponents to average 67.1 ppg on 43.7% shooting from the field. The Toreros have a rebound margin of 0.7 and a turnover margin of -1.4.

The Waves are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up loss & 18-6-2 ATS in their last 26 neutral stie games. The Toreros are 0-6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall & 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games.

San Diego was able to win both their games vs. Pepperdine as the Toreros won by a 72-62 margin at Pepperdine in early January while defeating Pepperdine by a 64-56 margin at home in late January.

Pepperdine had trouble picking up wins this season, however, the Waves were more competitive down the stretch. San Diego struggled down the stretch this season, which included a recent 32-point loss at Portland, and as I think the Toreros offense could have some trouble in this one, I think Pepperdine keeps this game competitive and do enough with the points to get us a cover. Good Luck!