Pepperdine Waves (12-19) vs. San Diego Toreros (16-14)
March 8, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: San Diego Toreros +1.5; Over/Under: -
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The Pepperdine Waves and the San Diego Toreros meet Friday in West Coast Tournament college basketball action from Orleans Arena. Let’s get into our Pepperdine vs. San Diego prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Pepperdine Waves
The Waves got off to a shaky 9-10 start this year, then took a rough six-game losing streak from January into February. Pepperdine went 3-3 over the next six outings with wins over LMU, Portland and Pacific alongside losses to Saint Mary’s (twice) and San Francisco in that time.
In Wednesday’s tournament game versus Pacific, the Waves rolled from the opening tip. Pepperdine was up by a ridiculous 56-9 margin by halftime, then hit 46 more points in a 102-43 win. Jevon Porter was tops on the team with 28 points and 11 rebounds alongside three assists.
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San Diego Toreros
Over on the Toreros’ side, they were .500 through 20 games in late January. San Diego hit a 6-1 stretch from there with wins over Portland, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, LMU and Pacific. After losses to Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s and LMU the Toreros bounced back with a win over Pacific in their last outing.
Back on Saturday versus Pacific, the Toreros finished off the regular season with a home win. San Diego was up 45-37 going into the second half, then hit a 36-32 run the rest of the way for a victory 81-69. Deuce Turner topped the team on 30 points with one rebound and one assist.
ANDREW’S FREE PEPPERDINE VS SAN DIEGO PREDICTION
I’ll probably take a stab on San Diego here. The Toreros didn’t have too much trouble with Pacific in their last outing despite an off shooting night with 40.9 percent from the field. The key stat in that one was the Toreros’ 23 points off 13 Tigers turnovers.
The season series here was a split, with the road team bagging a win each time. The most recent game was on January 27: a tight 69-67 San Diego win. The Toreros shot a solid 45.6 percent from the field in that one but posted a dud from 3-point range on just 1-of-15 (6.7 percent). San Diego also notched 13 turnovers in that tight victory. This one’s probably going to be close as well. If the Toreros want to move on they’re going to have to clean up the outside shooting and ball control. Should be a fun matchup regardless.
