St. Mary’s vs Pepperdine Prediction 1-2-25 College Basketball Picks

The Pepperdine Waves and the Saint Mary’s Gaels meet on Saturday in college basketball action from the University Credit Union Pavilion. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a St. Mary’s vs Pepperdine Prediction.

Pepperdine Recap

The Pepperdine Waves come into this game looking to bounce back after dropping to 6-9 on the year thanks to an 89-82 loss to Gonzaga last time out. After this game, the Waves will meet Pacific and Loyola Marymount.

Waves Drop Back-To-Back Games

Stefan Todorovic has 19.5 PPG to lead Pepperdine in scoring along with 5.5 RPG and 2.3 APG while Moe Odum has 12.9 PPG with a team-high 7.5 RPG to lead Pepperdine in assists as the only other double-digit scorer for Pepperdine up to this point in the year. Boubacar Coulibaly has 9.5 PPG with 7.3 RPG while Dovydas Butka has 8 PPG with a team-high 7.6 RPG to lead the Waves in rebounding so far this season. As a team, Pepperdine is averaging 75.7 PPG on 46.2% shooting from the field, 34.6% from behind the arc, and 73.5% from the foul line this season.

Saint Mary’s Recap

The Saint Mary’s Gaels come into this game looking for another W after ending up with a 70-60 win over Pacific last time out to improve to 11-3 on the year. After this game, Saint Mary’s will head on the road to take on the Portland Pilots.

Gaels Looking To Find Some Consistency

Augustas Marciulionis leads the Gaels in scoring and assists with 14.2 PPG and 6.4 APG while Paulius Murauskas has 13.4 PPG and 8.9 RPG to lead the Gaels on the glass this season. Luke Barrett has 11.1 PPG with 7.4 RPG and Mitchell Saxen has 10 PPG with 7.6 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Saint Mary’s up to this point in the year. Mikey Lewis has 8.9 PPG as well on the year. As a team, Saint Mary’s is averaging 74.9 PPG on 44.9% shooting from the field, 32.5% from three, and 66.6% from the foul line this season.

Why the Saint Mary’s Gaels will win

• Saint Mary’s has won each of its last 16 night games at University Credit Union Pavilion against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Pepperdine has lost each of its last six games at University Credit Union Pavilion.

Total Points Facts

• Each of Pepperdine’s last five games against non-AP-ranked opponents at University Credit Union Pavilion have produced a total of 138 or fewer points.
• Six of the last seven games between Pepperdine and Saint Mary’s have produced a total of 140 or fewer points.

St. Mary’s vs Pepperdine Prediction

I’m on Pepperdine in this one. If you look at past results, you’d probably jump on Saint Mary’s in a heartbeat, and I don’t blame you one bit. However, this just doesn’t feel like the same Gaels team that we’ve seen from Randy Bennett in past seasons, as the defense is there, but they’re not as dominant in winning games with defense. I mean, Saint Mary’s has owned Pacific over the years and let the Tigers hang around for a lot of the second half in that last game and only managed to win by 10 points against Pacific. Pepperdine’s gone toe-to-toe with Gonzaga and Santa Clara through their first two conference games, and those are two teams I have as finishing in the top 4 in the WCC at year’s end. I think Pepperdine will be competitive here as well, and this is just a case of too many points. Give me the Gaels.