It will be a battle between West Coast opponents when the Portland Pilots (7-7) welcome the Pepperdine Waves (7-5) to Earle A. Chiles Center. The game starts at 9:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Dec. 23 and will air on ESU and ES3.
The Pilots easily got past Loyola Marymount 87-60 on Monday. Bryce Pressley led all scorers on the team with 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting. The Waves, meanwhile, are coming off a deflating 99-73 loss at the hands of Gonzaga on Monday. Jeremy Major had a team-high 21 points.
Portland is a small two-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 142 points. The Pilots are looking to improve on their records of 7-7 Straight Up (SU) and 5-6 Against The Spread (ATS). The Pilots are 48th in the country in steals with 8.0 per game.
On the other side, the Waves head into the game with records of 4-7 ATS and 7-5 SU.
This game marks the first time these teams will play this season. The last time Portland and Pepperdine played, Portland won, but Pepperdine still leads the head-to-head record over their most recent games, 6-4 SU. The teams have an even record ATS, 5-5. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers, neither team was able to hold the advantage in all three of these categories over their past five meetings against one another.
Predictions: SU Winner – Por, ATS Winner – Por, O/U – Over
Notes
Portland is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Pepperdine.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Portland’s last 6 games when playing Pepperdine.
Portland is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Pepperdine.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games when playing at home against Pepperdine.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pepperdine’s last 5 games when playing on the road against Portland.
Portland averages 78.1 points per game (ranked 96th). Pepperdine, on the other hand, allows 67.6 points per game (ranked 104th).
On average, Portland has 74.1 possessions per game and scores 1.054 points on each possession. Pepperdine has both fewer possessions (68.7) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.038).
Portland has an average effective field goal percentage of 50.9%. Pepperdine is a losing 1-3 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, Portland attempts 26.0 three pointers and Pepperdine attempts 15.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Portland Pilots are 7-6 while the Pepperdine Waves have a winning 2-1 record.
Portland, the 92nd-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.4 per game. Pepperdine does worse, ranked 188th with 3.3.
On average, Portland makes 8.0 steals per game. Pepperdine is a losing 1-2 when it gives up at least 8 steals.
