Pepperdine hosts No. 17 Saint Mary's (CA) after Saxen's 20-point game

Published Feb. 29, 2024 3:42 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Saint Mary's Gaels (23-6, 14-0 WCC) at Pepperdine Waves (12-18, 5-10 WCC)

Malibu, California; Thursday, 11 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Gaels -15.5; over/under is 136.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 17 Saint Mary's (CA) takes on the Pepperdine Waves after Mitchell Saxen scored 20 points in Saint Mary's (CA)'s 88-62 victory over the San Diego Toreros.

The Waves have gone 9-7 at home. Pepperdine is eighth in the WCC with 28.2 points per game in the paint led by Jevon Porter averaging 8.0.

The Gaels are 14-0 in conference play. Saint Mary's (CA) has a 3-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

Pepperdine makes 45.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.4 percentage points higher than Saint Mary's (CA) has allowed to its opponents (38.7%). Saint Mary's (CA)'s 46.6% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.4 percentage points lower than Pepperdine has allowed to its opponents (49.0%).

TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Ajayi is averaging 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Waves. Porter is averaging 17.9 points over the last 10 games for Pepperdine.

Saxen is averaging 11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Gaels. Alex Ducas is averaging 3.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Saint Mary's (CA).

LAST 10 GAMES: Waves: 3-7, averaging 74.1 points, 31.1 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 4.3 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.2 points per game.

Gaels: 10-0, averaging 79.0 points, 38.1 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 5.7 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 49.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 57.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.