Pepperdine takes on No. 18 Saint Mary's (CA) for conference showdown

Published Feb. 14, 2024 3:43 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Pepperdine Waves (10-16, 3-8 WCC) at Saint Mary's Gaels (20-6, 11-0 WCC)

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

BOTTOM LINE: No. 18 Saint Mary's (CA) faces Pepperdine in a matchup of WCC teams.

The Gaels have gone 11-3 in home games. Saint Mary's (CA) leads the WCC in team defense, giving up 57.7 points while holding opponents to 38.6% shooting.

The Waves are 3-8 against WCC opponents. Pepperdine has a 7-8 record in games decided by 10 points or more.

Saint Mary's (CA) is shooting 45.6% from the field this season, 2.7 percentage points lower than the 48.3% Pepperdine allows to opponents. Pepperdine averages 6.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.9 more made shots on average than the 4.8 per game Saint Mary's (CA) gives up.

The Gaels and Waves square off Thursday for the first time in WCC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mitchell Saxen is averaging 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Gaels. Aidan Mahaney is averaging 2.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Saint Mary's (CA).

Michael Ajayi is averaging 17.2 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Waves. Jevon Porter is averaging 17.2 points over the last 10 games for Pepperdine.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gaels: 10-0, averaging 76.5 points, 38.0 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 6.5 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 55.1 points per game.

Waves: 3-7, averaging 74.3 points, 31.5 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 5.2 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.6 points.

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