The Pepperdine Waves (4-1), one of the country’s top shooting teams, travel to face the No. 19 UCLA Bruins (3-2) on Wednesday. Pepperdine beat the UC Irvine Anteaters 64-55 at Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday, their third win in a row. Houston Mallette was a top performer with 20 points and eight rebounds.
UCLA lost on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, falling to the Baylor Bears 80-75. Jaylen Clark had 23 points and 10 rebounds in defeat, carrying the team. The Bruins got the win in the last meeting between the teams 107-98 in overtime at Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl in November 2020.
Chris Smith led the Bruins with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. Colbey Ross had 33 points and six rebounds in the loss. The Waves have been led early this season by Maxwell Lewis and Mallette, who are averaging 17.2 and 15.0 points per game, respectively. Meanwhile, Jevon Porter is grabbing 8.8 rebounds per game, and Mike Mitchell Jr. is dishing 5.0 assists.
Clark (16.4 ppg), Tyger Campbell (15.4), and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14.6) have supplied much of the Bruins’ offense. Clark also has pulled down 8.0 rebounds per game, while Campbell has tallied 4.6 assists per game. The Waves are shooting 52.7% from the field, ranking as one of the most accurate field goal shooting teams in the NCAA (14th).
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
UCLA -15.5 (-115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
