Pepperdine (+1.5) at UC Irvine - 7:00pm Pacific

Not much has gone right for the Waves since their big home win over Colorado.  In their next three games the score was tied with 30 seconds or less left to play and in each game they ended up losing.  The first game of the nightmare stretch came at Big 12 foe Oklahoma State no less.  They actually held a lead late in the game but lost by 2 on a pair of free throws.  That loss had to have some carryover effect as they inexplicably lost to CS-Fullerton in another tight game at home two days later.  They then traveled on the road again to play a good UCSB team and again held a lead late in the game only to lose on a three pointer at the buzzer.  They rebounded with back to back double digit wins vs Long Beach State and at Lipscomb before falling on the road at Maryland on Sunday.  The Waves actually led Maryland 14-11 at the 13:00 minute mark of the first half before leading scorer and rebounder Glen McGowan, who had 9 of teams 14 points at the time and finished with 36, was forced to sit down with two early fouls.  Maryland immediately went on a 15-4 run and never looked back.  It was the first game all season that Pepperdine was not competitive in.

 

The Waves have loads of talent and can score points with the best of teams.  Their key weaknesses have been rebounding, stretches of uninspired play, and defensive lapses.  They have played one of the toughest schedules in the country.  Oklahoma State, Dayton, Colorado, Maryland, and UCSB are all likely to be NCAA tournament teams.  Additionally, they are starting a freshman point guard and adjusting to the return of McGowan who did not play last season.  Center Jesse Pinegar is a first year transfer, junior guard Terrance Johnson is adjusting to his new role of coming off the bench, and Alex Acker is still just a sophomore.  Pepperdine will welcome the eligibility of JC transfer forward Yakhouba Diawara tonight who Westphal has called a potential starter and the teams best defender.  He had to sit out the first 8 games for suspicions that he played professionally in Italy and he may be just what the doctor ordered.  The team spent some extra time in Washington D.C. after Maryland game for some sightseeing.  Perhaps it brought the team closer together.  Once this team does gel, look out.

 

UC Irvine seemingly showed some improvement in their three game road trip to the Bay Area.  They lost by only 8 to Cal, but I feel that was more due to the Bears playing poorly.  They did get a quality win over Princeton by 2 points and beat a winless Arkansas-Monticello team.  The combined record of the four teams (Ohio, San Diego, Princeton, Ark-Monticello) they have beaten is 8-20.  Irvine has some rebounding issues of their own as they come in with a -0.3 rebounding margin and a guard, Jeff Gloger, is the teams leading rebounder.  They also have had turnover woes averaging 17.0 per game.  This bodes well for Pepperdine as they will have a good opportunity to turn around their rebounding struggles and they are adept at forcing turnovers. 

 

Pepperdine is a much more talented, much more athletic, and much quicker basketball team.  Their difficult schedule has them far more seasoned and any team that can take both Oklahoma State and UCSB down to the wire on the road, is capable of winning at Irvine.  UCI games rarely attract much attention, even with their recent years of success.  With students on break, it being a week before Christmas, and a sub .500 Pepperdine team coming in, I am expecting very light attendance.  At least a handful of hard-core Pepperdine fans should make the trip and make their presence felt.  Pepperdine fully intends to still be an NCAA tournament team this year.  They better start winning games.  UCI stole one at Pepperdine 74-69 last season and revenge is in order tonight.

 

Pepperdine  1 UNIT