Gonzaga Bulldogs (11-5, 2-1 WCC) at Pepperdine Waves (9-10, 2-2 WCC)
Malibu, California; Thursday, 10 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Gonzaga visits the Pepperdine Waves after Anton Watson scored 32 points in Gonzaga's 77-76 loss to the Santa Clara Broncos.
The Waves have gone 8-3 in home games. Pepperdine has a 4-9 record against opponents over .500.
The Bulldogs are 2-1 against conference opponents. Gonzaga is the WCC leader with 26.8 defensive rebounds per game led by Watson averaging 5.2.
Pepperdine scores 73.2 points per game, 4.4 more points than the 68.8 Gonzaga gives up. Gonzaga has shot at a 49.7% rate from the field this season, 1.8 percentage points greater than the 47.9% shooting opponents of Pepperdine have averaged.
TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Ajayi is shooting 47.8% and averaging 18.2 points for the Waves. Houston Mallette is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Pepperdine.
Watson is averaging 14.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals for the Bulldogs. Graham Ike is averaging 15.3 points and 7.7 rebounds over the last 10 games for Gonzaga.
LAST 10 GAMES: Waves: 5-5, averaging 71.4 points, 36.3 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.3 points per game.
Bulldogs: 6-4, averaging 85.1 points, 40.3 rebounds, 16.9 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 49.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.2 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
