Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Pepperdine Waves Prediction, 2/16/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Pepperdine Waves

Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Location: Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, CA

TV: ESPN2

Firestone Fieldhouse is where the Pepperdine Waves (7-20) will meet the Gonzaga Bulldogs (21-2) on Wednesday.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs faced St. Mary's and earned the victory with a final of 74-58 in their last game. Gonzaga ended the contest with a 54.5% field goal percentage (30 of 55) and knocked down 6 of their 12 three-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Bulldogs made 8 of 13 attempts for a rate of 61.5%. In regard to grabbing rebounds, they earned 34 with 3 of them being offensive. They also dished out 16 assists in this game as well as creating 6 turnovers and earning 5 steals. With regard to defending, Gonzaga allowed the other team to shoot 39.0% from the field on 23 of 59 shooting. St. Mary's recorded 12 dimes and had 3 steals for this game. Additionally, St. Mary's pulled down 26 boards (2 offensive, 24 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. St. Mary's shot 77.8% from the charity stripe by knocking down 7 of their 9 shots. They made 5 out of their 17 attempts from downtown. In reference to fouls, the Bulldogs ended up with 9 and St. Mary's accounted for 13 fouls.

Drew Timme is one player who was a major contributor in the game. He finished with 25 points on 11 out of 16 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 35 mins and also pulled down 8 rebounds. He finished the contest at 68.8% from the field and distributed 5 assists.

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Gonzaga enters this game with a win-loss mark of 21-2 for the season. They are giving up possession 11.8 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 15.3 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Gonzaga is grabbing 42.4 boards per contest and has totaled 439 dimes for the year, which ranks 8th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. The Bulldogs are shooting 38.3% on 3-point shots (201 of 525) and 71.1% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 90.0 points per outing (1st in the nation) while shooting 53.6% from the field.

Defensively, the Bulldogs are forcing 13.0 turnovers every game and they draw 18.3 fouls. They give up 29.1% on 3-pointers and they are 52nd in college basketball in opponents PPG (64.3). The Bulldogs are giving up a shooting percentage of 37.1% (554 of 1,495) and they relinquish 32.9 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They currently rank 17th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 226 relinquished on the year.

The last time they took the court, the Pepperdine Waves took a defeat with a final score of 91-85 when they played BYU. The Waves corralled 13 defensive rebounds and 1 offensive rebounds totaling 14 for the matchup. They also turned it over 9 times, while getting 9 steals in this contest. BYU committed 20 personal fouls for this game which took the Waves to the free throw line for 13 shots. They were able to bury 9 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 69.2%. In reference to three-point shots, Pepperdine made 10 of 23 attempts (43.5%). When the final whistle was blown, the Waves shot 33 for 56 from the field which had them shooting 58.9%. The Waves permitted BYU to make 32 out of 50 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 64.0% for the game. They wrapped up this game 65.2% from 3-point land by shooting 15 of 23 and ended up going 12 of 16 at the charity stripe (75.0%). In the matter of how they rebounded, Pepperdine allowed BYU to grab 26 in total (5 offensive).

Houston Mallette pitched in for the Waves in the matchup. He knocked down 9 out of 11 in this matchup giving him a rate of 81.8%, and earned 2 rebounds. He earned 31 points in his 38 mins of playing time and had 2 assists for this game.

Pepperdine has a mark of 7-20 this year. The Waves are committing 18.2 fouls every game while shooting 72.1% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 14.9 times per game (67th in D-1) and they turn the ball over 15.3 times per game. Pepperdine has 1,844 pts this year (68.3 per game) and they collect 34.9 rebounds per game. As an offensive team, the Waves are shooting 43.0% from the field, which ranks them 241st in the country.

The Pepperdine defense gives up 33.9% on shots from 3-point land (206 of 608) and their opposition knocks down 70.6% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 15.2 dimes and 37.6 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 333rd and 324th in the nation. The Waves on the defensive side of the court are 336th in college basketball in points given up per game with 77.0. They are forcing their opponents into 13.7 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 45.9% from the field (318th in D-1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Pepperdine

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