Pepperdine Waves vs Santa Clara Broncos Prediction, 12/28/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pepperdine Waves vs Santa Clara Broncos

Date: Saturday, December 28, 2024

Location: Leavey Center in Santa Clara, CA

TV: ESPN+

The Pepperdine Waves (6-7) are en route to Leavey Center on Saturday where they will try to defeat the Santa Clara Broncos (8-5).

The Pepperdine Waves played UC Davis and earned the victory with a final of 85-46 in their last game. When discussing fouls, the Waves finished with 21 while UC Davis accumulated 17 fouls. They buried 1 of 15 shots from beyond the arc. UC Davis finished shooting 73.9% at the charity stripe by making 17 of 23 tries. In addition, UC Davis totaled 25 rebounds (8 offensive, 17 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. UC Davis doled out 5 dimes and had 6 steals in the matchup. In terms of the defense, Pepperdine allowed 28.0% from the field on 14 of 50 shooting. They also doled out 18 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 17 turnovers and earning 9 steals. When discussing getting rebounds, they collected 38 with 9 of them being offensive. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Waves knocked down 13 of 23 shots for a percentage of 56.5%. Pepperdine finished the game with a 51.6% field goal percentage (32 out of 62) and converted 8 of 21 3-point attempts.

Dovydas Butka is a guy who was a major contributor in the matchup. He finished the game at 63.6% from the floor and totaled 3 dimes. He was on the hardwood for 27 minutes and also grabbed 10 boards. He accounted for 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting.

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Pepperdine comes into this contest with a win-loss record of 6-7 for the season. They are averaging 74.8 points per contest (204th in Division 1) on 46.2% from the field. The Waves are connecting on 35.0% on three-point attempts (90 of 257) and 71.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Pepperdine is snagging 38.0 boards per contest and has earned 217 dimes on the season, which has them ranked 36th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They are giving up possession 11.8 times per contest and as a team they are committing 16.7 personal fouls per game.

On defense, the Waves are forcing 11.2 turnovers per game while drawing 17.3 personal fouls. They give up 31.3% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 154th in college in points per game allowed (70.1). The Waves defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 41.0% (320 of 780) and they concede 34.2 boards per game as a squad. They rank 110th in the country in giving up assists with 145 surrendered for the campaign.

In their last game, the Santa Clara Broncos got the victory with a final of 98-81 when they played South Dakota. Concerning rebounding, Santa Clara allowed South Dakota to get 33 overall (11 on the offensive side). They finished the game shooting 23.8% from distance by connecting on 5 out of 21 and ended up shooting 16 out of 22 from the free throw line (72.7%). The Broncos allowed South Dakota to make 30 out of 70 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 42.9% for the game. When all was said and done, the Broncos shot 39 for 74 from the floor which gave them a rate of 52.7%. When discussing shots from 3-point land, Santa Clara made 13 out of 34 tries (38.2%). They were able to convert 7 of those for a percentage of 63.6%. South Dakota committed 13 personal fouls in this contest which took the Broncos to the free throw line for a total of 11 attempts. They gave up possession 13 times, while getting 3 steals for the game. The Broncos snagged 29 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds totaling 44 in this contest.

Adama Bal was important for the Broncos for this contest. He made 8 out of 13 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 61.5%, and had 5 rebounds. He accumulated 20 points in his 31 minutes on the court and added 5 assists for this game.

Santa Clara has a record of 8-5 for the campaign. The Broncos are committing 17.5 fouls every game and they shoot 75.4% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 16.0 times per game (77th in D-1) and they turn the ball over 12.6 times per contest. Santa Clara has 1,032 points so far this season (79.4 per contest) and they grab 38.9 boards per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Broncos are shooting 45.0% from the field, which is 185th in the nation.

The Broncos on the defensive side of the court are 221st in college in PPG given up with 72.8. They are forcing their opponents into 12.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 42.7% from the floor (157th in the country). The Santa Clara defense surrenders 33.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter (103 of 310) and their opponents are making 68.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 13.9 assists and 34.8 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 245th and 207th in those categories.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Santa Clara

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