UC Irvine Anteaters vs Pepperdine Waves Prediction, 11/25/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: UC Irvine Anteaters vs Pepperdine Waves

Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Location: Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: UC Irvine (+2)

The Pepperdine Waves (16-16 last year) play the UC Irvine Anteaters (21-11 last season) at Viejas Arena on Wednesday. UC Irvine opens this game as 2-point underdogs. The O/U has been set at 146.5.

The UC Irvine Anteaters took the court against the Cal State Northridge Matadors and went home with a loss by a final score of 72-70 in their last game of last season. UC Irvine walked away from the contest with a 43.9% field goal percentage (29 out of 66) and knocked down 8 of 22 three-point attempts. When shot from the charity stripe, the Anteaters converted 4 of 7 attempts for a percentage of 57.1%. When it comes to grabbing rebounds, they earned 31 with 13 of them being offensive. They also recorded 18 assists for the contest as well as earning 7 steals and 5 rejections. Regarding defense, UC Irvine allowed 43.9% from the field by shooting 29 of 66. Cal State Northridge dished out 12 assists and 5 steals for the contest. On top of that, the Matadors totaled 27 boards (9 offensive, 18 defensive) and got 5 rejections. Cal State Northridge finished the game shooting 64.7% from the free throw line by converting 11 of their 17 attempts. They made 7 of 14 attempts from three-point range. Eyassu Worku is one guy who played a role for this game. He recorded 8 points on 3 out of 15 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 34 mins and also collected 2 boards. Worku ended up shooting 20.0% from the floor and also distributed 5 dimes. One more player that played big minutes in the matchup for the Anteaters was Brad Greene. He had 11 rebounds and collected 2 dimes. He went 66.7% from the field in this game by connecting on 6-of-9 (14 points). When this game wrapped up, Greene was on the hardwood for 29 minutes.

UC Irvine will take the court after finishing with a record of 21-11 last year. They averaged 74.0 points per contest (102nd in college basketball) on 47.3% from the floor. The Anteaters hit on 35.4% on shots from 3-point land (198 of 559) and 73.9% from the charity stripe. As a unit UC Irvine collected 39.5 rebounds per game and sat with 475 assists last season, which was 34th in D-1 in terms of passing. They turned it over 13.8 times per game and as a team committed 18.4 fouls per game. Defensively the Anteaters forced 11.7 turnovers every game while drawing 16.3 personal fouls. The Anteaters allowed an opponent shooting percentage of 38.8% (708 of 1,827) and they surrendered 30.2 boards per contest as a team. They were 56th in Division 1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 343 relinquished last season. They relinquished 35.0% from beyond the arc and they ranked 62nd in college basketball in points per game allowed (65.2).

For their last game, the Pepperdine Waves took a loss by a final score of 89-82 against the St. Mary's Gaels. The Waves were able to pull down 30 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 35 in the game. They also blocked 7 tries while getting 4 steals in this game. The Gaels were called for 16 fouls in this contest which got the Waves to the free throw line for 17 shots. They were able to convert 14 of the free throws for a percentage of 82.4%. In regard to shots from 3-point land, Pepperdine buried 12 of 25 tries (48.0%). Overall, the Waves walked away from this one shooting 28 out of 63 from the field which had them at 44.4%. The Waves allowed the Gaels to knock down 34 of their 72 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.2% for this contest. They shot 29.6% from three-point range by going 8 of 27 and finished the game at 13 of 19 at the free throw line (68.4%). Concerning how they cleaned up the glass, Pepperdine allowed St. Mary's to snag 37 in total (10 on the offensive glass). Kessler Edwards ended up being a factor for the Waves in the game. He knocked down 8 out of 14 in this contest for a field goal rate of 57.1%, which got him 21 points. Edwards snagged 10 rebounds in his 50 minutes and earned 3 dimes in the matchup. Another guy that was pivotal for Pepperdine was Colbey Ross. He scored 43 points in 47 minutes on the court via 13 of 29 shooting for the matchup. Ross wrapped this one up going 44.8% from the floor as well as earning 5 dimes and 8 total rebounds.

Pepperdine had a mark of 16-16 last season. Pepperdine accounted for 2,441 points last season (76.3 per contest) and they averaged 34.5 boards per game. As an offense the Waves connected on 43.4% from the field, which ranked 190th in Division 1. The Waves committed 18.2 fouls per game and they shot 79.2% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists was at 14.8 times per contest (45th in college hoops) and they turned it over 12.7 times per game. The Waves on the defensive end were ranked 330th in college basketball in PPG allowed with 77.1. The Pepperdine perimeter defense gave up 38.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter (263 of 690) and their opponents converted on 71.5% of their foul shots. They forced 13.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and let teams shoot 45.8% from the floor (312th in Division 1). They relinquished 15.6 assists and 36.0 boards per contest, which was ranked 338th and 245th in those categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Pepperdine (-2)

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