Pepperdine Waves vs Santa Clara Broncos Prediction, 1/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pepperdine Waves vs Santa Clara Broncos

Date: Friday, January 2, 2026

Location: Leavey Center in Santa Clara, CA

TV: ESPN+

The Pepperdine Waves (5-9) are hitting the road to Leavey Center on Friday where they will take on the Santa Clara Broncos (10-4).

The Pepperdine Waves played Gonzaga and took a loss by a score of 96-56 in their last game. Pepperdine ended the game having earned a 33.9% field goal percentage (19 of 56) and buried 5 out of their 19 three-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Waves knocked down 13 of 20 tries for a percentage of 65.0%. Concerning hauling in rebounds, they collected 30 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 11 assists in the game as well as creating 9 turnovers and getting 6 steals. Pertaining to defense, Pepperdine allowed the other team to shoot 53.7% from the field on 36 of 67 shooting. Gonzaga recorded 21 dimes and had 8 steals in this game. On top of that, Gonzaga collected 42 boards (13 offensive, 29 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Gonzaga ended up going 73.7% at the free throw line by knocking down 14 of their 19 shots. They made 10 out of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc. When discussing personal fouls, the Waves walked away with 13 and Gonzaga recorded 21 personal fouls.

Yonatan Levy is a player who played a role for this contest. He ended up going 50.0% from the field but finished the game without an assist. He saw the court for 27 minutes and also grabbed 6 boards. He was able to score 15 points on 3 out of 6 shooting.

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Pepperdine heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 5-9 for the campaign. They are turning it over 13.2 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 15.4 fouls per contest. As a unit, Pepperdine is collecting 35.7 rebounds per game and has tallied 201 dimes so far this year, which ranks 122nd in the country in terms of passing. The Waves are shooting 31.4% on shots from 3-point land (101 of 322) and 77.4% from the free throw line. They have an average of 73.1 points per contest (280th in college hoops) while hitting 43.7% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Waves are able to force 11.4 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.4 fouls. They currently rank 299th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 200 surrendered for the season. The Waves defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 44.3% (377 of 851) and they surrender 33.4 boards per game as a team. They give up 33.8% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 237th in college hoops in points per game allowed (75.4).

In their last game, the Santa Clara Broncos went home victorious with a score of 102-64 when they faced Oregon State. When discussing how they rebounded, Santa Clara allowed Oregon State to grab 19 in total (8 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 42.3% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 11 out of 26 and walked away from this one shooting 17 out of 27 at the free throw line (63.0%). The Broncos permitted Oregon State to convert 18 out of 49 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 36.7% for this contest. Overall, the Broncos shot 35 for 55 from the field which gave them a percentage of 63.6%. With respect to shots from distance, Santa Clara converted 15 out of their 27 tries (55.6%). They were able to convert 17 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 70.8%. Oregon State was called for 18 personal fouls for this contest which took the Broncos to the charity stripe for 24 tries. They turned the ball over 8 times, while recording 12 steals in this contest. The Broncos recorded 24 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards for a total of 30 in this matchup.

Elijah Mahi ended up being a factor for the Broncos for this game. He recorded 23 points in his 27 minutes on the court and accumulated 2 assists for the contest. He made 8 out of 13 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 61.5%, and had 6 rebounds.

Santa Clara has a mark of 10-4 on the campaign. The Broncos have committed 20.1 fouls per contest and they go 68.8% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 18.4 times per contest (34th in the country) and they turn it over 11.9 times per game. Santa Clara has totaled 1,130 points for the year (80.7 per game) and they grab 37.0 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Broncos are hitting on 45.7% from the floor, which ranks them 176th in college.

The Broncos on the defensive end are ranked 102nd in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 69.9. They are forcing their opponents into 14.2 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 43.0% from the floor (163rd in college). The Santa Clara defense concedes 31.9% on three-point shots (95 of 298) and opponents are making 75.0% of their foul shots. They have allowed 14.2 assists and 31.4 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 240th and 57th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Santa Clara

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