Who’s Playing

Pepperdine Waves @ Santa Clara Broncos

Current Records: Pepperdine 6-7, Santa Clara 8-5

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What to Know

Pepperdine has enjoyed a five-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They and the Santa Clara Broncos will face off in a West Coast battle at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Leavey Center. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Pepperdine will head into Saturday’s match on the come-up: they were handed a three-point loss in their last matchup, but they sure didn’t let that happen against UC Davis on Saturday. Pepperdine took their game with ease, bagging an 85-46 win over UC Davis. The oddsmakers were on the Waves’ side, but they didn’t give the squad enough credit as the margin was unexpectedly wide.

Pepperdine got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Dovydas Butka out in front who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaxon Olvera, who went 6 for 8 en route to 15 points plus three steals.

Pepperdine was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as UC Davis only posted five.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Santa Clara). They took down South Dakota 98-81 on Saturday. Winning may never get old, but the Broncos sure are getting used to it with their fifth in a row.

Santa Clara’s win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Adama Bal, who went 8 for 13 en route to 20 points plus five assists and five rebounds. That’s the most assists Bal has posted since back in January. Another player making a difference was Johnny O’Neil, who went 5 for 8 en route to 15 points plus six assists and five rebounds.

Pepperdine has been performing well recently as they’ve won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 6-7 record this season. As for Santa Clara, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-5.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pepperdine has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 38 rebounds per game. However, it’s not like Santa Clara struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 38.9. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we’ll see if one team can grab an edge.

Pepperdine suffered a grim 94-71 defeat to Santa Clara when the teams last played back in January. Can Pepperdine avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.

Series History

Santa Clara has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Pepperdine.

• Jan 25, 2024 – Santa Clara 94 vs. Pepperdine 71
• Jan 06, 2024 – Santa Clara 78 vs. Pepperdine 72
• Feb 23, 2023 – Santa Clara 91 vs. Pepperdine 82
• Jan 05, 2023 – Santa Clara 89 vs. Pepperdine 79
• Feb 24, 2022 – Santa Clara 89 vs. Pepperdine 73
• Mar 06, 2021 – Pepperdine 78 vs. Santa Clara 70
• Feb 20, 2021 – Santa Clara 86 vs. Pepperdine 82
• Mar 06, 2020 – Pepperdine 84 vs. Santa Clara 73
• Feb 06, 2020 – Pepperdine 91 vs. Santa Clara 77
• Jan 23, 2020 – Pepperdine 90 vs. Santa Clara 86