Gonzaga Looking To Get Back Into Win Column Against Pepperdine
The Gonzaga vs Pepperdine Matchup Odds Have Gonzaga Sitting As Heavy Favorites
The Gonzaga Bulldogs are 11-5 and not even ranked this year. It’s been a solid year for both programs. But to Gonzaga’s standards, this isn’t it.
The Bulldogs recently lost to Santa Clara, 77-76, on the road, to go to 2-1 in West Coast Conference play.
Gonzaga has lost to Purdue, Washington, UConn, San Diego State, and Santa Clara. This loss to Santa Clara was the only terrible loss so far this year. However, Gonzaga’s best wins came against USC and Syracuse, both ranked below the top 70 in KenPom.
Meanwhile, they’ll stay on the road to take on the Pepperdine Waves, who have won two straight games in the West Coast Conference. Pepperdine defeated Pacific and San Diego to get on a two-game winning streak.
Still, Pepperdine is 2-2, and one of those losses already came against Gonzaga, who earned an 86-60 win on their home floor earlier in the NCAAB season.
Can Pepperdine show any improvement in their second game against Gonzaga?
Oddsmakers don’t believe so. The Bulldogs are currently -12, with the total at 156.5. The expectation is that Gonzaga earns a blowout. Let
Let’s review the Gonzaga vs Pepperdine matchup odds and decide which side to back in this West Coast Conference matchup.
Bulldogs vs Waves 
Day/Time:
Location: Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, CA
Streaming: Watch Live Sports
Gonzaga vs Pepperdine Matchup Odds
Although Gonzaga is 11-5 on the year, the Bulldogs have gone 6-9 against the spread this season. They’re also 0-2 on the road this year and must hit the road against Pepperdine now.
Meanwhile, the Under has hit in eight of 15 NCAAB games for the Bulldogs this season.
Conversely, Pepperdine is 9-10 straight up and 8-9 against the spread. The Waves have also hit the Over in nine of 17 games this season. Pepperdine is 8-3 at home, but most of their home games have been against weaker opponents analytically.
Pepperdine hasn’t defeated Gonzaga in the last ten games. However, the Waves are 5-5 against the spread when facing Gonzaga in those previous ten games.
On January 4, Gonzaga earned a 26-point win as 20.5-point favorites and covered at home.
Gonzaga Out Of Top 25 For First Time since 2016
The Gonzaga Bulldogs don’t have any massive wins and just lost to Santa Clara on the road on Thursday, January 11.
The Bulldogs have been competitive against top-tier teams. But they haven’t earned any wins. They’ve lost to all four NCAAB teams they played that are ranked in the top 65 via KenPom. That’s typically not how a Gonzaga season looks like.
The Bulldogs are still expected to win the West Coast Conference. With that, they’d be ranked inside the Top 25 with no more pitiful losses. But voters now recognize that Gonzaga isn’t the same team as in recent years.
Pepperdine Hoping For Another Massive Run
To knock off San Diego, Pepperdine used a 17-0 run in six minutes to earn a win on Saturday. That helped them claw out of a 15-point deficit earlier in the game.
Pepperdine had lost 29 games on the road until that win against San Diego. But while Pepperdine has played better basketball, they can’t even think about trailing by double-digits in this game against Gonzaga if they want to win outright.
Gonzaga’s Statement Game
If you’re Gonzaga, you’re embarrassed. This is the first time the program hasn’t been ranked in the top 25 since 2016.
That’s unacceptable and not the standard at Gonzaga.
Therefore, look for the entire team to be locked in for this NCAAB game against Pepperdine. The confidence will already be there, knowing that they knocked off Pepperdine earlier this season by 26 points.
The Bulldogs are still one of the best offenses in the country. They’ve shot a 53.5% effective field goal percentage and have hit 56.3% from inside the arc this season. Gonzaga isn’t a significant threat from deep, shooting 31.7% from three.
However, Pepperdine has allowed teams to shoot 38.2% from downtown and has given up nearly a 55% effective field goal percentage defensively.
The Waves are good on the defensive glass and earn 18.4% of turnovers. However, Gonzaga is just as good on the offensive glass and usually limits turnovers to 16.3%. Pepperdine also fouls at a very high rate, which will send Gonzaga, a team that shoots above 71% from the foul line, to the charity stripe a lot.
On the other hand, the Waves have hit 35.2% from downtown but don’t usually take a ton of threes. Instead, they’re looking to score down low, but shoot only 49% from the field inside the arc. On top of that, the Waves aren’t getting to the foul line often and shoot 67.3% from the line to begin with.
They’ve had success on the offensive glass, but that will be minimized against Gonzaga, who have held teams to 27.5% of offensive rebounds per game this season.
Gonzaga has also limited opponents to 32.4% from three and 44.9% from inside the arc.
Gonzaga’s odds to win March Madness are starting to fall. But they’ll eventually rise the NCAAB standings when we get into March, and it could be tough out with the amount of talent on the roster.
After reviewing the Gonzaga vs Pepperdine matchup odds, our college basketball picks and predictions have the Bulldogs covering against Pepperdine in a massive statement game for the program at -12 (-110).
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