Saint Mary’s at Pepperdine Preview
By Josh Horton
Consistent conference championship contenders the Satin Mary’s Gaels will try and ward off the up and coming Pepperdine Waves in a battle between two unbeaten conference foes. .
Saint Mary’s (9-3) at Pepperdine (8-4)
Date and Time: Thursday, January 1, 2015 at 5:00 PST
Location: Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, California
TV: Thew.tv
Livestream: thew.tv.com
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Meet the Teams
Pepperdine
The Waves have been a different team under Marty Wilson’s leadership. They are more resilient and play better as a team and their as of late indicates that.
Pepperdine accumulated 25 team assists on 27 made baskets in their 69-56 win over Pacific Coast Highway rival Loyola Marymount on Monday, showcasing an unselfish play style. Part of it is coaching, while part of it also can be attributed to the players and their unselfish play.
The Waves only finished with two double-digit scorers in the victory (Jett Raines and Amadi Udenyi) with their leading scorer Stacy Davis only finishing with nine. The Waves feature several scoring options and their offensive versatility is one of the team’s best assets.
Saint Mary’s College
Saint Mary’s picked up two quality victory’s in the opening weekend of conference play over Santa Clara and San Francisco. The Gaels first road game of the conference season will tell a lot about not only Pepperdine, but SMC as well. A resounding victory over the Waves would send a message to Gonzaga and BYU that SMC will not be messed with this year.
Brad Waldow has been phenomenal this year, as the senior forward is currently averaging a double-double with 21.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. The Gaels have skilled guards around him in Aaron Bright, Emmett Naar and Kerry Carter around him to open up the defense and take attention away from. Pepperdine will have a tough time accounting for all of the Gaels weapons inside and out.
Key Matchup
The Freshman Guards: Olden and Naar
The Gaels and Waves have both called upon freshman guards Shawn Olden and Emmett Naar to play big roles for their respective teams. Both have nice surprises in the WCC this season and seeing them matchup against each other will be fun to watch.
Prediction
As mentioned above, the Gaels have just too much firepower. Saint Mary’s 72, Pepperdine 62.