West Coast Convo
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Pepperdine and San Francisco Meet in Malibu

By Mary Harvill

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Standings this time around: USF Dons (11-16; 5-10 Conf) vs. Pepperdine Waves (16-11; 9-11 Conf)

Last time around: USF Dons (8-11; 2-5 Conf) vs. Pepperdine Waves (12-6; 5-2 Conf)

Date and Time: Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 1:00 PST

Location:  Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, CA.

TV: Time Warner Cable Sportsnet (local in California) and TheW.tv – http://thew.tv/live (everyone else)

Audio: http://new.livestream.com/thewtv/USFmbbaudioonly featuring Pat Olson (Play by Play) with Jim Brovelli (Basketball Analyst, Commentator and former USF Men’s Basketball Head Coach).

Pepperdine WaveCast with Al Epstein at PepperdineSports.com.

Meet the Teams

San Francisco

In the first meeting between the two teams, USF had an outstanding game against Pepperdine and won it decisively, 71-59. Since then, Pepperdine has propelled itself up the WCC standings (9-11) and currently is in 4th place with Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and BYU ahead of them. USF has tumbled down the standings (5-10 in conference play) and finds itself tied with Santa Clara for 7th place in the standings (and ironically with exactly the same overall and conference records) ahead of LMU and Pacific who are at the bottom of the standings.

This game will be hard fought. USF has been playing well and playing the tougher teams close (Gonzaga and BYU), eclipsing LMU this past Thursday night which included an on the court skirmish. Pepperdine has likewise played the tougher teams well (without skirmishes), putting Gonzaga on the ropes in the first half of their game in Spokane, but suffering a loss against Portland a team they previously beat. Pepperdine can be a bit unpredictable too.

A win for Pepperdine is important heading into the WCC championship tournament and to garner a serious look from post-season tournament organizers. Playing well enough for post-season looks would be a great accomplishment for Coach Marty Wilson, his staff and team. Coach Wilson looks like the silver medalist for WCC Coach of the Year.   Mark Few has a lock on that one with a perfect conference play record this year. USF, on the other hand, would like to salvage what has been a disappointing season by taking out Pepperdine again just like last time around.

Mark Tollefsen has been setting the pace for USF recently racking up 21 points in the game against LMU together with Tim Derksen’s 19 points. Kruize Pinkins and Devin Watson are also key to the Dons offensive production, Matt Christiansen’s rebounding ability keeps the ball in the Dons hands.

Pepperdine

Pepperdine has seen Jett Raines explode with productivity, particularly in the absence of guard Shawn Olden who returned to the lineup against Santa Clara Thursday night recovered from a sprained ankle. Raines finished the game with 19 points. Olden wasted no time in putting the basketball through the hoop racking up 16 points in the Santa Clara game. Though Stacy Davis had a light game (for him) with only 8 points against Santa Clara, he contributed in other key areas with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 blocked shot. Lamond Murray, Jr., poured in the points (15 of them plus 3 blocked shots) against Santa Clara and can be expected to do the same against USF. Sophomore Jeremy Major is another weapon in the arsenal among the top players on the WCC conference leader board with assists and steals.

More from West Coast Convo

Pepperdine is ranked 6th among NCAA Division I teams at defending the three point shot. This team is a terror on defense which creates great opportunities for them on offense including making their free throws 76% of the time, 11th in the nation. Free throw shooting has been the Achilles heel for USF this season.

The Waves are poised for a great run during the WCC conference tournament beginning Friday, March 6th in Las Vegas securing a bye into the quarterfinals with their win Thursday night. But first things first, the Waves must take care of business and earn the win against the Dons.

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