Bethea leads Pepperdine against Portland after 26-point performance

Jan 31, 2025, 03:48 am

Portland Pilots (7-16, 2-8 WCC) at Pepperdine Waves (9-13, 3-6 WCC)

Malibu, California; Saturday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Pepperdine hosts Portland after Zion Bethea scored 26 points in Pepperdine's 98-90 win against the San Diego Toreros.

The Waves have gone 6-5 at home. Pepperdine ranks fourth in the WCC in rebounding averaging 32.4 rebounds. Boubacar Coulibaly paces the Waves with 6.9 boards.

The Pilots are 2-8 in WCC play. Portland allows 81.6 points to opponents and has been outscored by 10.3 points per game.

Pepperdine is shooting 44.7% from the field this season, 1.6 percentage points lower than the 46.3% Portland allows to opponents. Portland has shot at a 42.4% clip from the field this season, 1.1 percentage points below the 43.5% shooting opponents of Pepperdine have averaged.

The Waves and Pilots face off Saturday for the first time in WCC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Stefan Todorovic is averaging 19 points and six rebounds for the Waves. Moe Odum is averaging 12.4 points, 6.7 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.

A.Rapp is averaging 14 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Pilots. Max Mackinnon is averaging 1.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Waves: 4-6, averaging 70.9 points, 30.0 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 7.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.8 points per game.

Pilots: 2-8, averaging 70.3 points, 28.0 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 5.5 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 40.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 86.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.