The Pepperdine Waves look to stop the bleeding on Saturday night, returning home to host the BYU Cougars in a West Coast Conference battle. The Waves have lost six straight games, but hope for a better result in front of a sold-out Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu. Here are the relevant details of Saturday's contest:
Records: Pepperdine (7-11, 1-6 in WCC play); BYU (16-5, 5-2)
Location: Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu
Time: 5 p.m. PST
TV: BYUtv nationally and Fox Sports West locally, with Dave McCann and Steve Cleveland on the call.
Streaming: The game will be available to watch, as are all Pepperdine home games, on PepperdineSports.com.
Points At A Premium: The good news for Pepperdine is that they have played good defense this season under new head coach Marty Wilson, allowing just 62.9 points per game, good for third in the WCC and Pepperdine's best mark since the 1961-1962 season. The bad news is that on offense the Waves are scoring just 58.1 points per contest, and have been held to 47 points or less in four of their six consecutive defeats.
Freshman Force: A bright spot for the Waves has been freshman guard Jordan Baker, who has come alive once West Coast Conference play began. Baker is averaging 14.1 points per game in conference play, the only Wave to average in double figures, to go with 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, and 48.2% shooting. Baker has scored in double figures in all seven WCC games.
Series History: Pepperdine and BYU have split eight all-time meetings, with the Cougars winning the last three. This is the first meeting between the two schools as WCC foes, as this is BYU's first season in the conference. Pepperdine's last victory over BYU came in Malibu in the 2001-2002 season.