MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (15-4, 2-2 WCC) will have just one contest this week as they cruise down the coast to Malibu for a Saturday matinee with Pepperdine inside Firestone Fieldhouse.
GAME INFORMATION
Game No. 20 vs. Pepperdine (8-9, 1-2 WCC)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 18 at 1:00 p.m. PT
Location: Firestone Fieldhouse (Malibu, Calif.)
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Dan Dickau, Justin Walters)
Radio: Tune In (Alex Jensen)
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LIVE STATS
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 71-73 (Last meeting: 2/16/19, H, SMC 72 — PEP 65)
ABOUT PEPPERDINE
The Waves own an 8-9 record and 1-2 showing in conference play this season and will host cross-town rival Loyola Marymount on Thursday before welcoming the Gaels to Malibu. Pepperdine fell in their first two WCC contests to Pacifc by three and at No. 1 Gonzaga by just five but bounced back with a road win over San Diego on Saturday.
Pepperdine is led by their star junior guard Colbey Ross who leads the team in both points per game (19.9) and assists (7.4). Ross also ranks seventh in the nation in helpers this year. The Edwards brothers are the Waves' supporting cast with Kameron averaging 16.9 ppg and Kesller at 14.4. The younger brother, Kessler, also leads in the team with 7.9 rebounds per contest.
As a team, Pepperdine is the best free throw shooting team in the country with a combined 83.5 percentage. From the floor, the Waves are making 43 percent of their shots and 36 percent of tries from beyond the arc.
The Waves hold a slight edge over Saint Mary's in the all-time series but the Gaels have dominated in recent years as they've won seven of the past eight and 24 of the past 28 meetings.
GAELS' LAST TIME OUT
Jordan Ford had a game-high 30 points for his fourth 30-plus point performance this season. The senior went 9-for-18 overall, 5-of-8 from deep, and knocked down all seven of his shots at the charity stripe in one of his most efficient games of the year.
After being down seven at the first media timeout in the second half, the Gaels began to turn things around. SMC snapped off a 13-0 run, including nine straight points by Ford, to retake the lead and take their biggest of the game to that point. With under 11 to go, Ford hit a long three and Fitts followed up with a fastbreak layup to blow the roof off UCU Pavilion and give the Gaels a nine-point lead.
Saint Mary's would unfortunately go on a four and a half minute scoreless streak immediately after that allowed SCU to climb back within two.
The Gaels led by seven with 3:37 remaining in the contest but a 10-1 run by the Broncos gave them the lead with under a minute to play. Fitts put SMC back up with 33 seconds to play with a big three but Josip Vrankic responded with a layup on the opposite end to pull the Broncos ahead, 67-66. Fitts and Logan Johnson would be denied in the paint in the waning seconds as the final buzzer sounded.
