MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (8-2) returns to the court tomorrow after an eight-day holiday break to face Sacramento State before opening up WCC play on Saturday against Pepperdine. The Gaels will play both games inside UCU Pavilion where they've been 6-0 this year. 

GAME INFORMATION
Game 11 vs. Sacramento State Hornets
Date/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 7:00 p.m. PT
Location: UCU Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
Live Stream: WCC Network (Brian Brownfield)
Radio: TuneIn (Alex Jensen)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS 
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 30-6 (Last meeting: 12/4/17, H, SMC 70 — SAC 54)

Game 12 vs. Pepperdine Waves
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 2 at 5:00 p.m. PT
Location: UCU Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
Live Stream: WCC Network (Alex Jensen)
Radio: TuneIn (Alex Jensen)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS 
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 73-73 (Last meeting: 3/7/20 (OT), N, SMC 89 — PEP 82)

ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE
The Hornets are 3-0 this season but haven't played since Dec. 5 due to cancellations concerning COVID-19. Last season, Sacramento State went 16-14 and 8-12 in Big Sky action. This will be the Hornets first road game of the season. 

Five players are averaging double-digit points for the Hornets with Bryce Fowler leading the pack at 16 points per game. Fowler is also the team's leading assist-man at four dimes per contest. Christian Terrell is Sac State's second leading scorer and is shooting 73 percent from the floor so far this year. 6-7 senior forward Ethan Esposito is the team's leading rebounder with 7.3 rpg. 

The Hornets and Gaels do not play frequently as tomorrow's contest will be just the second time in the past 15 seasons the programs have met despite their nearby geographic locations. SMC is 4-0 all-time against Sac State since the Randy Bennett era began with the last meeting ending up as a 70-54 win in Moraga in 2017. Former Gael great Jock Landale scored a career-best 37 points in that game. 

ABOUT PEPPERDINE
The Waves are off to a 4-5 start to season and will face BYU at home on Thursday before taking on the Gaels. Pepperdine has lost three of it's last four with losses coming to CSUN, UC Santa Barbara and CSU Bakersfield - all of which were in Malibu. 

Colbey Ross is the face of the Waves and is having another spectacular year with 19.2 ppg and a conference-best 7.2 assists per game. Not to be overlooked is junior forward Kessler Edwards at 17.2 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds. As a team, Pepperdine has shot an impressive 47 percent from the floor and is one of the nation's best free throw shooting teams at 81 percent. 

Gael fans may remember the most recent matchup between the two schools in Las Vegas which became a WCC all-time classic. In the conference tournament, Jordan Ford scored 42 points to help SMC get past the Waves 89-82 in double overtime. Saint Mary's has gotten the better of Pepperdine in recent years with nine wins in the team's last 10 meetings.