BYU hosts Pepperdine after Mallette's 24-point showing

Published Feb. 26, 2022 2:02 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Pepperdine Waves (7-23, 1-14 WCC) at BYU Cougars (20-9, 8-6 WCC)

Provo, Utah; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST

LINE: BYU -16.5; over/under is 150

BOTTOM LINE: Pepperdine faces the BYU Cougars after Houston Mallette scored 24 points in Pepperdine's 89-73 loss to the Santa Clara Broncos.

The Cougars are 11-2 in home games. BYU is fourth in the WCC with 31.6 points per game in the paint led by Fousseyni Traore averaging 6.4.

The Waves are 1-14 in conference games. Pepperdine ranks third in the WCC with 14.8 assists per game led by Mike Mitchell Jr. averaging 4.7.

The teams meet for the 10th time in conference play this season. The Cougars won 91-85 in the last matchup on Feb. 13. Alex Barcello led the Cougars with 33 points, and Mallette led the Waves with 31 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Barcello is scoring 17.2 points per game with 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Cougars. Te'Jon Lucas is averaging 7.6 points and 1.6 rebounds while shooting 51.6% over the past 10 games for BYU.

Jan Zidek is scoring 13.5 points per game and averaging 3.7 rebounds for the Waves. Mallette is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Pepperdine.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 5-5, averaging 78.5 points, 30.9 rebounds, 16.1 assists, 4.4 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 53.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.1 points per game.

Waves: 1-9, averaging 72.4 points, 26.0 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 6.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 84.7 points.

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