Santa Clara faces Pepperdine in WCC semis

Published Mar. 6, 2021 9:30 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Santa Clara (12-7, 6-5) vs. No. 3 seed Pepperdine (11-11, 7-6)

West Coast Conference Tourney Semifinals, Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: A ticket to the WCC championship game is ready to be punched as Santa Clara and Pepperdine are set to face off. The only regular season meeting came on Feb. 20, when the Broncos shot 47.3 percent from the field en route to the 86-82 victory.

SQUAD LEADERSHIP: Pepperdine's Colbey Ross has averaged 18 points and 7.5 assists while Kessler Edwards has put up 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. For the Broncos, Josip Vrankic has averaged 15.2 points and 8.1 rebounds while Jalen Williams has put up 11.4 points.

FUELING THE OFFENSE: Ross has either made or assisted on 55 percent of all Pepperdine field goals over the last five games. The senior guard has accounted for 31 field goals and 37 assists in those games.

PASSING FOR POINTS: The Waves have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Broncos. Pepperdine has 38 assists on 76 field goals (50 percent) over its previous three matchups while Santa Clara has assists on 39 of 93 field goals (41.9 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Santa Clara has attempted the second-most free throws among all WCC teams. The Broncos have averaged 22.8 free throws per game.

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