Pepperdine meets Southern Utah in NIT

Southern Utah Thunderbirds (18-12, 11-8 WAC) at Pepperdine Waves (20-12, 10-9 WCC)

Malibu, California; Sunday, 5 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Pepperdine and Southern Utah play in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Waves are 10-9 against WCC opponents and 10-3 in non-conference play. Pepperdine has a 2-5 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Thunderbirds are 11-8 against WAC teams. Southern Utah is second in the WAC with 14.5 assists per game led by Sierra Chambers averaging 3.7.

Pepperdine makes 44.2% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.2 percentage points higher than Southern Utah has allowed to its opponents (40.0%). Southern Utah averages 70.8 points per game, 4.4 more than the 66.4 Pepperdine gives up to opponents.

TOP PERFORMERS: Elli Guiney is scoring 15.0 points per game and averaging 3.9 rebounds for the Waves. Lina Falk is averaging 13.5 points and 4.9 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Chambers is averaging 15.2 points and 3.7 assists for the Thunderbirds. Brooklyn Fely is averaging 15.3 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Waves: 7-3, averaging 73.1 points, 34.1 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.9 points per game.

Thunderbirds: 5-5, averaging 69.0 points, 35.5 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.7 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.