Pepperdine Waves Stats at Insiders Betting Digest

Waves

Pepperdine Waves

NCAAB – WEST COAST

Arena: Firestone Fieldhouse
Coach: Lorenzo Romar

TEAM LEADERS

Pepperdine Waves

Team Summary

The Pepperdine Waves men’s college basketball team competes in the West Coast Conference and has been a factor in that league at times. The recent history for Pepperdine has not gone extremely well, but this program was once an annual threat to at least reach the NCAA Tournament.

Pepperdine has never won the NCAA Tournament, but there have been some impressive and surprising runs by the program. Pepperdine is a school that is located in Malibu, California, and there is plenty of basketball talent in that part of the country.

The last 20 years of Pepperdine men’s college basketball has not produced an NCAA Tournament team, but that has come as the West Coast Conference has continued to improve. There have been some famous players wearing the Waves, and more than 30 former players have been drafted into the NBA.

Pepperdine Waves Standings

Pepperdine Waves Betting Trends

Team History

The Pepperdine Waves haven’t always been a member of the NCAA as they first got their start in the NAIA. Pepperdine found plenty of early success at that level, but the jump up to NCAA has proved to be more challenging.

Pepperdine made the NAIA Tournament seven different times and posted an 11-7 record in those appearances. There were a pair of appearances in the NAIA Final Four, but the Waves were never able to win a title.

There have been 13 NCAA Tournament appearances for Pepperdine, and the team reached the Elite Eight one time in history. Pepperdine has also made six appearances in the NIT but have gone just 3-6 during that time.

Pepperdine is a basketball program that has been loaded with terrific talent, but it just hasn’t been enough to turn into a national title contender.

2022 Key Stats

The 2021-22 season has not gotten off to a big start for Pepperdine as they have gone just 6-10 through the first 16 games. A closer look at the stats shows just how much Pepperdine has struggled, and there isn’t a ton of hope about them turning things around.

Pepperdine is scoring more than 70 points per game this season, which is good, but the defense has really struggled. The Waves are allowing over 75 points per game, which is the biggest reason for the poor record.

Forward Jan Zidek leads the current team with 12.6 points per game, but the Waves have a pretty balanced group of scorers. Guard Houston Mallette is averaging 11.9 points per game, and he is the only other player scoring in double figures.

For the remainder of the 2021-22 season, Pepperdine will be a team to fade at the sportsbook.

Championships Won by the Team

Pepperdine has never won an NCAA Championship, and that is obviously the biggest goal for any college basketball program. The Waves did make a deep run in 1944, but they were still three wins away from winning it all.

The next thing to look at is the number of conference tournament titles for Pepperdine, and there have been some of those. The Wavers had a dominant team in the early 1990s and won the conference title in 1991, 1992, and 1994.

Pepperdine has made some appearances in the NIT Tournament as well but have never won a title in that event either. Despite some pretty impressive runs at times for the Waves, this program just hasn’t been good enough to pick up many titles.

Important Team Events

Since the NCAA Tournament hasn’t been a realistic goal for the Pepperdine Waves most years, the West Coast Conference Tournament is the most important event for this team. Even if Pepperdine is struggling, winning the West Coast Conference Tournament can give them a free spot into March Madness.

There are other regular-season tournaments throughout the year that Pepperdine competes in that could be classified as important events. Anytime that there is a chance to win any sort of championship is a big deal for this basketball program.

The biggest rival for Pepperdine University are the Loyola Marymount Lions, and that is always a matchup that is circled on the calendar.

Top Players

Pepperdine University is not the first school that comes to mind when thinking about a program that produces professional athletes, but there have actually been more than 30 of them in school history. Of the 31 players that have been drafted by the NBA, 17 of those players have appeared in at least one game in the league.

Dennis Johnson is easily the best player to ever wear a Pepperdine Waves uniform, and he carried that over into the NBA. Johnson holds a number of records at Pepperdine, and he is also a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Doug Christie is another top player from Pepperdine University, and he was a key player on some West Coast Conference Championship teams. Christie then went on to have a long and successful career in the NBA and is another player that holds some records at this school.

Top Coaches

There have been just 12 head coaches in the history of Pepperdine basketball, which is a much smaller number than many other college basketball programs. Four different coaches have won at least 129 games, and a fifth coach is getting ready to get to 100 career wins.

Jim Harrick is the top head coach in the history of Pepperdine University as he racked up 167 wins from 1980-1988. Harrick was also able to guide the Waves to four NCAA Tournament appearances when he was at the helm.

Tom Asbury and Gary Colson are next on the list with 153 wins apiece, and combined; they have five NCAA Tournament appearances.