Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Pepperdine Waves Game Preview, Odds, Picks & Predictions
Nation's No. 1 Team Seeks 32nd Straight Conference Win
Top-Ranked Gonzaga Rolling Through WCC
Gonzaga has already clinched its 25th straight 20-win season, and not only have the Bulldogs won 31 straight West Coast Conference games, 30 have come by double digits.
All seven of Pepperdine’s wins have come at home, but the Waves’ only other game against a ranked opponent was in a 34-point loss at Gonzaga on Jan. 8.

Gonzaga (-115) easily has the best odds in the country to reach the Final Four according to the March Madness odds.
Gonzaga at Pepperdine Game Information
- Game: Gonzaga (21-2, 10-0) at Pepperdine (7-20, 1-11)
- Location: Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, Calif.
- Day/Time: Wednesday, 11 p.m. ET
- Television: ESPN2
Timme, Holmgren 1-2 Punch for Gonzaga
Gonzaga could be one of the few teams with a potential top-five pick in the NBA Draft that is the team’s second-best offensive option.
Freshman Chet Holmgren is a special talent. The 7-footer is second on the Bulldogs with 34 3-pointers, but the offense runs through national player of the year candidate Drew Timme, who has scored at least 20 points eight times and has three double-doubles.
If there is a concern, it was that Timme was only averaging 12.6 points on 49 percent shooting in a five-game span before going off for 25 points in a win over No. 22 Saint Mary’s. He rose to the occasion in the one of few tests that the Bulldogs have faced in the West Coast Conference. It was just the second time in the last 12 games that Gonzaga won by less than 20 points.
Considering that Gonzaga put up a season-high 117 points the last time the Bulldogs faced Pepperdine, this is not shaping up to be a nip-and-tuck affair.
While there are questions whether the WCC schedule prepares Gonzaga for the NCAA Tournament, there is no doubting how dominant the Bulldogs are.
Gonzaga is first in the nation in scoring offense (90.9), field goal percentage (53.6), scoring margin (25.7), and two-point field-goal percentage (62.2), rank second in assists per game (19.1) and third in rebounds per game (42.4) and assist-turnover ratio (1.61).
Gonzaga has had five different players score at least 20 points in a game.
#Gonzaga’s 20-point games this season.
Drew Timme: 37, 25, 23, 22, 30, 32, 23.
Chet Holmgren: 20, 22, 21, 23, 20.
Andrew Nembhard: 24, 22, 22.
Julian Strawther: 20, 20.
Rasir Bolton: 20.
(Anton Watson came one point shy of becoming sixth Zag to do it with 19 vs. Pepperdine)
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) February 11, 2022
Timme and Holmgren are both in the top 10 nationally in field goal percentage.
Gonzaga is 7-2-1 against the college basketball spreads in its last 10 games.
Pepperdine Set for Another No. 1 Showdown at Home
For the second year in a row, Gonzaga is the No. 1-ranked team in the country when heading into Firestone Fieldhouse. It is the third time the Waves will play host to the nation’s top-ranked team, as San Francisco was ranked No. 1 in a 1977 matchup in Malibu.
The Waves have just one conference win and, barring the upset of all upsets, win No. 2 won’t be coming on Wednesday. Still, the Waves have hope for the future as four freshmen have accounted for 48 percent of Pepperdine’s offense.
Reigning WCC Freshman of the Week Houston Mallette averaged 27 points in the last two games, including 31 as Pepperdine threw a scare into Brigham Young. Maxwell Lewis had 22 points in a win over Pacific as the Waves picked up their first WCC win. He is averaging 12.6 points in conference play. Mike Mitchell Jr. is third in the conference with 4.6 assists per game and Carson Basham is averaging 8.2 points since moving into the starting lineup.
Pepperdine has covered against the Las Vegas odds in just three of its last 12 games.
Gonzaga at Pepperdine Head-to-Head
There are one-sided series and then there is what has transpired when Gonzaga and Pepperdine get together.
Gonzaga has won the last 42 meetings, with the last win by Pepperdine coming on Jan. 18, 2002. That means many of the players who will take the court weren’t born the last time that happened.
The Bulldogs have been favored by more than 20 points in 10 of the last 11 meetings and only covered in six of those.
Three of the last four games between the teams went over the total.
Gonzaga at Pepperdine Prediction
Gonzaga will win and most likely will win big in Wednesday’s game. The only question is whether the line will give host Pepperdine a chance to cover.
During a 14-game winning streak, Gonzaga has failed to cover four times, and in the last outing, the game landed right on the number, which is something that did not go unnoticed by those who bet online.
Each of the last three games and five of the last seven have gone under the total.