UCLA vs Pepperdine 11/23/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Pepperdine Waves and the UCLA Bruins meet in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night.

The Pepperdine Waves will look to build on their 64-55 win over UC-Irvine last time out. Maxwell Lewis leads the Waves in scoring with 17.2 PPG along with 5.8 RPG and 3.8 APG while Houston Mallette has 15 PPG with 5 RPG and 3.6 APG this season. Mike Mitchell Jr. has 14.2 PPG with a team-high 5 APG to leads the Waves in the assist department while Jevon Porter has 12.8 PPG with a team-high 8.8 RPG to lead the Waves on the glass this season and to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Pepperdine up to this point in the year. As a team, Pepperdine is averaging 85.2 PPG on 52.7% shooting from the field, 45.8% from three and 70.6% from the foul line this season.

The UCLA Bruins will hope to bounce back from an 80-75 loss to Baylor last time out. Jaylen Clark leads the Bruins in scoring and rebounding with 16.4 PPG and 8 RPG while Tyger Campbell has 15.4 PPG with a team-high 4.6 APG to lead the Bruins in the assist department. Jaime Jaquez Jr. has 14.6 PPG with 5.4 RPG and David Singleton has 12.2 PPG with 4 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for UCLA so far this season. As a team, UCLA is averaging 80 PPG on 47.9% shooting from the field, 40.2% from three and 67.1% from the foul line this season.

Pepperdine is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 Wednesday games and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 7-0-1 in their last 8 Wednesday games. UCLA is 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 home games against a team with a losing road record and 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 home games against a team with a road winning percentage below .400 while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 games following a loss.

I get the case to be made for an underdog in spots like Pepperdine as these mid-major schools always relish the chance to go and potentially upend the big boys. However, the Bruins are just the far better team here and I’m not all that high on Pepperdine as it is. UCLA is an experienced and talented group that should take care of business here and I think you could argue that the line should be heavier. Give me UCLA here.