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It's time to continue our WCC Tournament odds series with a Pepperdine Santa Clara prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Pepperdine Santa Clara.
The WCC Tournament has its Cinderella story. Pepperdine is the No. 9 seed at this tournament. The Waves had to play a first-round game on Friday. They trailed No. 8 seed Portland by a double-figure margin midway through the second half of Friday's contest. They roared down the stretch with an offensive explosion to win that game by 13, 86-73. Then the Waves came back to the court in Las Vegas for the WCC Tournament on Saturday night and took out the No. 5 seed, Oregon State. Pepperdine's offense has found new life at the WCC Tournament, scoring over 75 points in two games while the defense has done just enough to make it stand up.
Santa Clara is the No. 4 seed at the WCC Tournament. The Broncos earned a double-bye into the quarterfinal round. This will be their first game of the tournament. The winner of this game will face No. 1 seed and WCC regular-season champion Saint Mary's in a Monday night semifinal game in Las Vegas.
Here are the Pepperdine-Santa Clara WCC Tournament Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
WCC Tournament Odds: Pepperdine-Santa Clara Odds
Pepperdine: +15.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +920
Santa Clara: -15.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -1800
Over: 155.5 (-115)
Under: 155.5 (-105)
How to Watch Pepperdine vs Santa Clara
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN2, ESPN Plus
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Pepperdine Will Cover The Spread/Win
Pepperdine is on a roll. This is the lower seed which — as is often the case in March Madness — looks nothing like the team we saw in the regular season. Pepperdine was 10-21 entering the WCC Tournament. This Pepperdine team bears zero resemblance to the team which was awful for most of the past four months. Pepperdine was 4-14 in 18 WCC league games from late December through early March. This week in Las Vegas, the Waves are 2-0 and playing great basketball. They are getting 15.5 points relative to the spread, and the Santa Clara team they are facing has had nearly a whole week off and could be very rusty as a result. If Santa Clara plays a bad first half against a motivated and in-form Pepperdine team, that should be enough to get Pepperdine to cover. Santa Clara might still win, but at 15.5 points, you have a lot of margin here. You can fold Santa Clara into a parlay but make a single bet on Pepperdine plus the points and have a good chance of cashing both tickets.
Why Santa Clara Will Cover The Spread/Win
Pepperdine will be playing a third consecutive game in three consecutive days. Usually the fatigue sets in for the Cinderella at this stage of a conference tournament. Santa Clara is farm fresh having had a double bye into this WCC Tournament quarterfinal. The Broncos might be a little sluggish in the first five minutes, but after that, they should be able to get roaring and roll the Waves in a blowout.
Final Pepperdine-Santa Clara Prediction & Pick
This is a game in which you will want to wait 10 minutes. Maybe Pepperdine starts quickly while Santa Clara is a little sluggish. You could get Santa Clara minus 9.5 points as a live bet if that happens. That's probably the best play. If we had to take one team relative to the 15.5 number, it's Pepperdine, but again, we don't trust bad teams against superior teams. The live play is the angle to look for here.
Final Pepperdine-Santa Clara Prediction & Pick: Pepperdine +15.5
