Pepperdine University’s men’s basketball team will participate in the Acrisure Series at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California. The Waves, currently holding a 3-3 record, are set to face Fresno State (5-2) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Ed Cohen and Dan Dickau providing commentary.
This matchup is Pepperdine’s only neutral site regular season game. In their previous outing, the Waves lost 63-60 at home to Stephen F. Austin. Aaron Clark led Pepperdine with a career-high 30 points, shooting 9-for-12 from the field and making five of six three-point attempts. Danilo Dozic contributed 11 points and four rebounds.
The Waves have shown strength at the free throw line recently, making 13 out of 14 attempts against Stephen F. Austin and achieving over an 89 percent success rate in three games this season. They currently rank fourth in the West Coast Conference (WCC) for scoring with an average of 82.5 points per game and are ranked 23rd nationally for offensive rebounds per game.
Aaron Clark leads Pepperdine in scoring this season with an average of 16.3 points per game and ranks third in the WCC for steals with eleven so far. Styles Phipps is notable as the only player nationwide averaging over twelve points, six rebounds, six assists, and more than one-and-a-half steals per game; he also leads the WCC in assists at 6.2 per contest.
Javon Cooley has been Pepperdine’s leading rebounder with an average of 6.3 boards per game while contributing 13.3 points per contest.
Fresno State holds a narrow edge in the all-time series between these teams, leading by one win (16-15). The most recent meeting was a neutral site matchup during the SoCal Challenge in November 2021, which Fresno State won 70-63.
Fresno State was picked to finish eleventh in the Mountain West Preseason Poll and is led by Jake Heldbreder (19 points per game) and Zaon Collins (15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game), both shooting above fifty percent from the field.
After facing Fresno State, Pepperdine will continue its road trip against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
Pepperdine men’s basketball has appeared in thirteen NCAA postseason tournaments and has won twelve WCC Regular-Season Championships along with three tournament titles throughout its history. The program last won a postseason title at the CBI Tournament in 2021 and has produced nineteen All-Americans as well as nineteen NBA players since its founding.
