Pepperdine (2-2) vs. UC Irvine (2-1)
Bren Events Center, Irvine, California; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Pepperdine and UC Irvine both look to put winning streaks together . Pepperdine beat UC Davis by five on Wednesday. UC Irvine is coming off a 100-41 win over La Verne on Tuesday.
LEADING THE WAY: UC Irvine’s Collin Welp has averaged 11.7 points and six rebounds while JC Butler has put up nine points. For the Waves, Houston Mallette has averaged 15.8 points and 4.5 rebounds while Jade’ Smith has put up 12 points and 5.5 rebounds.MIGHTY MALLETTE: Mallette has connected on 53.8 percent of the 26 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 9 for 16 over his last three games. He’s also made 50 percent of his free throws this season.
DETERMINED DEFENSE: The stout UC Irvine defense has held opposing offenses to a field goal percentage of 34.4 percent, the 22nd-lowest mark in Division I. Pepperdine has allowed opponents to shoot 46.4 percent through four games (ranking the Waves 268th).
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