Calmese leads Washington State against Pepperdine after 25-point game

Pepperdine Waves (9-14, 3-7 WCC) at Washington State Cougars (15-10, 5-7 WCC)

Pullman, Washington; Saturday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Washington State hosts Pepperdine after Nate Calmese scored 25 points in Washington State’s 82-74 loss to the Oregon State Beavers.

The Cougars are 8-2 in home games. Washington State is second in the WCC with 16.6 assists per game led by LeJuan Watts averaging 4.2.

The Waves are 3-7 in conference matchups. Pepperdine allows 73.3 points to opponents while being outscored by 1.1 points per game.

Washington State’s average of 8.6 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.9 more made shots on average than the 7.7 per game Pepperdine allows. Pepperdine has shot at a 44.4% clip from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points greater than the 44.2% shooting opponents of Washington State have averaged.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Calmese is scoring 16.2 points per game with 3.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Cougars. Watts is averaging 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.

Stefan Todorovic averages 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Waves, scoring 18.4 points while shooting 37.6% from beyond the arc. Moe Odum is averaging 12.2 points, 6.4 assists and 1.5 steals over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 3-7, averaging 75.0 points, 27.1 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 6.7 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.6 points per game.

Waves: 3-7, averaging 68.8 points, 29.3 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 6.8 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

By The Associated Press