No. 13 Gonzaga brings red-hot offense in matchup against Pepperdine

The Zags (22-5, 11-2 WCC) close out their WCC road slate against Pepperdine on Saturday

After making a statement on the road against Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga men’s basketball turns its attention to the Pepperdine Waves (9-18, 2-11 WCC) as the programs prep to square off for the second time this season.

Six players finished in double-figures for the Zags (22-5, 11-2 WCC) in the first meeting with the Waves on Dec. 31. Drew Timme’s 35 points paced all scorers in Gonzaga’s 44th straight victory in the head-to-head series.

Maxwell Lewis led the way for the Waves that night with 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor.

Posting a team-best 17.6 points per game, Lewis is also Pepperdine’s second-best rebounder this season with 5.8 boards per contest.

Along with teammates Houston Mallette and Mike Mitchell Jr., Lewis completes a sophomore trio that makes up 52.6% of the Waves’ scoring output.

Defensively, Carlos Basham provides solid rim protection. The 6-foot-10 center averages 1.2 blocks per game this season, the second-most in the WCC.

As a unit, though Pepperdine has allowed its opponents to score 80.5 points per game, the most in the WCC, and is ranked 190th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency.

Gonzaga is coming off a 108-point outing against LMU (126th in adjusted defensive efficiency) for its seventh 100-point game of the season. The Zags’ 111 points against the Lions is their second-most against a Division I program.

The Zags lead the nation with 87.1 points per game and shooting 52.3% percent from the field, including a 58.5% true shooting mark.

While the offense garners much of the attention, the Zags’ had arguably their best performance on the defensive end against LMU.

“Our defense was good, it was probably as good as we’ve been all year,” Few said to the Spokesman-Review. “We put it together for a full 20 (minutes), then we kept our intensity even in the second half. … Great overall effort on both sides of the ball and it’s something we can really draw on moving forward.”

Since the new year rolled around, both programs have trended in opposite directions. While the Zags remain in contention for the WCC regular season crown, the Waves sit at the bottom of the standings following 10 straight defeats to start WCC play.

Then on Feb. 4, freshman forward Jevon Porter gave Pepperdine its first conference win after he scored the game-winning basket off an inbound play to defeat Portland, 94-93 in double-overtime. Porter recorded his second-straight double-double and seventh of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. No other freshman in the WCC has posted a single double-double this season.

Five days later, Porter erupted for 30 points to power Pepperdine to back-to-back victories in a 92-80 win over BYU. He earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors as a result.

“I’m telling you, they might end up when it’s all said and done having two first-rounders the way Porter is playing now, maybe not this year, but down the road,” Few said. “Certainly, Maxwell is projected there right now and playing like it. And those other guys, Mitchell is a great player and Mallette is unbelievable coming off pindown (screens).”

Gonzaga will look to slow down the second-best scoring offense in the WCC on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Prediction: Zags 95, Waves 75