Pepperdine is big, strong and athletic. They are also very good
despite their 1-2 record.
Pepperdine lost
it's opening game of the season against Dayton (90-77) but then came back
and easily handled Big 12 foe Colorado by the score of 94-77.
They then went on the road to Oklahoma State this past Saturday and lost
a heart-breaker 84-82.
The waves have a great bench as Terrance Johnson, the Waves leading
scorer at 18 points a game, doesn't even start. Just about all of Pepperdine's
regular players are solid and are led by junior Glen McGowan who averages 17
points a game and is a threat from both inside and outside.
Redshirt and highly touted transfer Jesse Pinegar is slowly coming
around. He will be a force in the WCC for the next two year. He is Pepperdine's
best shooter from the outside and was deadly in their win against Colorado,
hitting 4 of 5 from long distance.
The least impressive of the regulars is freshman point guard Shaun Davis. He has a similar game and form as former Titan PG Chris Alexander. The
problem is he is the Waves third leading scorer and has an assist to turnover
ratio of 2 to 1. He is quick and brings the ball up the floor very well. Zakee Smith will have trouble guarding him but Bobby Brown would give him fits.
TitanCentral.com Spin: The
Titans have no chance if they let Pepperdine dictate the flow of this game.
The good news is Pepperdine likes to run and score so if Burton does not panic
and revert to the Slo-O, it should he a very high-scoring affair. One way for
the Titans to win this game is if they are able to hit shots from the outside
and play perimeter defense. Not a likely combination and thus not a likely win.
Another scenario is we catch Pepperdine coming out flat and Pape Sow has such a dominating performance he leaves scouts drooling. Pepperdine
is coming off a trip from OSU and they probably have had little time to prepare
for this game, so we do have that going for us.
Game 4: Pepperdine
Monday, December 1, 2003 @ Malibu, CA
| Rankings |
CollegeRPI |
Massey |
Sagarin |
| Cal State Fullerton (0-3, 0-0) |
312 |
391 |
272 |
| Pepperdine (1-2, 0-0) |
18 |
84 |
39 |
| The Line: Pepperdine by 17 |
Here are the projected starting lineups:
| Pos |
Cal
State Fullerton |
Pepperdine |
| PG |
Zakee Smith |
6-0, 175 |
Davis, Shaun |
5-11, 165 |
| SG |
Derick Andrew |
6-2, 180 |
Acker, Alex |
6-5, 190 |
| SF |
Anthony Bolton |
6-7, 190 |
Turner, Robert |
6-9, 200 |
| PF |
Hardy Asprilla |
6-5, 225 |
McGowan, Glen |
6-9, 230 |
| C |
Pape Sow |
6-10, 250 |
Pinegar, Jesse |
6-9, 225 |
First off the Bench |
| |
Bobby Brown, PG |
6-1, 170 |
Johnson, Terrance , G |
6-5, 195 |
| |
Yaphett King, F |
6-4, 235 |
Horning, Cody, F |
6-9, 195 |
| |
Babacar Camara |
6-10, 250 |
Grubb, Derick, C |
6-9, 255 |
| |
Brian Pruitt, F |
6-6, 225 |
|
|
Cal State Fullerton Release
THE QUICK SCENARIO: The Titans play their home opener Saturday
night vs. Pepperdine and then head across the Los Angeles basin on Monday
to visit Pepperdine. Fullerton is coming off an 0-2 road trip to Northern
Arizona and Arizona State. In both games, the final few minutes of the first
half proved the Titans’ undoing. The Titans are shooting only .375 from
the floor, .222 from 3-point and .561 from the line.
ABOUT THE WAVES: Pepperdine will take a 1-1 record into
a Saturday night game at Oklahoma State. The Waves lost at home to Dayton
but then came back to rout Colorado on Monday night, 94-77. Six players scored
in double figures led by freshman point guard Shaun Davis with 20 points.
Terrance Johnson had 16 and the Waves’ bench outscored the Buffaloes’
35-17. Coach Paul Westphal is in his third season.