CS Northridge at Pepperdine

UC Northridge certainly had some issues last season. They turned the ball over almost 20 times a game, couldn't get to the free throw line and one of their top players couldn't stay out of foul trouble as Calvin Chitwood fouled out of 10 games. The answers have arrived with a bit of maturity and JUCO's to fill the holes. Heard and Chitwood are simply the best pair of forwards in the entire Big West and they combined for 51 in the opener with 26 rebounds, six steals and five blocks. A sign of things to come. Add Paul Wayne to stabilize the offense at the point (13-ppg 6-apg, 2 TO's), and another scorer in Tresvant (14-ppg), and the Matadors suddenly look a lot better. Pepperdine has fallen on hard times. This was a school with a pedigree that has fallen off the national landscape with back-to-back 20-loss seasons. The Waves return just one starter, and will need time to get the team comfortable, define roles, and perform at a higher level than the past few years. The Waves are made to launch three-point shots, but that hasn't worked and is not working this season. They launched 70 in their last two games, but connected on just 16, or 22.8%. This leads to breaks going the other way, and Northridge has the personnel to take advantage here.