This was a great Saint Mary’s team that ended up at 29-6 overall. Why didn’t the Gaels make the NCAA Tournament? Two regular-season losses to Pepperdine. This was the first matchup in Firestone Fieldhouse. Two of the three simulations went the Waves’ way here by a bit larger margins than the actual finish. The cards-and-dice game went to SMC.
Real: [W] Pepperdine 67, Saint Mary’s 64 — 3-2
CB2K: [L] Saint Mary’s 79, Pepperdine 71 — 2-3
APC: [W] Pepperdine 77, Saint Mary’s 69 — 4-1
CCB: [W] Pepperdine 84, Saint Mary’s 72 — 4-1
Not much you can do when the dice rolls give Saint Mary’s a 13-for-25 night from three-point range on one side, and Lamond Murray Jr. a 4-for-16 overall performance on the other. It was close until about 10 minutes left, when Saint Mary’s pulled away for an eight-point win.
The Action! PC simulation gave the closest to the real thing, an eight-point win vs. the real three-point victory. In both games, Jett Raines was the leading scorer (24 in real live, 20 in the sim). It had a rollercoaster finish, as the Waves led 60-48 with 15 minutes left. SMC went on an 18-4 run to go up 66-64 with five minutes to go. Pepperdine then ended the game on a 13-3 run. That was somewhat similar to the actual performance, when the Waves turned a four-point deficit to a three-point win in the final six minutes.
Courtside College Basketball gave Pepperdine its most comfortable win. Stacy Davis scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half and the Gaels never got very close after trailing by seven at halftime. Davis had double-doubles in the real game and in all three simulations.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 