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Pilots vs Waves Picks and Predictions – Wednesday January 14, 2026
Portland hits the road for a West Coast Conference matchup with Pepperdine on Wednesday night, with tip set for 9:00 PM ET at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu. ESPN+ has the stream. It’s a short number in a game between two teams that have struggled to stack wins, but it’s still a meaningful spot because Portland needs to prove it can travel, and Pepperdine needs a clean home performance to stop the bleeding.
The Pilots open as slight favorites at -1.5 with a modest moneyline, while Pepperdine is priced as a small home dog. The total is 145.5, which is a key number here because one team wants to run its offense and the other has shown signs of slowing games down by necessity.
Portland Pilots vs Pepperdine Waves Odds
These are the current betting lines, and you should monitor the latest movement on the college basketball odds board leading into tip.
| Team | Moneyline | Spread | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Pilots | -130 | -1.5 (-115) | 145.5 (-113) |
| Pepperdine Waves | +105 | +1.5 (-109) | 145.5 (-113) |
Portland Pilots Betting Form
Portland comes in at 9-10, and the headline is simple: all of its wins have been at home. That doesn’t erase the progress, though. The Pilots are coming off an 82-76 win over Oregon State and have started to show more steadiness late in close games, including the 90-89 grinder against Pacific. For a spread this small, late execution matters as much as raw talent.
Offensively, Portland has enough structure to win this matchup. The Pilots are scoring 79.3 points per game on 47.8% shooting, and the assist rate (17.9 per game) tells you the ball generally moves. When they’re getting clean looks early in the clock, Portland’s shot quality tends to hold up for long stretches, which is important against a team that can go cold for five-minute blocks.
If you want the broader form line and splits, check Portland Pilots stats and results.
Pepperdine Waves Betting Form
Pepperdine is 5-14, and the recent 20-point loss to San Francisco is the kind of result that keeps oddsmakers comfortable making them underdogs even at home. The Waves have struggled to generate consistent half-court offense, and when the first option isn’t there, possessions can stall into late-clock attempts that don’t rebound well. That’s how a team ends up living on the wrong side of runs.
The best case for Pepperdine is that it’s been more competitive at Firestone Fieldhouse, sitting 4-8 at home with four of its five wins coming in Malibu. There’s also a path to points at the line. Pepperdine’s free-throw shooting (76.6%) gives it a way to keep the scoreboard moving even when the offense is uneven, and that can be relevant in a spread hovering around a single possession.
For the schedule context and game logs, start with Pepperdine Waves schedule and stats.
Portland Pilots vs Pepperdine Waves Matchup Breakdown
The matchup reads like Portland offense vs Pepperdine stability. Portland’s ability to create assisted looks is a real edge against a defense that hasn’t consistently strung together stops without fouling. If Portland is comfortable, it can put pressure on Pepperdine to score in the half court, and that’s where the Waves have routinely come up short.
The other swing factor is pace control. Portland’s numbers suggest it can play at a reasonable tempo, but Pepperdine profiles as a team that often ends up in slower games. Sometimes that’s intentional, sometimes it’s just the offense taking too long to get organized. Either way, a slow game lowers the number of possessions, which makes +1.5 more valuable and also pulls the total into play.
Turnovers and free throws are where a game like this gets decided. If Portland protects the ball and avoids gifting Pepperdine easy points, it should be the side dictating terms. If Portland gets sloppy, Pepperdine’s best scoring chances come on short fields and at the line. If you want a quick refresher on how tempo, turnover rate, and free-throw volume should change how you price totals, the Expert Betting Guide is worth a skim.
Portland Pilots vs Pepperdine Waves Predictions and Best Bets
I lean Portland -1.5, but it’s not a comfortable “auto-play” road favorite. The case is that Portland’s offense is simply better, it shares the ball, and it has enough scoring options to punish a Pepperdine team that hasn’t defended consistently. In a one-possession spread, Portland doesn’t need to dominate. It just needs to be the cleaner team for 40 minutes.
The reason I’m not going heavier on the side is the Portland road profile. Until the Pilots show they can win away from home, you’re betting on the offense traveling and the late-game execution holding up in a hostile gym. That can absolutely happen. It’s just not a bet I want to over-size.
The total is where I’m more interested. 145.5 asks for a fairly smooth offensive game from both teams. Portland can do its part, but Pepperdine has been volatile, and the pace indicators point toward fewer possessions than the raw combined scoring averages suggest. If the game turns into half-court possessions and free throws are not nonstop, the under has room.
Best Bet: Under 145.5
NCAAB Picks and Handicappers on ScoresAndStats
If you’re building your card for the night, start with the college basketball picks hub to compare sides and totals across the full slate. For more single-game breakdowns in this format, the NCAAB previews page keeps everything organized by date and matchup.
If you care about performance tracking, the best handicappers section and the live handicapper leaderboard make it easy to see who’s been beating the market lately. If you want premium packages for a larger slate approach, you can browse buy picks.
For extra team context across the conference landscape, the college basketball teams hub is the quickest way to jump between programs, and the main ScoresAndStats blog is useful when you want broader betting angles beyond a single matchup. If you’re comparing where to bet, the sportsbook reviews section is a good starting point, and the handicappers sites reviews page helps if you’re vetting additional pick sources.
