Malibu, Calif. ? First, it was UCLA. Now it’s mini-UCLA.
Kansas University’s women’s basketball team will conclude its two-game West Coast swing today against Pepperdine.
“They’re very athletic,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said of the Waves. “They’re not as big as UCLA, but they’re a smaller, shorter version.”
Tipoff will be at 3 p.m. (CST) today in Firestone Fieldhouse on the Pepperdine campus.
In Sunday’s 67-64 loss to UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, the Jayhawks had more trouble with the Bruins’ athleticism than they did with their size. KU outrebounded the taller Bruins, 37-34, but were their own worst enemy by committing 21 turnovers.
Henrickson termed the excessive giveaways a “nightmare,” and now, in Pepperdine, the Jayhawks will be facing one of the nation’s best turnover-margin teams. Foes are giving it away almost 27 times a game to the Waves.
Kansas, meanwhile, averages 18.1 turnovers after posting a Big 12 Conference-worst 19.4 last season. At the same time, KU is averaging 19.3 fouls per game and ranks No. 11 in the Big 12 in that category.
Nevertheless, Kansas has won seven of its nine outings and, based on comparative scores, should be favored today against the Waves (6-5).
KU and Pepperdine have a pair of common opponents. Both lost to UCLA, and each owns a home victory over San Jose State. UCLA washed the Waves, 66-55, about a month ago in Pauley Pavilion.
And while the Jayhawks were losing to the Bruins on Sunday, Pepperdine forced a whopping 38 turnovers in pounding San Jose State, 75-46. Back on Dec. 3 in Lawrence, KU flattened the Spartans, 93-49, while shooting nearly 60 percent from the field.
The Jayhawks will return to campus over the weekend to begin preparations for a date with Houston on Dec. 31 in Allen Fieldhouse.
Some KU schedules list the tipoff for that New Year’s Eve contest as 2 p.m., but the start was moved to 1 p.m. to give KU fans plenty of time to return home and watch the KU football team meet Minnesota in the Insight Bowl.
