UCLA vs. Pepperdine: 5 biggest storylines for 2020-21 matchup

4. Alongside the guards, the duel between premier posts is one to watch

Chris Smith and Colbey Ross are not the only ones who can be consistently relied on to provide scoring on the floor.  Both teams sport post players who are their second-leading scorers – UCLA has, presumably, Jalen Hill, while Pepperdine features Kessler Edwards.

I say presumably because Hill’s status is currently in question.  He suffered a knee injury during the preseason and has only just returned to practice in recent days.  Whatever the severity of the injury it is, it is enough that it kept him out of UCLA’s season-opening game against San Diego State.  The Bruins need him in order to be successful, and his absence could completely change the outcome of this game.

For UCLA, Hill was the team’s second-leading scorer with nine points a game.  Again, this is a Bruins squad that only featured one double-digit scorer in Smith – meaning any other double-digit contribution was both rare and incredibly necessary in order for UCLA to win.

Hill provided that spark on several occasions, tallying double-digits on ten occasions.  He was huge early on, contributing 22, 17, and 24 points against UC Santa Barbara, UNLV, and Hofstra, respectively.  His clutch minutes were instrumental in UCLA’s seven-game win streak through the Pac-12, undeniably – most notably, his 13-point, game-high 8-rebound performance in a 3-point win over Arizona State.

Hill is more of a traditional post, something he differs greatly on from Edwards.  In his first two seasons, he did not take a single three-pointer.  His 252 shots have all come from inside the arc, where he has knocked down 137 – good for a 54.4% mark.

Pepperdine’s Edwards was not his team’s second-leading scorer last season – that honor belonged to his older brother, Kameron.  However, with Kameron gone to graduation, Kessler – the team’s third-leading scorer last year at 13.8 – should slide in at the number-two slot.

Unlike UCLA’s Hill, Edwards takes three-pointers.  His talent – and reliance – could not be any more evident than in Pepperdine’s season-opening win over UC Irvine.  Edwards led the Waves in scoring with 20 (6-12 FG, 2-3 3PT, 6-6 FT) while tying for a team-high seven boards.

Edwards is coming off an All-WCC Second-Team season in 2019-20, where he led the conference in blocked shots (1.9) while finishing 13th in scoring (13.8) and fourth in rebounding (7.5).  He is a do-it-all type of post, capable of filling out the stat-sheet in other manners, including in assists (five vs. Portland) and steals (three vs. Portland State).