GAME NOTES: A couple of Golden State schools get together at Firestone Fieldhouse on Friday night, as the Pepperdine Waves entertain the Fresno State Bulldogs in the season opener for both programs.

The Bulldogs are coached by Rodney Terry, who is entering his fourth season with a squad that finished 21-18 in 2013-14, and in a tie for fifth place in the Mountain West Conference at 9-9. The squad had a rough first half to the campaign but then turned it around and made it all the way to the final round of play in the College Basketball Invitational versus Siena. Unfortunately, after splitting the first two games, Fresno bowed to the Saints on the road, 81-68, on April 5.

As for the Waves, members of the West Coast Conference, they've won two of their last three season openers, but only three such outings over the last dozen years. The team was 15-16 last season and, like Fresno, tied for a fifth-place finish in the conference, but with an 8-10 mark. Needless to say, with a losing record and an 80-69 defeat at the hands of Saint Mary's in the conference tournament, there was no postseason for head coach Marty Wilson and his players.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, the Waves own a narrow 14-13 advantage over FSU, even though the Bulldogs won the most recent meeting back in 2010 by a score of 64-51 at the Save Mart Center.

The prospects of extending the campaign beyond the regular season, just as they did in 2013-14, appears to be quite strong for the Bulldogs, given the fact that they have four returning starters, although the lone loss was leading scorer Tyler Johnson who took his 15.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 103 assists with him, not to mention an impressive 43.2 percent accuracy behind the 3- point line.

Even with the loss of Johnson, Fresno State is still loaded when it comes to perimeter offensive threats, thanks to the efforts of Cezar Guerrero (13.1 ppg), Marvelle Harris (14.3 ppg) and Paul Watson (10.0 ppg), who not only combined to bring down 13.0 rpg, they also converted a collective 181 triples for a unit that ranked third in the league and 58th nationally with 7.5 3- pointers per contest.

Unfortunately, while FSU snipers spent much of their time out on the perimeter, they failed to secure loose balls in the paint, which is why the Bulldogs are coming off a season in which they were next-to-last in the MWC and 288th in the country in rebounding margin at minus-2.9 per contest.

Meanwhile, the Waves have eight letter-winners returning for this season, but there is not a single senior on the roster which has to be a troubling prospect from a leadership perspective. Stacy Davis was one of three players who scored in double figures and is the only one of the trio returning. He put up a team-best 15.1 ppg, thanks in large part to a 136-of-179 effort at the free-throw line where he made more shots than his closest teammate attempted. On the glass, Davis was responsible for a team-high 7.6 rpg which will come in handy since Brendan Lane (13.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg) is no longer with the group.

Excusing the pun, Jeremy Major made a major contribution to the Waves as he posted 9.1 ppg and a freshman team-record 138 assists, as well as 40 steals as he was named to the WCC All-Fresman Team.

Help in the paint for Pepperdine should come from Lamond Murray Jr. who showed promise last season and has a strong bloodline, with his father having played at California as well as 11 seasons in the NBA.

The Bulldogs did lose a key contributor from last season in Johnson, but they still have plenty of talent and up-and-coming players who can give the team a push in the right direction immediately.