The Providence Friars are firmly in their woes right now. Ed Cooley’s bunch has been mired in a three-game losing streak that’s stretched out for over the last week. Losses to the Penn Quakers, Long Beach State and the College of Charleston Cougars have put PC in a rather rare spot. They’ve not been 4-4 through their first eight games of a season since the 2005-06 campaign, when Tim Welsh’s Friars wound up finishing the year 12-15. And they’ve not been 4-5 since the 1999-00 season, when they finished out the season 11-19.

Simply put, this is uncharted territory for these Friars. And they’ll look to avoid embarking further into it Sunday afternoon out in SoCal when they face the Pepperdine Waves. Pepperdine is mired in a four-game losing streak right now, as they’ve taken losses to the USC Trojans, Sacramento State Hornets, Arizona Wildcats and UCF Knights. With a loss to the California Golden Bears, the Waves are 3-5 at this juncture in the season. So Sunday’s matchup will feature two teams who are riding the struggle bus at the moment.

Kameron Edwards and Kessler Edwards will be the ones to watch for the Waves in this one. The two have been rather good out in SoCal, even if their win-loss record doesn’t suggest it. Kameron scored 21 points against the Arizona Wildcats while Kessler dropped 15. Then, against the Knights, Kessler dropped 21 while Kameron put up 12. The Friars will likely have to keep both of them in check if they want to emerge victorious in this game.

The Friars will also just simply have to play better. Their shooting has been very woeful of late, as they’ve converted on just 44 of their 116 field goal attempts in this tournament. A sub-.400 field goal percentage will just not cut it, so they have to get their shotmaking down big time.

HOW TO WATCH

Time: 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT

TV: ESPNU

Watch Online: WatchESPN

ODDS

Spread: Providence -7.5

Total: 149

Moneyline: Providence -350 | Pepperdine +275