Key matchup: Coming off multiple 25-point outings, Pepperdine’s Aaron Clark looking to continue December success

MALIBU, Calif. – Mark Few and his coaching staff probably checked in on Wake Forest in 2023-24 from time to time to watch Hunter Sallis and Efton Reid and keep tabs on how the former Gonzaga players were faring with the Demon Deacons.

Unknowingly, they were also watching three players who’d appear on future Gonzaga scouting reports.

The Zags faced former Wake Forest forward Andrew Carr last season when Kentucky beat GU in overtime at Climate Pledge Arena. Later in the year, Gonzaga dropped another overtime matchup to a team that featured someone on the Demon Deacons’ 2023-24 roster. Center Matthew Marsh logged eight minutes off the bench for Oregon State in a 97-89 upset.

Aaron Clark wasn’t as integral to Wake Forest as Sallis or Reid in 2023-24, but the first-year Pepperdine guard was on Steve Forbes’ roster and planning to be a big part of the Demon Deacons’ future.

But Clark only appeared in seven games as a freshman, entered the transfer portal after the Demon Deacons narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament and committed to first-year Waves coach Ed Schilling in the spring of 2024.

After redshirting last season with an injury, Clark is not only playing his first minutes of significance for Pepperdine, but as a college basketball player. He’ll garner lots of defensive attention from No. 7 Gonzaga (12-1) on Sunday when Mark Few’s team visits Pepperdine (5-8) in the West Coast Conference opener.

Clark may not be on pace to set any efficiency records, but he’s leading the Waves in scoring at 14.5 points per game and had 25 points in two of his last three games, hitting that mark in a 70-62 win over Cal State Bakersfield and then again during an 84-62 victory over Rice. Those also represent two of the Waves’ four wins against Division I programs this season.

Earlier in the season, Clark erupted for a season-high 30 points against Stephen F. Austin, making 9 of 12 shots from the field, 5 of 6 from the 3-point line and 7 of 8 from the free throw line.

Clark’s been boom-or-bust from behind the arc this season. He’s made at least four 3s in two games, but went ice cold against Vermont (1 of 7), Abilene Christian (0 of 7) and Northern Colorado (0 of 6).

If the Zags stick with the same starting lineup they’ve used since the Kentucky game, it’ll likely be Steele Venters or Emmanuel Innocenti attached to Clark on the defensive end. Things probably won’t get any easier for Clark when the Zags bring in reserve guards/wings Tyon Grant-Foster, Adam Miller and Jalen Warley.