BYU to take on Pepperdine on the road to open WCC play

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball will face Pepperdine (4-5) on Thursday in Malibu for both teams’ West Coast Conference opener. The Cougars are coming off victories over Texas Southern and Weber State last week and are on a four-game winning streak. The Waves are coming off of a loss at home to CSU Bakersfield last week and have lost two in a row.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. PST (this is a change from the initial announcement that the game would be on ESPNU at 2 p.m.). It will also be broadcast live on the BYU Sports Network on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143/89.1 FM HD2 and KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.

BYU Notes (9-2, 0-0 West Coast Conference)

• The Cougars are off to a 9-2 start, most recently defeating Weber State and Texas Southern last week.
• BYU has wins over Weber State, Texas Southern, No. 18 San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, St. John’s, Utah Valley, New Orleans and Westminster. The two losses were to USC and Boise State.
• BYU is led by Alex Barcello who is averaging 16.9 points, 4.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. Barcello has scored 186 points in 11 games, good for No. 6 in the nation in points scored. He is shooting a blistering 63% from beyond the arc, which is No. 1 in the nation among players who have shot 40+ threes. 
• Barcello’s partner in BYU’s backcourt is Brandon Averette. Averette has come up clutch lately in a variety of ways, knocking down a huge three with 52 seconds left against SDSU, then dropping a season-high 30 points against Texas Southern and then racking up a season-high seven assists against Weber State.

Head Coach – Mark Pope

• Alma Mater: Kentucky, 1996
• Division I Career Record: 109-66 (5th season)
• Record at BYU: 32-10 (2nd season)

Pepperdine Notes (4-5, 0-0 West Coast Conference)

• Pepperdine is 4-5, most recently falling to CSU Bakersfield 79-51. It was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Waves. They never led and shot just 33% from the field.
• The Waves’ wins this season have come against Concordia Irvine, Cal, Saint Katherine and UC Irvine. Their losses have come against UCLA (in triple overtime), San Diego State (by five points), CSUN, UC Santa Barbara and CSU Bakersfield.
• Pepperdine is led by senior guard Colbey Ross who’s averaging 19 points per game. He’s averaging 7.2 assists per game and has 65 total assists, which is the third most in the country. He set Pepperdine’s all-time assist record last season as a junior and set the all-time scoring record this season. He’s on the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy watch lists this season.
• Right behind Ross in scoring is junior forward Kessler Edwards at 17.2 point per game. Edwards leads the team in rebounds and blocks.

Head Coach – Lorenzo Romar

• Alma Mater: Cincinnati, 1992
• Division I Career Record: 427-323 (24th Season)
• Record at Pepperdine: 78-83 (3rd Season)

Series Information

• Series Record: BYU leads 14-9
• Last Meeting: BYU won 81-64, 2/29/2020 in Malibu
• BYU has won five straight against Pepperdine, dating back to 2017

Broadcast Information

• TV: ESPN2
• TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Corey Williams (analyst)
• Radio: BYU Sports Network, BYU Radio Sirius XM 143/89.1 FM HD2, KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM
• Streamed Audio: BYURadio.org, BYUCougars.com/LiveRadio and the BYU Radio, BYUCougars and BYU Gameday apps
• Radio Talent: Greg Wrubell (play-by-play), Mark Durrant (analyst)
• Live Stats: BYUcougars.com