BYU to take on San Diego on the road to open WCC play

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball will face San Diego (1-4) on the road on Saturday for the Cougars’ West Coast Conference opener. BYU was supposed to open WCC play on Thursday in Malibu, but COVID issues in the Pepperdine program led to a postponement of the game. The Toreros opened their WCC schedule on Thursday with a loss on the road at San Francisco.

The BYU-San Diego matchup will be broadcast on Stadium at 5 p.m. PST. 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)

San Diego Notes (1-4, 0-0 West Coast Conference)

• San Diego is 1-4, after falling to San Francisco 70-62 on Thursday. The Toreros led at the half and stood toe-to-toe with the Dons through much of the game, eventually surrendering a 17-6 run that proved costly.
• The Toreros have had their three games in a row cancelled before the San Francisco matchup, not having played since Dec. 19.
• Their lone victory this season came against Cal Poly. Their other losses have come to UC Irvine, UCLA and Nevada.
• Junior guard Joey Calcaterra leads the Toreros in scoring this season, averaging 15.2 points per game. He’s scored in double figures in all five games this season.
• This will be the 22nd all-time meeting between the Cougars and Toreros. BYU won the most previous matchup last season in San Diego 72-71 on a last-minute dunk from Yoeli Childs.

Head Coach – Sam Scholl

• Alma Mater: San Diego, 2001
• Division I Career Record: 33-43 (3rd Season)
• Record at San Diego: 33-43 (3rd Season)

Series Information

• Series Record: BYU leads 15-6
• Last Meeting: BYU won 72-71, 2/15/2020 in San Diego

Broadcast Information

• TV: Stadium
• TV Talent: Steve Quis (play-by-play) and Richie Schueler (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