BYU to take on Pepperdine for a Wednesday Matinee on the Road

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball will face Pepperdine (6-7, 2-2) in the second game of a back-to-back two-game series on Wednesday in Malibu. The Cougars defeated the Waves on Saturday, 65-54. After Pepperdine trimmed a 16-point BYU lead down to just three, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to close out the game.

A WCC-produced broadcast of the game will be on BYUtv at 12 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 (13-3, 4-1 West Coast Conference)

• The Cougars are 13-3, most recently defeating Pepperdine 65-54 at the Marriott Center.
• BYU has wins over Pepperdine, San Francisco, Saint Mary’s, Weber State, Texas Southern, No. 18 San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, St. John’s, Utah Valley, New Orleans and Westminster. The three losses were to USC, Boise State and No. 1 Gonzaga.
• BYU is led by senior guard Alex Barcello who is averaging 15.1 points, 4.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. Barcello is 33-for-64 from beyond the arc. The 52% clip is No. 2 in the nation among players who have shot 60+ threes. 
• Matt Haarms tied a season-high with four blocks against the Waves on Saturday, bringing his season total to 29. If the season were to end today, his 2.1 blocks per game average would place him No. 4 all-time at BYU for an individual season, just beating out Eric Mika’s 1.9 average. The 56 blocks he is on track to finish with would put him at No. 7 all-time, one more than the 55 blocks Noah Hartsock had in 2011-12. 

Head Coach – Mark Pope

• Alma Mater: Kentucky, 1996
• Division I Career Record: 114-67 (6th season)
• Record at BYU: 37-11 (2nd season)

 Pepperdine Notes (6-7, 2-2 West Coast Conference)

• Pepperdine is 6-7, after falling to BYU 65-54 last week.
• Pepperdine has wins this season over Pacific, Portland, Concordia-Irvine, Cal, Saint Katherine, and UC Irvine. Its losses have come to BYU, No. 1 Gonzaga, CSU Bakersfield, UC Santa Barbara, CSUN, San Diego State, and No. 22 UCLA.
• In the first game against BYU, the Waves second half was much cleaner than their first, on both ends of the floor. Pepperdine shot 14% better from the field in the second half, while holding the Cougars to 13% less than what they shot in the first 20 minutes of play. Both teams scored 28 points in the second half.
• Pepperdine is led by guard Colbey Ross and forward Kessler Edwards. In the game on Saturday, Ross scored 21 points, going 7-16 from the field. He also pulled down two rebounds and led the team in assists, with four. Edwards was held in check most of the night, scoring just 11 after dropping 37 two nights earlier. He did, however, finish the night with a double-double, grabbing 10 boards, nine of which coming on the defensive end. He was named the WCC Player of the Week.

Head Coach – Lorenzo Romar

• Alma Mater: Cincinnati, 1992
• Division I Career Record: 429-325 (24th Season)
• Record at Pepperdine: 80-85 (6th Season; 1996-99, 2018-present)

Series Information

• All-Time Series: BYU leads 17-7
• Last Meeting: BYU won 65-54, 1/23/2020
• BYU’s six-game win streak is the second longest in the history of the series. The Cougars won seven straight from 2003-2013, but only four of those games came with BYU as a member of the WCC.
• Waves head coach Lorenzo Romar is 0-6 all-time against the Cougars. In addition to the last four matchups as WCC foes, BYU defeated him when he was at Pepperdine during the 1997-98 season, and again in the first round of the 2013 NIT when he was the head coach of the Washington Huskies.

Broadcast Information

• TV: BYUtv (DirecTV: 374, DISH: 9403) / AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (DirectTV: 683, DISH: 5414)
• TV Talent: JB Long (play-by-play), Wyking Jones (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)
• Live Stats: BYUcougars.com