BYU to face Pepperdine in WCC Tournament semifinals

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball will face Pepperdine (12-11, 8-6) in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament Monday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Cougars and Waves split their regular season series with BYU winning 65-54 in Provo and Pepperdine winning 76-73 in Malibu.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 9 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 (19-5, 10-3 West Coast Conference)

• The Cougars are 19-5, most recently defeating Saint Mary’s at home 65-51.
• BYU is the No. 2 seed in the WCC Tournament for the second consecutive season.
• BYU has wins over LMU, Portland (twice), Pacific (twice), Pepperdine, San Francisco (twice), Saint Mary’s (twice), Weber State, Texas Southern, No. 18 San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, St. John’s, Utah Valley, New Orleans and Westminster. The four losses were to USC, Boise State, No. 1 Gonzaga (twice) and Pepperdine.
• BYU is led by senior guard Alex Barcello who is averaging 15.7 points, 4.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 29 points where he was 7-for-7 beyond the arc, a BYU record for most 3-pointers in a game without a miss, two games ago against San Francisco.
• Brandon Averette and Matt Haarms, BYU’s other two senior leaders along with Barcello, are the next behind Barcello in scoring with 11.4 and 11.0 points per game respectively.
• Barcello was named to the WCC First Team. Averette and Haarms were named to the WCC Second Team. Haarms was the WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
• Haarms is coming off a season-high-tying five blocks against Saint Mary’s.
• All-WCC Freshman Team awardee Caleb Lohner has led the team in rebounding all season, averaging 6.8 boards per game. Lohner had a breakout game offensively against Pacific two weeks ago, racking up a career-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. He followed that up with an 18-point performance against LMU, continuing to shoot lights-out from the field. 
• BYU is one of only 11 Div. I teams currently in the KenPom top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
• The Cougars have had seven different players lead them in scoring in the last eight games.
• BYU’s bench production has been big this season, outscoring opponents in 21 of 24 games played.
• BYU has never lost back-to-back games in the Mark Pope era and has the third-longest active streak of games played without consecutive losses at 58. The two teams above them are Houston and Gonzaga.

Head Coach – Mark Pope

• Alma Mater: Kentucky, 1996
• Division I Career Record: 120-69 (6th season)
• Record at BYU: 43-13 (2nd season)

 Pepperdine Notes (12-11, 8-6 West Coast Conference)

• Pepperdine is 12-11, most recently defeating Santa Clara 78-70 in the the WCC quarterfinals.
• Pepperdine is the No. 4 seed in the WCC Tournament.
• The Waves have wins this season over San Diego, Saint Mary’s, San Francisco, BYU, Pacific, Portland (twice), Concordia-Irvine, Cal, Saint Katherine, and UC Irvine. Its losses have come to LMU, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, BYU, No. 1 Gonzaga (twice), CSU Bakersfield, UC Santa Barbara, CSUN, San Diego State, and No. 22 UCLA.
• Pepperdine is led by guard Colbey Ross and forward Kessler Edwards. Ross is a Top 5 WCC scorer, averaging 18 points per game. Edwards is averaging 16.6 points per game. They’re the only two Waves in double figures.
• With Ross’s game-high 25 points against Santa Clara in the quarterfinals, he is now the leading scorer in WCC Tournament history.

Head Coach – Lorenzo Romar

• Alma Mater: Cincinnati, 1992
• Division I Career Record: 435-329 (24th Season)
• Record at Pepperdine: 86-89 (6th Season; 1996-99, 2018-present)

Series Information

• All-Time Series: BYU leads 17-8

Broadcast Information

• TV: ESPN2
• TV Talent: Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Sean Farnham (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