SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team (23-9, 11-5) closed out their 2020 regular season in style on Saturday night, taking down University of San Diego (9-22, 2-14) to reach the 23-win mark for the first time since 2009-10.

Locking up the fourth seed in the upcoming WCC Tournament, the Tigers will receive a double-bye and will play on Saturday, Mar. 7. They await their opponent following the release of the final conference standings on Sunday afternoon.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
 
First Half-

• Getting the Tigers on the board, junior James Hampshire laid home the first points of the game for Pacific on a beautiful assist from freshman Daniss Jenkins just 54 seconds into play.
• Following baskets from junior Justin Moore, graduate transfer Austin Vereen and senior Jahlil Tripp, UOP jumped out to a commanding 10-0 lead at the 15:46 mark.
• Keeping stride, Tripp knocked down another jump shot at 11:32 as Pacific held an eight-point advantage, 20-12, nearing the midway point.
• Coming off the bench, graduate transfer Gary Chivichyan nailed his first shot from behind-the-arc with 6:28 remaining in the half as the Tigers remained out in front, 23-19.
• Finding his rhythm as the clock wound down, Tripp nearly recorded a first half double- double as the Brooklyn, N.Y. native notched 14 points and 8 rebounds to help Pacific to a three-point halftime lead, 36-33.

Second Half-

• Regaining their momentum from the opening minutes of the game, Tripp and Hampshire both scored to begin the second half as the Tigers were out in front of the Toreros, 40-35, at the 17:35 mark.
• Approaching the halfway point, sophomore Jahbril Price-Noel sunk a pair of free throws to keep Pacific on top, 49-45, at 11:30.
• Exactly two minutes later, Vereen hit arguably the most important shot of the night as the Washington, D.C. native cashed in from deep to give UOP the lead back following a run by USD, 52-49.
• Using the comfort of his hometown to his advantage, Moore, who is a San Diego native, netted back-to-back baskets to extend Pacific's lead to six with a little under six minutes remaining in regulation.
• Providing a spark, graduate transfer Shaquillo Fritz delivered two crowd-silencing dunks down the home stretch, helping the Tigers stay on top of the Toreros, 67-57, with 1:57 on the game clock.
• Locking in when it mattered most, Pacific went on to secure the victory by a final score of 71-64.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Notching his 10th double-double of the season, Tripp was named the City of Stockton Human Resources Hardworking Player of the Game after finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Furthermore, it was also his ninth 20-point outing of the season and the 22nd time he has reached double figures.
• Additionally, Price-Noel converted 7 of his 8 free throws in route to tallying 9 total points in the victory over the Toreros.
• Playing as a team throughout the contest, UOP led USD in points off turnovers (9-8), second chance points (13-3), bench points (26-17) and points in the paint (42-30).
• With the win, Pacific has now swept four different teams this season in conference play: Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Portland and San Diego. Overall, this Tigers have also not achieved this feat since rejoining the conference.
• Flexing its muscle, the WCC is now home to five teams with 20+ wins: Gonzaga (29), BYU (24), Saint Mary's (24), Pacific (23) and San Francisco (20). Looking at it, this has happened for only the fourth time in conference history, but is now the third consecutive year it has occurred. However, this is the first time five teams have recorded 20 + wins during regular season play. 

UP NEXT:
For the first time since rejoining the WCC in 2013-14, the Tigers will head into the WCC Tournament as a top-four seed, securing a spot to play on Saturday, Mar. 7. All rounds of the tournament will be played at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Viewing and live stat options will be available via pacifictigers.com.
 
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