Box Score PROVO, Utah- The Pacific men's basketball team (5-4, 2-3) gave the BYU Cougars (14-4, 5-2) all they could handle at the Marriott Center on Saturday night in Provo. Pacific led at halftime and had the ball with a chance to win in the first overtime, but ultimately it was the Cougars who prevailed in a double overtime thriller. 
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 

• Both Pacific and BYU got off to sluggish starts offensively in the first half with the Tigers shooting 41.9 percent from the field while BYU shot just 34.5 percent in the opening stanza, with each team enduring long scoring droughts. Of BYU's 10 made field goals, however, seven came from three-point range. Pacific saw just three of its 10 attempts connect from beyond the arc in the first half, a period in which the Tigers limited the Cougars to just two points in the paint.
• After Pacific struck the first blow in the second half on a three-point play converted by senior Brock Finstuen, BYU proceeded to go on a 7-0 run capped off by a three from Connor Harding to take a 38-35 lead. Over the next few minutes BYU would set the pace by maintaining a short lead, but Pacific, despite prolonged dry spells, would not fall far behind. After Brandon Averette sank a three at the 13:44 mark to make it a 43-39 BYU lead, Jordan Bell would answer with a three of his own two minutes later to draw the Tigers back to within one at 43-42. 
• BYU would stretch the lead to four again on back-to-back made jumpers by Gideon George and Matt Haarms to make it 49-45 with 9:29 to go, but at the 8:35 mark, junior Jahbril Price-Noel sank a three to again draw the Tigers to within one at 49-48. With 7:59 to go, Richard Howard converted a shot in the paint to give BYU a 51-48 advantage, but at the 6:37 mark, Bell was fouled on a made three-pointer and sank the free throw to complete a four-point play that gave Pacific a 52-51 lead. 
• Trailing by a point with 4:56 remaining, Price-Noel hit another three that gave the Tigers a 57-55 edge. Price-Noel struck again at the 3:47 mark with a made jumper that gave Pacific a 61-58 lead heading into the final media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Gideon found his way to the paint for a bucket that cut the Pacific lead to one, and after an ensuing Pacific turnover, Alex Barcello got to the line and made a pair of free throws that gave BYU the lead back at 62-61 with 2:46 remaining. 
• With Pacific trailing 64-62 with one minute to go, senior Justin Moore came up with a steal and threw a long outlet pass to sophomore Daniss Jenkins who converted a layup that tied the game at 64 apiece. Jenkins would go on to miss a floater in the paint with 11 seconds to go, setting up BYU with a trip down the floor on which Caleb Lohner was fouled in the act of shooting by senior Jeremiah Bailey with three seconds left. Lohner, however, would miss both free throws which sent the game into overtime.
• In the first overtime, Pacific trailed 68-66 before Price-Noel converted on a jumper in the paint with 3:28 to go to tie the score at 68-68. After Barcello scored to give BYU the lead back, Bell laid it off the glass with 2:28 remaining to once again tie the score. 
• Pacific got another made bucket from Price-Noel with 1:20 remaining to take a 74-73 lead, and they got the ball back with :35 seconds remaining after back-to-back missed free throws by Howard with a chance to add to the lead. Moore would get to the line with :25 seconds remaining and go 1-for-2 on the trip to make it a 75-73 Pacific advantage. The Cougars, though, would see Barcello sneak past the defense for a layup with 19 seconds remaining that tied the game at 75-75. Once again, Pacific had a chance to win the game in the waning seconds, but a missed 16-foot jumper by Price-Noel sent the game into a second overtime. 
• Without Bell, Bailey or Nigel Shadd available in double overtime, BYU would outscore Pacific 20-12 in the second bonus period as they opened double overtime on a 5-2 run. With the Cougars leading 88-83, Averette hit a three-pointer with 1:18 remaining to extend the BYU lead to 91-83, their largest lead of the night. The lead got to as big as 10 in the final minute for the Cougars before they would ultimately prevail by a final score of 95-87.

 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Bell was tabbed the Hardworking Player of the Game after notching his second double-double of the year with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist.

• Moore would end the game as Pacific's leading scorer with 18 points on 6-for-16 from the floor and 5-for-8 from the line. 
• Price-Noel tallied 16, including a 3-for-5 effort from beyond the arc, while Jenkins score in double figures for the 8^th time in 9 games this season with 13 points. 
• Overall, Jenkins and Bailey also set season-highs in minutes played with 47 and 40 respectively.

 
UP NEXT:
Pacific's next scheduled game is set for Saturday, Feb. 6 when they travel to San Diego to take on the Toreros at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. PST. Live stream, live stats and radio links will be available via pacifictigers.com
 
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For more updates and more information on the 2020-21 Pacific men's basketball team, be sure to follow @PacificMensBB on Twitter, @pacificmensbb on Instagram and @PacificMensBB on Facebook.