STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball team opens West Coast Conference play as it hosts BYU at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29, and Loyola Marymount at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
The Tigers (7-8), currently on a three-game winning streak, closed out non-conference action with a 74-65 win at Lamar on December 20. Luke Avdalovic led the Tigers offensively against the Cardinals with a team-high 15 points. Scoring all of his points from beyond the three-point line, Avdalovic shot 62.5 percent (five-for-eight) from the field and gathered two rebounds.
Recording 12 three-point baskets in the last three games, Avdalovic continues to rank first in the conference with a 59.7 three-point shooting percentage. The senior from Folsom, Calif., ranks second in the WCC with 37 made three-pointers as he is one of five players in the conference to tally 35 or more three-point baskets this season.
Keylan Boone poured in 14 points in the win over the Cardinals as he registered another efficient shooting performance. Boone shot 75 percent (six-for-eight) from the field while connecting on two of his three three-point attempts. The junior from Tulsa, Okla., has accumulated 48 total points in the last four games and leads the team in scoring, averaging 10.8 points per game.
BYU enters Thursday's contest on a five-game winning streak after defeating Weber State at home last week, 63-57, to close out the non-conference schedule. The Cougars (10-5) are one of six teams in the conference that has surpassed the 10-win mark and currently sit in sixth place in the conference standings.
Four players are averaging in double figures for the Cougars as Rudi Williams leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game. The Coastal Carolina transfer has recorded three 20-point performances this season, including scoring a season-high 26 points in wins over #21 Creighton and Utah.
Fousseyni Traore leads the team and ranks 61st in the country in rebounds per game, averaging 8.4. Traore, a scoring threat averaging 13.1 points per game, has accumulated four double-doubles this season. The last came in a win over #21 Creighton on December 10 when he scored 11 points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds.
The Tigers have defeated the Cougars six times in the history between the two programs, with the last coming in a 76-73 victory at the Alex G. Spanos Center on January 29 of the 2021-22 season. Nick Blake led the Tigers in the win with a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds as the Tigers dominated the Cougars throughout the contest.
Rounding out the first weekend of conference action, Pacific faces off against Loyola Marymount. The Lions (10-4), entering conference play winning four of their last five games, closed out the non-conference schedule with an impressive 76-64 win over Tulsa last week.
Cam Shelton leads the Lions and ranks third in the conference in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game. Making the jump statistically in his second season with the team, Shelton has scored 20 or more points in seven of the last nine games, including a season-high 26 in wins over Grand Canyon and Morgan State.
Shelton also leads the charge defensively, leading the team in steals with 27 and ranking second on the team in total rebounds with 37.
Loyola Marymount holds a 35-28 advantage over Pacific in the all-time series, as the two teams split the regular season series a season ago. The Tigers earned a narrow 69-68 win over the Lions at home on February 19 before dropping the rematch in Los Angeles a week later. The teams also faced off at the Orleans Arena in the first round of the WCC Championships, with the Lions coming out on top.
For more information about the 2022-23 season and future events, follow Pacific men's basketball on social media and download the Pacific Athletics mobile app.
