STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball team starts the sixth week of conference play at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, when it hosts Pepperdine at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The team will then travel east, facing off against BYU at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Marriott Center.
The Tigers (11-12, 4-4) are coming off an upset win over Santa Clara last Saturday, earning a win at the Leavey Center for the first time since the 2017-18 season with a 95-89 triumph. After the victory, Pacific is now tied with Santa Clara for fourth place in the league standings, only trailing #18 Saint Mary's, #12 Gonzaga, and LMU.
Keylan Boone and Luke Avdalovic led the team in scoring while guiding the Tigers to their largest point total of the season. Boone, tying his career-high of 27 points, shot 71.4 percent (10-for-14) from the field against the Broncos while knocking down six three-point baskets. The junior from Tulsa, Okla., propelled the team with 19 second-half points and helped the Tigers fend off multiple Bronco scoring runs with three rebounds, one steal, and a block.
Avdalovic surpassed the 20-point threshold for the second time this season as he tallied 23 points in 36 minutes. Shooting 61.5 percent (eight-for-13) from the field, Avdalovic was also 55.5 percent from distance, connecting on five of his nine attempts from beyond the three-point line. After a stellar shooting performance against the Broncos, the redshirt senior from Folsom, Calif., continues to lead the conference with a 56.8 three-point percentage.
Judson Martindale and Donovan Williams also reached double figures for the Tigers, scoring 17 and 11 points, respectively. Martindale shot over 70 percent from the field for the third time in the last five games, while Williams led the team with four made free throws.
Pepperdine enters Thursday's contest in 10th place in the conference standings after dropping an 84-70 decision to LMU last Saturday. Dating back to last season, the Waves (7-16, 0-9) have lost 15 straight WCC regular season games, with the previous win coming on February 5, 2022, at home against the Tigers. The team has lost every conference contest this season by an average of 13.1 points.
Maxwell Lewis leads the Waves offensively and ranks fourth in the WCC with 18.7 points per game. Bumping his scoring average by over eight points from last season, Lewis has scored 20 or more points in 12 games while reaching a season-high 30 twice.
Houston Mallette ranks second on the team in scoring, averaging 13 points per game, while Mike Mitchell Jr. leads the team with a 43.1 three-point percentage and averages 10.9 points per game.
Defensively, Carson Basham leads the team and ranks first in the conference in blocks with 28. Jevon Porter leads the team in rebounds per game at 6.8 and total rebounds with 157.
Facing off the 77th time in program history, the Tigers have a slight edge over the Waves, winning 42 games since the first-ever meeting during the 1947-48 season.
In the first meeting this season, Pacific defeated Pepperdine, 80-75, on January 7 at the Firestone Fieldhouse. Martindale led the team with a season-high 19 points, while Moe Odum added 11 points and four assists. Tyler Beard came off the bench and tallied a crucial 11 points for the Tigers as he connected on two of his three-point attempts.
BYU is coming off a third-straight loss after falling to Saint Mary's, 57-56, last weekend. During their three-game losing skid, The Cougars (14-10, 4-5) are giving up 74 points per game while being outscored 222-206.
Four players are averaging in double figures as Rudi Williams, and Fousseyni Traore lead the Cougars with 12.3 points per game. Gideon George (11.3 points per game) and Spencer Johnson (11.1 points per game) have also helped lift the Cougars offensively through 24 games.
Traore leads the team and ranks 98th in the nation in rebounds per game, averaging 7.8. Traore, a true scoring threat, has accumulated five double-doubles this season.
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.
In the first meeting this season, the Cougars bested the Tigers in Stockton, earning a 69-49 win to open WCC play on December 29, 2022.
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.
