LAS VEGAS – Postseason play will get underway Thursday for the Pacific men's basketball program when the ninth-seeded Tigers face eighth-seeded Pepperdine in the first round of the 2024 Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship at 2:30 p.m. at Orleans Arena.
 
Pacific (6-25, 0-16 WCC) will look to knock Pepperdine (12-19, 5-11 WCC) out of the conference tournament for the second year in a row. In the first round last season, sophomore Moe Odum netted 22 points in an 84-71 victory.
 
Josh Newman was named interim head coach on Monday. He's been on the coaching staff since 2021 and was elevated to associate head coach in Nov. 2023. Prior to Pacific, he spent three years as the head coach at Texas Permian Basin and 12 seasons as head coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith; over the 15 years, he tallied 277 wins and won seven conference championships.
 
Odum ranks third in the West Coast Conference in both assists (4.6 apg) and assist:turnover ratio (2.5). With 19 points and 10 assists in the WCC opener against San Francisco, he became the first student-athlete at Pacific to submit a double-double in points and assists since Pierre Crockrell II posted 10 points and 10 assists against Portland on Feb. 13, 2020.
 
Senior Donovan Williams led the team in scoring both on the season (9.9 ppg) and conference games (11.6 ppg). He's scored at least 13 points in four of the last five games. Williams is coming off a 15-point performance in the regular season finale at San Diego.
 
Freshman Tan Yildizoglu is coming off a career game where he registered three career-highs of 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against the Toreros. He logged a career-high 27:53 minutes.
 
Over the last seven games, senior Jalen Brown is 16-of-30 (.533) from the floor and 12-of-22 (.545) from three-point range. It included a career-high 17 points at home against San Diego on Feb. 10.
 
Senior Judson Martindale is the team's leading three-point shooter after making a team-high 40 on the season and shooting for a .374 clip. In conference, he was 19-of-49 (.388).
 
Graduate Greg Outlaw returned to the lineup Feb. 15 after missing the previous four games due to illness. Since his return (the last four games), he's 15-of-27 (.591) from the floor and is coming off a season-high 15 points against LMU. Though, he missed the regular season finale at San Diego.
 
Junior Cam Denson is the team's leading rebounder with 4.8 per outing and also averages 8.7 points per game. He's registered a pair of double-doubles on the season including 23 points and 10 rebounds last week against Pepperdine on 10-of-14 shooting.
 
Pepperdine dropped its season finale 83-57 at first-place St. Mary's. Michael Ajayi leads the team in both scoring and rebounding with 17.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per outing. He registered 30 points and 17 rebounds in the last meeting against the Tigers on Feb. 21.
 
The winner of the Pacific and Pepperdine game will advance to the second round to take-on fifth-seeded San Diego at 6 p.m. Friday.

Thursday's game can be watched live on ESPN+ with J.B. Long and Darren Collison on the call. It can also be heard live for free on Fox Sports AM 1280 with Zack Bayrouty as the voice for the Tigers.
 
NOTES
- Since rejoining the league in 2013-14, Pepperdine is the only team Pacific has ever beaten in the WCC Tournament. The Tigers topped the Waves 89-84 in 2016-17 for their only other WCC Tournament win.
 
- The Tigers are 43-36 all-time against the Waves including 6-3 on a neutral court.
 
- Prior to Pacific's final home game against LMU, the Tigers held a special pre-game ceremony for Nick Blake, Brown, Denson, senior Lesown Hallums, Jr., Outlaw and Williams. At halftime, Pacific honored its Class of 2024 Hall of Fame inductees which included the 2003-06 men's basketball teams.
 
- The Tigers are 5-2 this season when leading at half. Over the least three seasons, Pacific is 25-10 when leading at half, 22-13 when it makes more threes than the opposition and 6-0 when holding the opposition to under 60 points.
 
- Pacific is 3-1 this season in games decided by one possession (three points or less).
 
- Pacific's home game against Gonzaga on Jan. 27 was part of a national Coaches vs. Cancer Week initiative benefiting the American Cancer Society. The Pacific men's basketball staff wore Suits & Sneakers to raise awareness.
 
- Pacific's non-conference slate was highlighted by an 87-79 road victory over Cal on Nov. 10. It was the first win over Cal in 11 tries dating back to Dec. 10, 1954 when the Tigers won 82-77 in Berkeley 69 seasons ago. It was Pacific's first win over a Pac-12 opponent since Dec. 17, 1994 when it beat Oregon State at home 72-66.
 
- The Tigers have used 13 different starting lineups this year.
 
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