BOCA RATON, Fla. – In its first of three games of the Geico Sunshine Slam, the Pacific men's basketball program faces Florida Atlantic at 4 p.m. (PT) Thursday at Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
 
Pacific will spend a week in Florida as it heads to Daytona Beach on Monday for a neutral court game against Stony Brook at 8:30 a.m. (PT) at the Ocean Center. Pacific will remain in Daytona Beach to play either Bethune-Cookman or Jacksonville in the finale Tuesday.
 
Thursday's game against Florida Atlantic will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Monday and Tuesday's games can be seen on BallerTV. All three matches can be heard live for free on Fox Sports AM 1280 with Zack Bayrouty on the calls.
 
Pacific is coming off an 85-73 road win at Cal State Fullerton. It was a wire-to-wire victory as the Tigers built a 20-point halftime lead. Senior TJ Wainwright drained a season-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. It was Pacific's first road win since Nov. 10, 2023 when it knocked off Cal 87-79.
 
The Tigers are going for their third consecutive win. The streak started with a 69-66 victory over Long Beach State where they were able to overcome a cold 3-of-20 (.150) night from long range. Pacific trailed by 11 at the 14:38 mark of the second half before rallying back.
 
Pacific's only loss was a tough 78-77 nail-biter at Nevada. The Tigers had two looks at the rim in closing seconds but couldn't get one to go as the buzzer sounded.
 
Senior Elias Ralph, who was named to the WCC Preseason All-Conference Team, leads Pacific in points (18.7 ppg), rebounding (7.8 rpg), blocks (1.8 bpg) and minutes played (34.2 mpg). He's shooting .556 (10-18) from long range and has a pair of 20-plus scoring performances so far.
 
FAU (3-1) has wins this year over Boston College 83-78 (OT), Charleston 94-77 and Coastal Georgia 92-63. Its only loss was an 88-68 decision at Liberty. Sophomore guard Devin Vanterpool leads the squad with 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
 
Pacific's next home game is against Sacramento State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29. The Tigers are 811-462 all-time at home, 348-229 in the Alex G. Spanos Center and 2-0 this season. Pacific is 31-8 all-time against Sac State and 20-3 at home. The last meeting was a 74-58 home win on Dec. 1, 2016.
 
NOTES
- The Tigers will play their first-ever game in the state of Florida as a program. It will be Pacific's first game against a school from Florida since Nov. 10, 2019 when it beat Florida A&M 76-54 on a neutral floor in Manoa, Hawaii. The Tigers are 2-1 all-time against schools from Florida with a win over Florida International in 1988 but a loss to Miami in 2013 - both on neutral courts.
 
- Ralph leads the WCC in minutes per game and ranks top five in rebounding, blocks and three-point percentage.
 
- Senior Jaden Clayton ranks first in the WCC in assists with 7.0 per game. He dished out a season-high 11 at Nevada. Clayton scores 9.0 points per outing with a season-high 13 against Life Pacific.
 
- Wainwright averages in double-figures with 13.5 points per game. He's scored in double-figures in three of four games and has hit at least one three in each outing.
 
- In the season opening win over Life Pacific, the Tigers held a wide 44-20 margin in points in the paint and a 16-0 edge in fast break points. Pacific won its season and home opener by exactly 27 points for the second year in a row. Last year, in head coach Dave Smart's debut, the Tigers beat Jessup 92-65.
 
- The new-look Tigers reloaded with 15 newcomers this year, which included 10 transfers and five freshmen. They have Division I transfers from Binghamton, Dayton, Florida, Lamar, Long Beach State, Maine, UC San Diego and Washington. Most notably, junior Kajus Kublickas was part of a national championship team last season with the Gators.
                  
Tigers Tickets
Tickets for upcoming events can be purchased through the PacificTigers.com tickets tab, or by calling the Box Office at 209-946-2474.  Groups of 10 or more are eligible for a group discount and exclusive fan experiences.
 
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