MALIBU, Calif. – Going for its second sweep of the season, the Pacific men's basketball program heads to Pepperdine for a 5 p.m. tip Saturday at Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
Pacific (15-10, 6-6 WCC) won the first meeting 74-69 over Pepperdine (6-18, 1-10 WCC) at home. It would be Pacific's second conference sweep after already beating Oregon State twice.
 
In the first meeting against the Waves, Pacific made a defensive stand on the final play after senior Justin Rochelin stripped away a steal, ran the floor and scored to put an exclamation point on the win. Senior Elias Ralph tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds.
 
In the current NCAA NET Rankings, Pacific is No. 109 out of 365, while the Waves are No. 273. Since the NCAA NET Rankings came out in 2019-20, Pacific's highest ever finish was No. 110 in 2019-20.
 
Pacific is in a four-way cluster for fourth-place in the conference standings with San Francisco, Oregon State and Washington State. The No. 3-4 seeds earn byes to the fourth round / quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
 
The Tigers are looking to shake-off a 71-56 defeat to Santa Clara in their last outing. It was Pacific's first home loss of the year. Rochelin tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double in the last three games.
 
Despite the home loss, Pacific's .909 winning percentage at home is its highest since 2004-05 when the team went 12-1 (.923). The Tigers are 819-463 all-time at home and 356-230 in the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
Ralph, a WCC Preseason All-Conference Team selection, leads the team in both scoring (16.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg). In two seasons at Pacific, he's scored 901 points and recorded 16 double-doubles. Ralph ranks top-five in the WCC in scoring, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and minutes.
 
Senior Jaden Clayton ranks top-30 in the nation and second in the WCC in assists with 6.0 per game. Senior TJ Wainwright averages in double-figures with 13.5 points per game and is shooting .429 from long range in conference. He's shooting .918 from the free throw line on the year.
 
Senior Isaac Jack leads the team in field goal percentage with a .697 mark. He averages 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per outing.
 
In conference games, Rochelin is averaging 13.3 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting .432 from beyond the arc. He's tallied nine consecutive double-figure scoring games.
 
Pepperdine has dropped a series of very close match-ups as of late, including a 92-88 overtime decision against San Diego and most recently an 83-81 tilt at Seattle. The Waves have a 67-63 home win over Portland.
 
The Waves rank top-30 in the country in free throw percentage with a .769 mark and were 14-of-15 against the Tigers in the first meeting. Aaron Clark and Styles Phipps each average 13.6 points per game.
 
Saturday's game can be watched on ESPN+ or can be heard live for free on Fox Sports AM 1280 with Zack Bayrouty on the call.
 
NOTES
- Pacific is 44-39 all-time against Pepperdine.
 
- The Tigers have outrebounded all 12 conference opponents this season. Pacific ranks top-15 in the nation in rebounding margin with a +9.3 clip.
 
- Pacific has surpassed its overall win total by six games and its conference win total by two games from last season. It's the second year in a row under head coach Dave Smart that the Tigers have increased their win total from the year prior.
 
- The Tigers are 10-0 this year when they have more fast break points and 12-1 when leading at half.
 
- Pacific is 11-0 under Dave Smart in two seasons when holding the opposition to under 60 points and 8-0 this year.
 
- Four different Tigers have recorded a double-double in a game including Jack, Ralph, Rochelin and Wainwright.
 
- Pacific has only used two starting lineups this season. Clayton and junior Kajus Kublickas have flipped at the point guard position.
 
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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