USBWA District VIII Coach of the Year Mark Pope | Finished 2019/20 Ranked No. 18/16 | Three All-WCC First Team Honorees Jon McBride, BYU Athletic Communications | C: (801) 866-4932 | [email protected] | 331 SAB | Provo, UT | 84602 2020-21 BYU SCHEDULE UP NEXT FOR THE 13-3 COUGARS — PEPPERDINE Overall: 13-3 | Home: 8-1 | Away: 4-1 | Neutral: 2-1 All times local to site BYU men’s basketball will face Pepperdine (6-7, 2-2) in the second game of a back-to-back two-game series on Wednesday in Malibu. The Cougars defeated the Waves on Saturday, 65-54. After Pepperdine trimmed a 16-point Date Day Opponent Score W/L Time Network BYU lead down to just three, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to close out the game. N25 Wed Westminster 108-59 W 6pm BYUtv N26 Thu New Orleans 86-61 W 7pm BYUtv BYU NOTES (13-3, 4-1 West Coast Conference) N28 Sat Utah Valley 82-60 W 7pm BYUtv D1 Tue vs. USC+ 79-53 L 2:30pm ESPN2 • The Cougars are 13-3, most recently defeating Pepperdine 65-54 at the Marriott Center. D2 Thu vs. St, John’s 74-68 W 5pm ESPN2 • BYU has wins over Pepperdine, San Francisco, Saint Mary’s, Weber State, Texas Southern, No. 18 San Diego D5 Sat at Utah State 67-64 W 7pm MWC State, Utah, Utah State, St. John’s, Utah Valley, New Orleans and Westminster. The three losses were to USC, D9 Wed Boise State 74-70 L 7pm BYUtv Boise State and No. 1 Gonzaga. D12 Sat Utah 82-64 W 4pm BYUtv • BYU is led by senior guard Alex Barcello who is averaging 15.1 points, 4.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. D18 Fri at San Diego State 72-62 W 2pm CBSSN Barcello is 33-for-64 from beyond the arc. The 52% clip is No. 2 in the nation among players who have shot 60+ D21 Mon Texas Southern 87-71 W 7pm BYUtv threes. • Matt Haarms tied a season-high with four blocks against the Waves on Saturday, bringing his season total to D23 Wed vs. Weber State# 87-79 W 5pm BYUtv 29. If the season were to end today, his 2.1 blocks per game average would place him No. 4 all-time at BYU for J7 Thu Gonzaga 86-69 L 5pm ESPN an individual season, just beating out Eric Mika’s 1.9 average. The 56 blocks he is on track to finish with would J14 Thu at Saint Mary’s 62-52 W 8pm ESPN2 put him at No. 7 all-time, one more than the 55 blocks Noah Hartsock had in 2011-12. J16 Sat at San Francisco 72-63 W 5pm ESPN J21 Thu Portland 95-67 W 7pm CBSSN PEPPERDINE (6-7, 2-2 West Coast Conference) J23 Sat Pepperdine 65-54 W 8pm ESPN* J27 Wed at Pepperdine 12pm TBD • Pepperdine is 6-7, after falling to BYU 65-54 last week. J30 Sat San Francisco 4pm CBSSN • Pepperdine has wins this season over Pacific, Portland, Concordia-Irvine, Cal, Saint Katherine, and UC Irvine. Its F2 Tue at San Diego 6pm Stadium losses have come to BYU, No. 1 Gonzaga, CSU Bakersfield, UC Santa Barbara, CSUN, San Diego State, and No. F4 Thu at Portland TBD Stadium 22 UCLA. F8 Mon Pacific TBD BYUtv • In the first game against BYU, the Waves second half was much cleaner than their first, on both ends of the F11 Thu Saint Mary’s 9pm ESPN* floor. Pepperdine shot 14% better from the field in the second half, while holding the Cougars to 13% less than F13 Sat San Diego TBD TBD what they shot in the first 20 minutes of play. Both teams scored 28 points in the second half. F18 Thu at Pacific TBD CBSSN • Pepperdine is led by guard Colbey Ross and forward Kessler Edwards. In the game on Saturday, Ross scored F20 Sat at Loyola Marymount TBD CBSSN 21 points, going 7-16 from the field. He also pulled down two rebounds and led the team in assists, with four. F25 Thu Santa Clara TBD CBSSN Edwards was held in check most of the night, scoring just 11 after dropping 37 two nights earlier. He did, how- F27 Sat Gonzaga 8pm ESPN* ever, finish the night with a double-double, grabbing 10 boards, nine of which coming on the defensive end. He M4-9 WCC Championships was named the WCC Player of the Week. + Legends Classic Presented by Old Trapper Head Coach – Lorenzo Romar # at Vivint Smart Home Arena • Alma Mater: Cincinnati, 1992 * Specific ESPN Network to be determined at a later date • Division I Career Record: 429-325 (24th Season) WCC Game • Record at Pepperdine: 80-85 (6th Season; 1996-99, 2018-present) BYU QUICK FACTS SERIES INFORMATION BYU Cougars (13-3, 4-1 WCC) • All-Time Series: BYU leads 17-7 • Head Coach: Mark Pope • Last Meeting: BYU won 65-54, 1/23//2020 • Alma Mater: Kentucky, 1996 • BYU’s six-game win streak is the second longest in the history of the series. The Cougars won seven straight • Division I Career Record: 114-67 (6th Season) from 2003-2013, but only four of those games came with BYU as a member of the WCC. • Waves head coach Lorenzo Romar is 0-6 all-time against the Cougars. In addition to the last four matchups • Record at BYU: 37-11 (2nd Season) as WCC foes, BYU defeated him when he was at Pepperdine during the 1997-98 season, and again in the first • No. 18/16 AP/USA Today Coaches Polls in 2019-20 round of the 2013 NIT when he was the head coach of the Washington Huskies. BROADCAST INFORMATION TV/Streaming: BYUtv RADIO: BYU Sports Network LAST WEEK’S STARTERS AND STATS BYURadio SiriusXM 143, BYURadio.org/BYURadio app, BYUCou- gars.com/BYU Cougars app, KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM SOCIAL MEDIA Website: BYUcougars.com Facebook: /BYUBasketball | /BYUCougars Twitter: @BYUBasketball | @BYUCougars Instagram: @BYUCougars 3 4 13 40 21 Matt Haarms Hashtags: #BYUHoops #GoCougs Brandon Averette Alex Barcello Kolby Lee Trevin Knell 7-3 / 240 / C / Sr. 5-11 / 185 / G / Sr. 6-2 / 180 / G / Sr. 6-9 / 240 / F / Jr. 6-5 / 190 / G / So. Amsterdam, Netherlands Richardson, Texas Chandler, Arizona Meridian, Idaho Woods Cross, Utah Follow @BYUGameNotes on Twitter for in-game Cougar achievements, milestones and notes. P R Blk P R A P R A P R A P R A 11.5 4.1 2.1 10.4 3.1 3.1 15.1 4.6 4.6 4.9 2.8 1.3 5.4 1.9 1.3 #BYUHoops 1 BYU BASKETBALL NOTES SENIOR SPOTLIGHTS BYU BASKETBALL 2020-21 PREVIEW Brandon Averette BYU men’s basketball enters year two of the Mark Pope era with a promising roster in what will likely be one of the most • Played his junior season at Utah Valley in 2019-20 unique seasons in college basketball history. In 2019-20, Pope led the Cougars to a final national ranking of No. 18/16 in the • Earned a spot on the All-WAC Newcomer Team AP/USA Today Coaches polls and a 24-8 overall record. BYU was poised to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time • Averaged 12.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.0 as- since 2016 until the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. sists while adding 27 steals • Posted season highs of 23 points, six rebounds, Preseason Recognition seven assists and three steals Several Cougars have earned recognition heading into the 2020-21 season. Senior center Matt Haarms has been named one • Played his freshman and sophomore seasons of 20 watch list members for the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball (2016-18) at Oklahoma State Hall of Fame. In the WCC Preseason Polls, BYU was picked to finish second and senior guard Alex Barcello was named to the • As a sophomore in 2017-18, averaged 6.3 points, Preseason All-WCC Team. Finally, college basketball writer Jon Rothstein named Mark Pope one of 12 coaches on the rise 1.8 rebounds and a team-best 2.9 assists per entering 2020-21. Check out a position breakdown below. game • Played in all 36 games with six starts on a team Point Guard that finished 21-15 overall and advanced to the The lead guard position will be captained by a pair of seniors who will likely play together for a majority of the minutes. Alex third round of the 2018 NIT Barcello, who transferred from Arizona before last season, started all 32 games at the two-guard in 2019-20 and averaged • Posted season highs of 22 points, four rebounds, 9.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his debut season with the Cougars. He will be lioned in the backcourt by Brandon seven assists and three steals Averette, who comes to BYU as a graduate transfer from Utah Valley. Averette, who played his freshman and sophomore • As a freshman in 2016-17 averaged 5.2 points, 1.5 seasons at Oklahoma State, averaged 12.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists while starting all 30 games at UVU in 2019-20. rebounds and 1.8 assists • Played in all 33 games, helping the Cowboys Jesse Wade also returns to the program after an injury-riddled 2019-20. A junior, Wade played his freshman season at Gon- finish 20-13 overall and earn an at-large bid in the zaga before sitting out 2018-19 at BYU due to NCAA transfer rules.