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 18-5 COUGARS — SAINT MARY’S Overall: 18-5 | Home: 9-2 | Away: 7-2 | Neutral: 2-1 All times local to site BYU men’s basketball will face Saint Mary’s (13-7, 4-5) to wrap up the regular season schedule Saturday at the Marriott Center. The Cougars are coming off of three straight wins. The Gaels have won two in a row after dropping Date Day Opponent Score W/L Time Network a pair of games. N25 Wed Westminster 108-59 W 6pm BYUtv N26 Thu New Orleans 86-61 W 7pm BYUtv BYU NOTES (18-5, 9-3 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 18-5, most recently defeating USF 79-73. D2 Thu vs. St, John’s 74-68 W 5pm ESPN2 • BYU is No. 2 in the WCC standings, with an .796 adjusted winning percentage. D5 Sat at Utah State 67-64 W 7pm MWC • BYU has wins over LMU, Portland (twice), Pacific (twice), Pepperdine, San Francisco (twice), Saint Mary’s, D9 Wed Boise State 74-70 L 7pm BYUtv Weber State, Texas Southern, No. 18 San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, St. John’s, Utah Valley, New Orleans D12 Sat Utah 82-64 W 4pm BYUtv and Westminster. The four losses were to USC, Boise State, No. 1 Gonzaga (twice) and Pepperdine. D18 Fri at San Diego State 72-62 W 2pm CBSSN • BYU is led by senior guard Alex Barcello who is averaging 16.0 points, 4.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. D21 Mon Texas Southern 87-71 W 7pm BYUtv He’s coming off a career-high 29 points where he was 7-for-7 beyond the arc, a BYU record for most 3-pointers in a game without a miss. D23 Wed vs. Weber State# 87-79 W 5pm BYUtv • Brandon Averette and Matt Haarms, BYU’s other two senior leaders along with Barcello, are the next behind J7 Thu Gonzaga 86-69 L 5pm ESPN Barcello in scoring with 11.4 and 11.0 points per game respectively. J14 Thu at Saint Mary’s 62-52 W 8pm ESPN2 • Haarms is coming off a season-high five blocks against LMU. J16 Sat at San Francisco 72-63 W 5pm ESPN • Freshman Caleb Lohner has led the team in rebounding almost all season, averaging 6.8 boards per game. J21 Thu Portland 95-67 W 7pm CBSSN Lohner had a breakout game offensively against Pacific last week, racking up a career-high 19 points on 6-of-8 J23 Sat Pepperdine 65-54 W 8pm ESPN* shooting, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. He followed that up with an 18-point performance against J27 Wed at Pepperdine 76-73 L 12pm TBD LMU, continuing to shoot lights-out from the field. He was named the WCC Freshman of the Week. J30 Sat Pacific 95-87 (2OT) W 4pm CBSSN • BYU is one of only 11 Div. I teams currently in the KenPom top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. F4 Thu at Portland 105-60 W 4pm Stadium • The Cougars have had six different players lead them in scoring in the last seven games. F8 Mon Gonzaga 82-71 L 9pm ESPN • BYU’s bench production has been big this season, outscoring opponents in 20 of 23 games played. F18 Thu at Pacific 80-52 W 5pm CBSSN • BYU has never lost back-to-back games in the Mark Pope era and has the third-longest active streak of games F20 Sat at LMU 88-71 W 12pm CBSSN played without consecutive losses at 57. The two teams above them are Houston and Gonzaga. F25 Thu San Francisco 79-73 W 8pm CBSSN F27 Sat Saint Mary’s 7pm ESPNU SAINT MARY’S NOTES (13-7, 4-5 West Coast Conference) M4-9 WCC Championships • Saint Mary’s is 10-11, with its most recent result being a 58-46 win over Pacific. + Legends Classic Presented by Old Trapper • Saint Mary’s is No. 3 in the WCC standings, with a .590 adjusted winning percentage. # at Vivint Smart Home Arena • The Gaels have wins this season over Pacific, Pepperdine, San Francisco, LMU, Sacramento State, Colorado * Specific ESPN Network to be determined at a later date State, Eastern Washington, San Jose State, UTEP, Texas Southern, Nicholls, South Dakota State and Northern WCC Game Iowa. Their losses have come to Gonzaga (twice), Pepperdine, BYU, Santa Clara, San Diego State and Memphis. • Saint Mary’s is averaging the fewest points scored in the WCC at 65.9 per game, but they are allowing only 62.2 BYU QUICK FACTS points per game. • The Gaels are led by a trio of players who are averaging double-figure scoring this season — Tommy Kuhse BYU Cougars (18-5, 9-3 WCC) (12.9), Logan Johnson (12.5) and Matthias Tass (11.0). • Head Coach: Mark Pope • Alma Mater: Kentucky, 1996 Head Coach – Randy Bennett • Division I Career Record: 119-69 (6th Season) • Alma Mater: UC San Diego, 1986 • Division I Career Record: 453-189 (20th Season) • Record at BYU: 42-13 (2nd Season) • Record at Saint Mary’s: 453-189 (20th Season) • No. 18/16 AP/USA Today Coaches Polls in 2019-20 SERIES INFORMATION BROADCAST INFORMATION • All-Time Series: Tied 16-16 TV/Streaming: ESPNU • Last Meeting: BYU won 62-52 in Moraga in early January as the Cougars put on the clamps defensively to close RADIO: BYU Sports Network the game. It was the Cougars’ first win at Saint Mary’s since 2014. BYURadio SiriusXM 143, BYURadio.org/BYURadio app, BYUCou- gars.com/BYU Cougars app, KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM LAST GAME’S STARTERS AND STATS SOCIAL MEDIA Website: BYUCougars.com Facebook: /BYUBasketball | /BYUCougars Twitter: @BYUBasketball | @BYUCougars Instagram: @BYUCougars Hashtags: #BYUHoops #GoCougs 3 4 13 5 33 Follow @BYUGameNotes on Twitter for in-game Matt Haarms Brandon Averette Alex Barcello Gideon George Caleb Lohner Cougar achievements, milestones and notes. 7-3 / 240 / C / Sr. 5-11 / 185 / G / Sr. 6-2 / 180 / G / Sr. 6-6 / 190 / F / Jr. 6-8 / 230 / F / Fr. Amsterdam, Netherlands Richardson, Texas Chandler, Arizona Minna, Nigeria Dallas, Texas P R Blk P R A P R A P R A P R A 11.0 4.5 1.8 11.4 2.9 3.7 16.0 4.4 4.6 5.3 3.3 0.3 7.5 6.8 1.2 #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.