PROVO, Utah-Thursday, BYU men’s basketball ensues in its West Coast Conference schedule by hosting the Saint Mary’s Gaels at the Marriott Center.
The 12-9 (4-2 in WCC play) Cougars are coming off of an 82-63 loss at San Francisco Saturday and seek a season split against Saint Mary’s, having lost to the Gaels 88-66 January 5 at Moraga, Calif.
Saint Mary’s comes in at 13-7 (4-1 in WCC play). A win at Provo would give them a sweep of the Cougars on the season, which could pay tremendous dividends in terms of seeding for the conference tournament March 7-12 at the Orleans Arena of Las Vegas.
The Cougars score 82.5 points per game and surrender 78.3 points per contest.
Junior forward Yoeli Childs averages 22.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest for BYU.
Junior guard TJ Haws has also come on for the Cougars as he averages 17.7 points and 4 rebounds per game.
The Gaels have dominated opponents this season, scoring 77.1 points per game while only surrendering 65.3 points per contest.
Junior guard Jordan Ford is Saint Mary’s leading scorer, putting up 22.3 points per game. The Gaels are also bolstered by redshirt sophomore Malik Fitts (15 points, 7.9 rebounds per game).
The Gaels lead the all-time series 14-13 while the Cougars are 9-5 all-time in the series at Provo.