Men’s Basketball Heads to Las Vegas with Double Bye in Conference Tournament

LAS VEGAS – Earning a bye to the third spherical of the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, sixth-seeded Pacific will play the winner of seventh-seeded Seattle and Eleventh-seeded on Saturday at 8:30 pm at Orleans Arena.
Pacific (17-14, 8-10 WCC) completed in the highest half of the league standings and tied for fifth-place. It’s the best end for the Tigers since 2019-20 after they tied for third and earned the No. 4 seed.
The Tigers have reached the third spherical for the primary time since 2019-20 after they made it to the quarterfinals. Pacific goes for its first convention match win since 2022-23 when it topped Pepperdine 84-71 in the primary spherical.
Senior Elias Ralph was named to the All-Conference First-Team. He leads the workforce in each scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg) and has 19 double-doubles in two seasons. Ralph ranks top-five in the WCC in scoring, rebounding, subject purpose proportion, free throw proportion and minutes. In two seasons at Pacific, Ralph has tallied 1,001 factors.
In two seasons at Pacific, Ralph has tallied 1,001 factors, changing into the primary two-year participant in college historical past to rating 1,000 factors. The final time a Tiger scored 1,000 factors over any two seasons was Dell Demps (1988-92) who tallied 526 factors in 1990-91 and 500 in 1991-92.
Senior TJ Wainwright was tabbed to as an All-Conference Honorable Mention. He averaged 13.2 factors per recreation and shot .394 from lengthy vary, together with .424 in convention. Wainwright shoots a team-best .918 from the free throw line. He scored at the least 20 factors 5 occasions together with a season-high 27 in a win at Pepperdine.
Ralph grew to become the primary All-Conference First-Team honoree at Pacific since Jahlil Tripp in 2019-20 and simply the second-ever for the reason that establishment rejoined the league in 2013-14. The final time the Tigers had at the least two student-athletes acknowledged in WCC postseason awards was 2017-18 When Tripp was on the Second-Team and Roberto Gallinat and Miles Reynolds had been Honorable Mentions.
Senior Jaden Clayton broke the college file for assists in a season with 195. It topped Lamar Washington’s mark of 190 set final season. Clayton ranks top-20 in the nation in assists with 6.3 per recreation. He’s scored 1,001 profession factors in 4 Division I seasons.
In convention video games, senior Justin Rochelin averaged 11.4 factors and 6.9 rebounds per recreation whereas capturing .460 from three-point vary.
Pacific gained its solely assembly towards Seattle (19-12, 8-10 WCC) 56-54 at house. The Tigers had been up by 15 on the intermission and 10 with 4:42 left earlier than Seattle made a livid comeback try. The Redhawks trailed by two and had the ball on last possession when Pacific compelled a contested two-point jumper and pulled down a defensive rebound as time expired. Wainwright led the Tigers with 15 factors, seven rebounds and three steals.
The Tigers break up a pair of conferences with San Diego (12-20, 5-13 WCC), every profitable at house. The final was a 77-70 victory on the Spanos Center the place Pacific erased a 17-point deficit with 17:13 remaining. The Tigers are 18-15 all-time towards the Toreros, and Pacific may probably be trying to avenge an 81-77 defeat to San Diego in the convention match final season.
Saturday’s recreation may be watched on ESPN+ with Roxy Bernstein and Dan Dickau. It may be heard dwell free of charge on Fox Sports AM 1280 with Zack Bayrouty because the voice of the Tigers.
The winner of Saturday’s recreation will advance to the quarterfinals Sunday at 8:30 pm towards third-seeded Santa Clara.
NOTES

– The Tigers are 2-0 on a impartial courtroom. They gained their Multi-Team Event (MTE) in Daytona Beach, Florida with double-figure victories over Stony Brook 86-58 and Jacksonville 68-53 in the GEICO Sunshine Slam Ocean Bracket. Ralph was named MVP of the bracket.
– Pacific doubled its convention win whole from final yr and is one away from doubling its general win whole. The Tigers have surpassed their general win whole by eight video games and convention win whole by 4 video games from final season. It’s the second yr in a row below head coach Dave Smart that the Tigers have elevated their win whole from the earlier yr.
– The Tigers have extra general and convention wins than the final two years mixed.
– Pacific clinched its first profitable season since 2019-20 and third since rejoining the league in 2013-14.
– In the present NCAA NET Rankings, Pacific is No. 116 out of 365, fourth-highest in the WCC. Since the NCAA NET Rankings got here out in 2019-20, Pacific’s highest ever end was No. 110 in 2019-20.
– The Tigers outrebounded 16 of 18 opponents in convention. Pacific ranks Eleventh in the nation in rebounding margin with a +8.9 mark.
– The Tigers had been 11-3 at house this season. Pacific is 820-465 all-time at house and 357-232 in the Alex G. Spanos Center.
– The Tigers are 13-0 below Dave Smart in two seasons when holding the opposition to below 60 factors and 10-0 (5-0 WCC) this yr.
– Pacific honored six student-athletes on Senior Day final weekend. It included KC Ibekwe, Isaac JackClayton, Ralph, Rochelin and Wainwright.
– Four totally different Tigers have recorded a double-double in a recreation this yr together with Jack, Wainwright, Rochelin and Ralph.
– Pacific has solely used two beginning lineups this season. Clayton and junior Kajus Kublickas have flipped on the level guard place.
– Pacific posted season sweeps over Oregon State and Pepperdine. In the victory at Pepperdine, the Tigers tallied their largest margin of victory of 33 factors since rejoining the league in 2013-14. The final time Pacific gained a convention highway recreation by 33 was Jan. 22, 2011 towards UC Davis on the highway as a member of the Big West.

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