MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels (13-7, 4-1 WCC) will make their longest road trip of the conference schedule this week as they fly to BYU for a Thursday matchup before making their way down to Malibu to take on Pepperdine.

GAME INFORMATION
Game No. 21 vs. BYU (12-9, 4-2 WCC)
Date/Time: Thursday, Jan. 24 at 8:00 p.m. PST
Location: Marriott Center (Provo, Utah)
TV: ESPN2
Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/Saint-Marys-IMG-Sports-Network-s280256/
Live stats: http://statb.us/b/231415
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 14-13 (Last meeting: 1/5/19, H, SMC 88 — BYU 66)

Game No. 22 vs. Pepperdine (9-11, 2-4 WCC)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 26 at 5:00 p.m. PST
Location: Firestone Fieldhouse
TV: NBC Sports California / Spectrum / TheW.tv (out of market only)
Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/Saint-Marys-IMG-Sports-Network-s280256/
Live stats: https://smcgaels.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 70-72 (Last meeting: 3/3/18, N, SMC 69 — PEPP 63)

ABOUT BRIGHAM YOUNG
The Cougars are with the Gaels at the top of the conference standings at 4-2 in WCC play and 12-9 overall. BYU won three straight against Portland, Santa Clara, and Pepperdine before falling to San Francisco by 19 points in their last contest. The team is in the midst of a tough stretch as they face USF, Saint Mary's, and Gonzaga in three consecutive games.

Saint Mary's and BYU met already this season in Moraga just over two weeks ago. The Gaels led by as much as 26 during the contest and ultimately won, 88-66. Jordan Ford bested Cougars' star Yoeli Childs with 23 points to lead all scorers while Malik Fitts chipped in 18 as well.

Childs currently co-leads the WCC in scoring (along with Ford) with 22.3 points per game and also leads the conference in rebounds at 9.6 per. TJ Haws is sixth in the conference while averaging 17.7 points and put up a career-high 34 against Pepperdine last week.

With their win earliest this year, Saint Mary's improved to 14-13 all-time against BYU. The Gaels have taken the last six of seven against the Cougars.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE
The Waves will play host to Saint Mary's with a 9-11 record and 2-4 WCC mark. Last week didn't go as planned for Pepperdine who dropped both contests to BYU and Loyola Marymount. Saturday's meeting will be the Waves only game of the week and first of two meetings against the Gaels, the other coming Feb. 16 in Moraga.

Pepperdine's offense boasts two explosive threats in Colbey Ross and Kameron Edwards. The sophomore Ross is averaging 18.6 points per game this season and leads the WCC in assists with 144. The Waves' second leading scorer, Edwards, has only appeared in 10 games this season but has averaged over 17 points in that small sample.

The Waves are the second best 3-point shooting team in the conference at 37 percent, behind only Saint Mary's at 39.5 percent. On the flip side of the coin, Pepperdine has allowed their opponents to score on 46 percent of their shot attempts which places them second to last in field goal defense.

The Gaels have won the last six meeting between the two teams and 29 of the last 32 dating back to 2007.