BYU hits the road at Pacific

Nov 11, 2013; Stanford, CA, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard

IV (24) high fives Cougars forward

(33) during a timeout in the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Pacific Tigers (13-10, 4-8) vs. BYU Cougars (17-9, 8-4)

Date: Thursday, February 13, 2014

Location: Spanos Center, Stockton, CA

Time: 8:00 PM PST

TV: CSN California, ROOT Sports NW/RM

Video: theW.tv

LiveStats: http://pacifictigers.com/login/login.jsp?u=%2Fadmin%2Fteam%2Freleases%2Fpacific.statbroadcast.com

Last Season: Did not play.

PROJECTED STARTERS 

Pacific

Andrew Bock, 12.4 PPG, 3.0 APG

Sama Taku, 11.4 PPG

Trevin Harris, 7.1 PPG

Khalil Kelley, 6.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG

Tony Gill, 11.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG

BYU

Kyle Collinsworth, 14.3 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 4.9 APG

Skyler Halford, 8.6 PPG

Tyler Haws, 24.5 PPG

Eric Mika, 13.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG

Nate Austin, 4.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG

LIVESTREAM (Subject to Blackout) *Brought to you by thew.tv: 

KEYS TO THE GAME

Pacific

Backcourt Production: We all know what BYU gets out of their backcourt, so its important that Pacific can match them, or at least come close.  Bock, Taku, and Harris need to have good scoring games or it will be tough for Pacific to keep up with BYU.

BYU

Keep the bigs out of foul trouble:  This is one area where I believe Pacific has the advantage.  They have more legitimate productive big men then BYU does, so it will be important for Mika and Austin to stay out of trouble because I do not think Sharp and Worthington will be able to guard the big men of Pacific.

KEY MATCHUP

Eric Mika vs. Tony Gill: The two highly efficient big men will face off, and both have the ability to score around the basket.  Even if they are not directly guarding each other, it will still be interesting to see who can pull off a better game.

PREDICTION

BYU is playing very well as of late and Pacific has struggled in their inaugural season in the West Coast Conference.  Despite a home court advantage, Pacific will not have enough defense to keep up with BYU.  BYU 88, Pacific 69.