There are several good teams in the West Coast Conference and two of them are facing off Thursday as Loyola Marymount hosts BYU. The Loyola Marymount Lions are 11-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference while BYU is 12-5 overall and 2-0 in the conference. BYU has won 8 straight against Loyola Marymount including 3 wins last season. Tipoff is at 11:00 p.m. EST at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.
After back to back losses to South Dakota and Utah Valley in early December, both significant upsets, BYU has caught fire, winning 8 in a row to improve to 12-5 overall and 2-0 in the West Coast Conference. The streak started with a great win over Big East foe Creighton, which had been ranked No. 21 in the country at the time.
#BYU basketball makes it official with the hiring of Kahil Fennell as the new assistant coach.#BYUHoops @kslsports https://t.co/ohdP6NTyzA
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) May 26, 2022
The streak also included two wins in the conference with back to back wins over Pacific and Portland. BYU beat Portland 71-58 on New Year's Eve, as a 10.5 point favorite. BYU outshot Portland 49% to 37% and won the rebounding battle. Gideon George led the Cougars with 20 points and 9 rebounds with 4 three pointers. Fousseyni Traore added 12 points and 8 rebounds for the Cougars. Rudi Williams, who leads the team with 12.9 points per game, only had 5 points in the win.