SPOKANE, Wash.-Thursday, BYU men’s basketball (9-2, 0-0 in West Coast Conference play) visits No. 1 Gonzaga (10-0, 1-0 in WCC play) at Spokane, Wash. to commence their conference season.

The Cougars score 78.9 points per game, ranking BYU 73rd nationally in scoring offense.

Defensively, BYU surrenders 67.4 points per game, tying the Cougars for 112th nationally in scoring defense with Kansas.

The Cougars’ leading scorer is senior guard Alex Barcello (16.9 points per game) who also leads the squad in assists, with 53.

BYU is also represented in double figures on-average by Dutch national, senior forward/center Matt Haarms (11 points per game, a team-best 18 blocked shots) and senior guard Brandon Averette (10.8 points per game,  a team-best 10 steals).

Freshman forward Caleb Lohner leads the Cougars on the glass with 6.6 rebounds per game.

The Cougars are coached by Mark Pope, who is 33-10 (.767) in two seasons at BYU. He is 110-66 (.625) as a Division I head coach, including his time at Utah Valley (2015-2019).

Gonzaga leads the nation in scoring offense with 95.1 points per game.

Defensively, Gonzaga surrenders 74.2 points per game. This ranks the Bulldogs 229th nationally in scoring defense.

Senior forward Corey Kispert (21.6 points per game) is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer.

Other Gonzaga student-athletes to score in double figures on-average include sophomore forward Drew Timme (18.4 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per contest), freshman guard Jalen Suggs (13.9 points per game, a team-best 19 steals) and French national, redshirt junior guard Joel Ayayi (12.2 points per game,  a team-best 8 rebounds per contest).

Junior guard, Canadian national, Andrew Nembhard, has a team-best 47 assists and sophomore forward Anton Watson leads the Bulldogs with 10 blocked shots.

Gonzaga is coached by head coach Mark Few, who is 609-124 (.831) in his 22nd season at the helm of the program.

The Bulldogs lead the Cougars 18-5 all-time.