Brigham Young (10-2) vs. Vanderbilt (7-4)
Diamond Head Classic , SimpliFI Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu; Thursday, 10 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Brigham Young and Vanderbilt are set to face off in the Diamond Head Classic. Vanderbilt earned a 68-54 win over Hawaii in its most recent game, while Brigham Young won 54-39 against South Florida in its last outing.
LEADING THE WAY: Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. has averaged 17.6 points and 4.1 rebounds while Jordan Wright has put up 12.5 points and 6.3 rebounds. For the Cougars, Alex Barcello has averaged 18.9 points while Te’Jon Lucas has put up 10.4 points and 4.9 assists.ACCURATE ALEX: Barcello has connected on 49.2 percent of the 63 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 12 for 18 over his last three games. He’s also made 90.3 percent of his free throws this season.
WINNING WHEN: The Commodores are 5-0 when they score at least 75 points and 2-4 when they fall shy of that total. The Cougars are 9-0 when turning the ball over 14 times or fewer and 1-2 when the team exceeds that total.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Cougars have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Commodores. Vanderbilt has 23 assists on 73 field goals (31.5 percent) over its previous three matchups while Brigham Young has assists on 43 of 78 field goals (55.1 percent) during its past three games.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: The disruptive Vanderbilt defense has forced opponents to turn the ball over on 24.6 percent of all possessions, the 27th-best rate among Division I teams. Brigham Young has a forced-turnover percentage of only 16.8 percent through 12 games (ranking the Cougars 310th).
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