Saint Mary's (17-10, 8-4) vs. Pacific (13-14, 3-9)
Spanos Center, Stockton, California; Thursday, 10 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: St. Mary's looks for its 13th straight win in the head-to-head series over Pacific. Saint Mary's has won by an average of 11 points in its last 12 wins over the Tigers. Pacific's last win in the series came on Nov. 23, 2012, a 76-66 win.
TEAM LEADERS: Pacific's Jahlil Tripp has averaged 11.4 points and 5.9 rebounds while Roberto Gallinat has put up 14.8 points. For the Gaels, Jordan Ford has averaged 21.6 points while Malik Fitts has put up 16.3 points and 7.5 rebounds.
CLAMPING DOWN: The Tigers have allowed only 67.4 points per game across 12 conference games, an improvement from the 73.6 per game they gave up to non-conference competition.
FUELING THE OFFENSE: Tripp has either made or assisted on 40 percent of all Pacific field goals over the last three games. The junior forward has 14 field goals and 12 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: Pacific is 0-8 this year when it scores 64 points or fewer and 13-6 when it scores at least 65.
WINNING WHEN: Saint Mary's is a perfect 12-0 when the team makes nine or more 3-pointers. The Gaels are 5-10 when the team hits fewer than nine threes.
BALL SECURITY: The diligent Saint Mary's offense has turned the ball over on 16 percent of its possessions, the 25th-best mark in Division I. 20.1 percent of all Pacific possessions have resulted in a turnover (the Tigers are ranked 268th, nationally).
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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
