March 5, 2005

Box Score

Riverside, Calif. - Led by another double-double by senior Guillaume Yango (Paris, France), the No. 17 Pacific men's basketball team completed its perfect run through the Big West Conference with a 64-48 win at UC Riverside on Saturday, March 5. The win improved the Tigers to 18-0 in the Big West and 25-2 overall. The Highlanders dropped to 9-19 overall and 4-13 in conference play.

The Tigers will head into the conference tournament having won 31 consecutive conference games dating back to January of 2004, while riding a program record 21 consecutive-win streak. Pacific has the second-longest winning streak in the nation behind No. 1 Illinois.

The Tigers broke out of the gates quickly in their final game of the 2005 regular season, jumping on the Highlanders 9-3 to start the game. After a small run by the Highlanders, senior Matt Kemper (Fresno, Calif.) ignited a 16-2 run that put the Tigers ahead by 18 points, 32-14, at the intermission. Kemper finished with eight points.

Out of the break, Pacific pushed its lead to 22 points at 49-27, before a 13-1 run by the Highlanders cut the lead to 10 points at 50-40. After weathering the rally, the Tigers pulled away for good, dropping an 11-2 run on UC Riverside themselves.

Yango led the Tigers with 12 points and 14 rebounds, posting his seventh double-double of the season. Junior Mike Webb (Lancaster, Calif.) added 10 points, the only other Tiger to reach double-figures.

For the Highlanders, Steve Williams had 16 points, scoring 10 of the team's 14 first-half points. The only other scorer to reach double-digits for UC Riverside was Larry Cunningham, who added 15 points.

The Tigers will next be in action as they compete for the Big West Tournament championship next weekend in Anaheim, Calif. The Tigers are seeded No. 1 in the tournament, earning a bye to the semifinals on Friday, March 11 at 6 p.m. Pacific will play the lowest remaining seed following the quarterfinal contests.