Pepperdine will start two sophomores and two freshmen, and it is led in scoring by senior guard Mychel Thompson's nearly 18 points per game. The Waves opened the season with a nine-point win over Cal State-Monterey Bay but lost on Saturday by one point to Arkansas-Little Rock.

CUMMARD NAMED MWC PLAYER OF WEEK: On Monday, Cummard was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the third time in his career.

The 6-foot-7 guard from Mesa, Ariz., scored a career-high 36 points to go with 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a career-best tying four blocks in BYU's 75-65 victory over Long Beach State on Friday in Provo. He shot 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 7-for-7 from the foul line.

Cummard scored 22 of the Cougars' 31 first-half points on 9-of-11 shooting and kept BYU in the game by scoring 11 of 12 points during one stretch. With BYU trailing 40-33 early in the second half, he scored six straight points and assisted on another basket to give the Cougars the lead, then went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final six minutes of the game to help put the game away.

His 36 points marks the most points scored by a BYU player since 1993 and ties for the eighth-highest individual performance in BYU men's basketball history.

Cougars on the air

BYU (1-0) vs. Pepperdine (1-1)
Tonight, 8 p.m.
Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, Calif.
TV: none Radio: KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM

---

E-mail: jimr@desnews.com