QUICKLY
It is off to the Bay Area for the Loyola Marymount men's basketball team, as the Lions make their annual trip to Saint Mary's and San Francisco. The Lions will head to Moraga, CA to take on Saint Mary's on Friday, January 26 at 7:30 p.m. before taking on USF on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Lions are coming off two-straight against rival Pepperdine, who proved that they are the team to beat in the conference. It might be a little easier going for the Lions, as Saint Mary's and San Francisco have struggled and are in search of their first wins in conference play. However, the Lions don't have history on their side, as Saint Mary's has won seven of the last 10 against the Lions, while USF has won eight of the last 10 and 15 of the last 17. The last time the Lions swept the Bay Area road trip came in 1992, when it last beat USF. The last win on the road against the Gaels came in 1998.

GAME #18 - SAINT MARY'S
The Gaels have struggled in the early going of the season, starting the season 2-15 and 0-4 in conference play. They are on an eight game slide, but put a scare on San Diego, leading the Toreros at half before falling 80-58 down the stretch. Their two wins came against Dominican University (90-70) and UC Santa Barbara (71-63). The road has been a tough one for Saint Mary's, playing Fresno State, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Colorado and Arizona. The Gaels allow an average of 80.7 points per game, while scoring 60.8. Despite the low output, the Gaels' Jevon Harris leads the team with 14.2 points per game, good for sixth in the conference. No other Gael average is above 10 points per game, as Ross Benson is in second on the team with a 9.6 ppg average. In the series, the Gaels have a 62-46 edge over the Lions, and have been tough at home, holding a 36-15 record in Moraga, CA.

GAME #18 - SAN FRANCISCO
The Dons of San Francisco were picked by the coaches to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference. An inconistant non-conference schedule that saw them post a 7-8 record heading into WCC play and an 0-4 start to the WCC has the Dons facing an uphill battle to finish the season. The Dons lost eight of their last nine, with the win coming to Division II Humboldt State, 76-71. However, USF has impressive wins over Fresno State, BYU and UC Santa Barbara and are dangerous at home, posting a 39-13 record in head-to-head competition against the Lions in San Francisco. Overall, USF leads the series, 86-29. The WCC's third leading scorer is USF's Darrell Tucker, who averages 17.3 ppg. James Lee is second on the team with 10.4 points per game, while scoring an average of 13.0 in WCC games. Ali Thomas rounds off the Dons leading scorers with 10.1 per game. On the season, the Dons have been deadly from the free throw line, hitting a conference best 70.4 percent (295-419).

PREVIOUS
GAME #17 - Pepperdine
In the first meeting between Loyola Marymount University and Pepperdine University, the Lions hard fought effort was cut short by senior guard Brandon Armstrong's 40-point effort. In the rematch at Pepperdine's Firestone Fieldhouse, Armstrong didn't need to carry his teammates, as LMU fell 75-54 in Malibu on Saturday night. The Lions, who committed a mere 13 turnovers in the teams' first meeting, had 14 by half and finished with season high 24, tieing the 24 they committed against UC Irvine in the second game of the season. Pepperdine played their best tonight, said Head Coach Steve Aggers. They proved why they are in first place and caused us to panic a little. We showed our inexperience tonight, and played our worst game of the season and credit Pepperdine for that. The Lions had their chances, causing the Waves to commit 26 fouls to the Lions' 18. It equated to 40 trips to the foul line for LMU. However, the foul line was not kind to the Lions, as they finished the game 18-for-40 (45 percent). The shooting from the field wasn't any better, as the Lions were 16-of-45 (36 percent). We did not shot the ball well from the line, from the field, from the three-point line, said Aggers. We worked hard and never quit. We held a team scoring more than 85 points in West Coast Conference play to 75 on their home court and outrebounded them by 2 (44-42). Leading the way for the Lions was senior Elton Mashack. Already surpassing the 1,000 career point total, Mashack added a team high 15 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double was the 13th of his career, moving him into ninth place in career double-doubles. All 15 of Mashack's points came in the second half. Also scoring in double figures for the Lions was junior Tyler McClenahan with 10 points, a career high. Pepperdine was led by Armstrong's 17 points, Kelvin Gibbs with 13 and David Lalazarian with 11.

Hard Court Notes
BALANCED DIET
The Lions have thrown a balanced diet of scoring at opponents this season, having three players average double figures in scoring. The Lions attack is getting offense throughout the line-up. The Lions have had 12 games this season in which three or more players scored in double figures. UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Loyola-Chicago, San Diego State and Pepperdine are the only games this season that only two players were in double figures. The three players averaging double figures in scoring are senior Elton Mashack (12.6), junior Robert Davis (12.4) and junior Greg Lakey (11.1). So far this season, the Lions have had nine different players score in double figures and six different players have led the game in scoring (see the breakdown on page 15). Junior guard Tyler McClenahan was the latest to add to the double figure scoring list with his career high 10 against Pepperdine on Jan. 20. In the conference, Mashack is ranked ninth, while Davis is 11th, Lakey at 13th and Machado at 24th (9.0).

INJURY UPDATE
The Lions have only switched their starting line-up once this season due to a hip injury to senior Pablo Machado. Injuries could force further line-up changes for LMU as they head to Saint Marys and San Francisco. Senior Elton Mashack, who has taken over for the Lions since beginning league play, suffered a sprained ankle in practice on Tuesday and is doubtful to play this weekend. He will be a game-time decision. Machado will probably make it back into the starting line-up for the first time in nine games and junior Philipp Czernin might also start, his first since game nine of the season. Czernin is only at 50 percent due to bone chips in his ankle, an injury he suffered his freshman year at Hawaii. Junior Sean Mollins, who has also elevated his game since league play started, might also earn his first start of his career. The Lions starting line-up will not be solidified until game time.

ROAD WARRIORS
As the Lions head out to their first two-game road trip of conference play, Loyola Marymount will build on momentum from their last major road tour. LMU finished their second major road trip of the season, a loss to UNLV, will solid results. Although only 2-7 on the road, the Lions have become Road Warriors. LMU broke a 23-game losing streak with a 19-point win over Sacramento State on Dec. 9 and earned their second straight road victory with a 63-53 win over Loyola-Chicago. It was the first time the Lions have won two consecutive road games since 1997 when the Lions defeated Pepperdine in overtime on Jan. 24 and following three at home went on the road to defeat St. Marys on Feb. 5.

LIGHTS OUT
Against Vanguard the Lions didnt get off to a bad start to the 2000-01 season, finishing the game hitting 59 percent of their shots. It was the first game since hitting 37-of-58 (.638) in a 101-87 win over St. Marys on January 29, 1999, the Lions finished a regular season game hitting more than 50 percent of their field goals. In the 87-64 win over Vanguard, the Lions hit 70 percent in the first half, including 4-of-7 from the three point line. On the season, the Lions have finished three games hitting more than 50 percent of their shots, hitting 55 percent against Colorado and 51 percent against Sacramento State. Against the Hornets, the Lions finished hitting 29-of-56 from the field. The loss to Colorado was the first time the Lions have dropped a game hitting more than half their shots since Boise State on Nov. 21, 1998, when the Lions hit 25-of-44 in a 93-86 loss in Gersten Pavilion.

LEAVING THEM IN THE COLD
Defense has become a key for the Lions, as they have made opposing offenses feel left in the cold from the field. On the road, the Lions defense has been tough. The Lions held UNLV to 37 percent from the field (27-73), the fourth time in the last seven road games the Lions have held an opponent to under 40 percent. The win against Loyola-Chicago was the best yet for the LMU D. How cold was it for the Ramblers? The Lions kept them without a three-point field goal, 0-10, despite entering the game hitting more than 35 percent on the season. In the Lions two road wins, their opponents are a combined 1-28 from the three-point line. The defense has followed them home, as the Lions opened West Coast Conference play with a 62-59 win against San Diego, holding the Toreros to 40 percent shooting from the field and a mere 15 percent from the three-point line (2-of-13). On the season, the Lions defense has held their opponents to 30.5 percent (95-311) from the three-point line, which is ranked second in the league. On the season, opponents are shooting 43.0 percent from the field, which ranks them fifth in the conference. In the last 12 games, LMUs defense has been stingy. Pepperdines 52 percent in the first game of their series was only the third team this season to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, and was the first since UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 30. LMU responded in holding the Waves to 43 percent in their second game. The Lions have dropped its per game average from 46.1 percent per game to 43.0, a difference of over three percent.

SENIOR LEADER
Senior Elton Mashack is beginning to have an All-WCC type season in his final campaign as a Lion. The team captain has been hot in the Lions last eight contests, averaging 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds while leading the team in scoring in five of the last eight games and rebounding in six of those eight. He is 9th in the conference with 12.6 points per game and second with 7.1 rebounds per game. He and Gonzagas Casey Calvary are the only players in the league that lead the team in both scoring and rebounding. He scored a season high 19 against Santa Clara, after breaking his season high in each of the last five games. He had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lions in both categories for the fifth time this season against Pepperdine. As the season progresses, he is becoming one of the all-time leaders at LMU. With 811 points and 375 rebounds in three years at Loyola Marymount, Mashack had the opportunity to join an elite list of only 10 players that have accomplished the feat of scoring 1,000 points and grabbing 500 rebounds in a career. With 19 points against Santa Clara, hitting two free throws with 28 seconds left, Mashack became the 26th player in LMU history to score 1,000 points in a career. He has 215 points and 120 rebounds on the season after getting 15 points and 11 rebounds against the Waves, giving him 1,026 points and 495 rebounds in his career at LMU. He is currently the 25th all-time leading scorer and needs three points to move into 24th, surpassing John Arndts 1,028 career points. With five more boards he will become the 21st player in school history to reach 500 rebounds in a career.

MORE FOR MASHACK
Mashack, who entered the 2000-01 season with 11 career double-doubles, earned one early in the season in an exhibition game that did not count for his career totals. After 15 points and 11 rebounds against Pepperdine, Mashack earned his 13th career double-double, his second of the season. His first came with 17 points and 10 rebounds against UNLV. He is ninth on the all-time career double-double list, surpassing Richard Dixon and Bo Kimble. Jim Haderlein leads that list with 66 in his career. Mashack needs one more to tie Terrell Lowry for eighth with 14.

ON THE BOARDS
Despite the smaller line-up of the Lions, who have only two players over 6-8, they hold a +2.4 edge on the boards after 17 games of the 2000-01 season. The Lions, who are ranked third in rebound margin in the WCC, have out rebounded their opponents in 11 of its 17 games this season. The first two games saw the Lions dominate the glass, out rebounding a much taller UC Irvine squad, who features two 7-footers, 38-35 and Vanguard 37-24. The Lions also out rebounded UNLV and San Diego State 54-50 and 35-32. In one stretch this season, the Lions held a 42-24 advantage at Idaho State, 40-33 advantage against Portland State and 41-29 against Long Beach State. Individually, Elton Mashack is second in the conference with 7.1 per game. In the first game against Pepperdine, the two schools were even with 37 boards a piece. In game two, the Lions out-boarded the Waves 44-42. In the 1999-00 season, the Lions had only seven games in which they out rebounded an opponent.

WELCOME BACK
Loyola Marymount welcomed back the services of junior Robert Davis. The 6-2 guard from Tempe, Ariz., began his collegiate career at LMU in 1998-99 where he averaged 7.1 points and 2.3 rebounds a game as a true freshman. Last year Davis transferred to Chandler Gilbert Junior College where he led the conference with 26.2 points per game. After 17 games back at LMU, he is second on the team in scoring with a 12.4 ppg average. Davis enjoys playing the powers of Southern California, as he earned a career high 21 against USC, with his previous high of 17 came against UCLA in his freshman season on Dec. 29, 1998. Davis is also averaging 4.1 rebounds per game after pulling down eight against UCSB, seven against UNLV and eight against San Diego State in a dominating stretch in which he led the team against UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State. He also has 39 assists and 15 steals. More leading stats - he leads the team with 36 three-pointers in 96 attempts (.375). In the conference, he is ranked 11th in scoring (13.1), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.375) and first in three-pointers made per game (2.12).

MAKE THAT A DOUBLE
After seeing his first action in over a year since transferring to LMU from USC, junior Greg Lakey earned his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the Lions 87-64 win over Vanguard. That was a sign of things to come, as the forward just keeps setting career records in this 2000-01 campaign. So far this season, Lakey is averaging 11.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He led the team in scoring with 16 in game one against Pepperdine and earned a career high 29 against Sacramento State. He is third on the team in scoring and third in rebounds. In the West Coast Conference, he ranked 13th in scoring. He is also one of the best in shooting percentage, hitting 55.8 percent (63-113) of his shots, fourth in the league. As a junior, Lakey has begun to take some of the leadership on the floor for the Lions, accepting his sixth man role and averaged more than 26 minutes per game off the bench. However, he has started the last eight games, which began with a 20-point effort in hitting five-of-six from the field and 10-of-16 from the free throw line against Loyola-Chicago. Lakey averaged 5.1 points per game in two seasons with Southern California, earning 19 starts his freshman season in 1997-98.

IN THE MIDDLE
Senior center Pablo Machado enters his fourth and final season of collegiate basketball. Prior to transferring from Georgia Tech two years ago to LMU, Machado was one of the top-rated high school players in the nation coming out of Tift County High School in 1996. At 6-10, Machado was named Mr. Basketball in Georgia by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Hoping to return to his high school stats, where he averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds, Machado continues to improve in his final season, earning his sixth career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds against Sacramento State. He had a solid start to the season with 19 points and seven rebounds against Vanguard. Although hampered by four fouls most of the second half, Machado had his way with the smaller line-up of Vanguard. He has begun to lift up his game, as the Venezula native is fourth on the team with 9.0 points per game and is second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game. His 3.00 offensive rebounds per game is tops in the league.

TEAM IS FIRST
Junior Eurskine Robinson, who transferred from College of the Canyons, leads the team with 54 assists on the season, which is good for sixth in the WCC (3.18 apg). Robinson broke College of the Canyons career assist record with 421. As a team, the Lions have been dishing out 14.59 assists per game, second in the WCC. Thanks in part to nine assists against Sacramento State, junior Philipp Czernin is 10th in the league with 41 assists (2.41 per game) and junior Marcus Smith is now in ninth with five assists against Pepperdine, bringing his total to 45 on the season (2.53 per game). With his assists, Robinson is sixth in the league with an assist/turnover ration of 1.26. Putting the team play in perspective, the Lions have 248 assists on the season while hitting 390 field goals. That translates to more than 64 percent of the Lions baskets earn an assist. Against Sacramento State, the Lions assisted on a season high 80 percent of their baskets with 23 assists while hitting 29 field goals. In their latest road win, the Lions assisted on 14 of its 18 field goals, 77 percent of its baskets. In the loss to UCSB, the Lions still managed to dish out 17 assists on 23 field goals, good for 74 percent. A year ago, LMU averaged a league low 11.3 assists a game. LMU finished the game against Vanguard with 21 assists, the highest assist total for the Lions since they had 25 against St. Marys on Jan. 29, 1999 in a 101-87 win.

STEPPING IT UP IN THE WCC
If the first two games of conference play are any indication, juniors Marcus Smith and Sean Mollins have found a new home. Through the first four games, Smith and Mollins are averaging 8.0 and 8.5 points per game respectively, that contrasts to their 5.6 and 2.7 points per game in non-conference play. Smith scored a career high 17 against Santa Clara, while stealing an LMU season-high four steals in both games this past weekend. Mollins, a walk-on from De Anza Junior College had a career high 11 points in game one against Pepperdine, and added nine points in the win against San Diego and eight against Santa Clara. Against the Toreros, Mollins knocked down the biggest shot of his career, hitting the game-winner with 14 seconds left. In both games, Mollins showed his range hitting a three-pointer to add to his career totals. For the Lions in conference play, Mollins and Smith rank third and fourth on the team in points per game.

ON THE RADIO
All LMU mens basketball games will be broadcast live on KXLU Radio FM 88.9. Check-out all the action as Jeff Janssens and Pat Graham will call the action. Coverage will begin five minutes prior to tip-off and following the game will include the Steve Aggers Postgame Show. The station, which is a part of the LMU campus, is a learning opportunity of Loyola Marymount University and is operated by the students.

ON THE INTERNET
Along with TotalSports, Loyola Marymount mens basketball games will be TotalCasted this 2001 West Coast Conference season. WCC games starting with the Lions contest against San Diego on Jan. 12 will be TotalCast live at www.LMULions.com. Get instant updates on all the action as the game is broadcast live graphically. Go to: www.LMULions.com/local/cybercenter.html for all the action of LMU mens basketball.