Nov. 24, 2003
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BRIEFLY
It was a defensive start to the 2003-04 season for the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team as they begin the year 1-0 with a 59-53 win over UC Riverside. The Lions will conclude their two-game homestand when they host Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at Gersten Pavilion. The Matadors also started the season with a win, defeating non-Division I Menlo, 88-64. The game is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on the Lions' Audio Network at KXLU 88.9 FM or on the Internet at www.LMULions.com.
FOR OPENERS
LMU improved to its record in home-openers to 4-0 in the tenure of fourth-year Head Coach Steve Aggers. The Lions improved to 3-1 in season openers under Aggers. All-time, LMU is 32-17 in season openers since it joined the West Coast Conference in 1955-56. Last year's win over Loyola Chicago was the Lions first season opening win against an NCAA Division I opponent since they defeated Morgan State 140-110 in the Los Angeles Classic on Nov. 22, 1991. With this year's win, it is the first time in program history the Lions have start consecutive seasons with wins over Division I opponents.
ON THE DEFENSIVE
The Lions win over UC Riverside was done with defense, holding the Highlanders to just 53 points on 41 percent shooting (22-of-53). The 53 points equals a program low in the four years under Head Coach Steve Aggers. The Lions perimeter defense was even better, holding UCR to just 15 percent (2-for-13) from the three-point line. In Aggers' first season in 2000-01 the Lions held Loyola of Chicago to 53 points in a 10-points win on Dec. 21, 2000. That first season saw the Lions hold opponents under 60 points five times, equaling the most by an LMU team in the last 30 years. Surprisingly, the other team to do it was coached by Paul Westhead, which came in his first season in 1985-86. Since 1970 the all-time low was 45 points against LMU's next opponent, Cal State Northridge in a 54-45 win in the 1976-77 season.
BALANCED
The Lions featured a balanced attack to open the 2003-04 season. In the 2002-03 season 11 of the Lions' 13-man active roster averaged more than 11 minutes per game with junior Charles Brown leading the way with 29.4 minutes per game. Last season there were no fewer than nine players who appeared in a single game last season with four players playing in more than 30 minutes in a single game. In the opener against Riverside for 2003-04, the Lions had four players play more than 30 minutes while just eight appeared in the game. All eight scored at least four points on the night as two scored four, two more scored six, three scored eight and senior Sherman Gay led all scorers with 15.
GOOD START
The Lions opened the 2003-04 season with a 59-53 victory over UC Riverside thanks to a stingy defense and a quick start on Nov. 21 at Gersten Pavilion. Both teams started the game on a torrid pace as the Lions started the contest by hitting its first eight shots. It wasn't until six minutes into the game the Lions missed their first shot. Half way through the first frame the Lions posted a 28-17 lead thanks to a three-point play by senior Jason Dickens. However, both defenses would stiffen as the Lions would score just 31 points the final 30 minutes while holding the Highlanders to just 41.5 percent from the field. The Lions, who shot 53 percent in the first half, finished the game hitting 46.3 percent (25-for-54). "This was just like a league game in mid-January with two teams in a hard, physical fight," said Head Coach Steve Aggers, who improves to 4-0 in home openers in his four seasons at LMU. "This was two good defensive teams going toe-to-toe tonight. This time of year the defense will be a little better than the offense. It showed tonight." The Lions shut down the Highlanders from long distance, keeping them at just 15 percent from the three-point line (2-for-13). UC Riverside was 25-for-50 in its two exhibition games earlier this season. The Lions forced 17 turnovers as junior Charles Brown had three steals. Leading the Lions was senior Sherman Gay with 15 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Chris Ayer had eight points and set a career-high with 12 rebounds. Dickens finished with eight points and five rebounds. The Highlanders would cut the Lions 10-point lead late with a 7-0 run that was capped with a Nate Carter lay-up to put UC Riverside within three, 51-48 with 1:35 left. That would be as close as UCR would get as freshman Damian Martin hit clutch floater off an offensive rebound to make it 54-48 and Gay hit a pair of free throws to give LMU a nine-point lead with 12 seconds remaining.
MORE ON THE MATADORS
Cal State Northridge opened the 2003-04 season with an 88-64 win over Division II Menlo College on Friday, Nov. 21. Junior Ian Boylan, who led CSUN with 27 points against LMU last year, scored 22 points with four rebounds in the opener. Four of the five starters for CSUN scored in double figures, as Davin White scored 16, while Chris Davis and Thomas Shewmake each had 15.
IN EXHIBITION
The Matadors finished the exhibition season 1-1, defeating LA City All-Stars 72-70 in their second exhibition and falling to EA Sports West All-Stars 88-82. It was the same team LMU defeated in their first exhibition, 84-78. Joseph Frazier scored 20 points and hit the game-winner with six seconds remaining against LA City All-Stars. Chris Davis scored 20 points while hitting 9-for-16 from the field against EA Sports. Ian Boylan averaged 12 points and eight rebounds during exhibition.
THE COACH
Cal State Northridge is coached by Bobby Braswell, who enters his eighth season with the Matadors. He became the fastest coach in Northridge history to win 100 games with a win over San Diego last season. In the 2000-01 season he led CSUN to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, their first-ever Big Sky Conference Tournament title and finished conference play 13-3. Northridge is now in the Big West Conference.
BLOCK PARTY
Senior Sherman Gay had the best season of his career in 2002-03, setting the all-time single season record for blocks with 60. He snapped the record of 55 held by Richard Patruska and Silvester Kainga. With his record-setting season last year, he entered the 2003-04 campaign just 11 shy of breaking the all-time record at LMU. He started the season with two blocks against UC Riverside, giving him 89 in his career, which is third in LMU history, three behind Ime Oduok for second and eight behind Chris Knight for the all-time mark. Gay finished leading the West Coast Conference with just under two blocks per game last year.
FIRST LOOK
LMU started the season off with a pair of wins in exhibition play, defeating EA Sports Southwest All-Stars at Gersten Pavilion on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 84-78 and then knocking off Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany) on Nov. 15, 84-74. Leading the way for the Lions in the two exhibition contests was senior Sherman Gay. The forward averaged 19.5 points per game in exhibition, adding 12 rebounds, four steals, four assists while going 9-for-15 at the charity stripe. Senior Keith Kincade averaged 14.0 points per game, including 21 against Ratiopharm. Sophomore Wes Wardrop (11.0 ppg) and junior Charles Brown (10.5 ppg) were also in double figures. Freshman Damian Martin was impressive in his first games with the program, averaging 8.5 points per contest while grabbing 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
ON THE GLASS
Rebounding will be a key in the upcoming season. Despite becoming the first WCC opponent to out-rebound Gonzaga in 13 games, the Lions were seventh in the WCC with a -3.5 rebound margin. Senior Sherman Gay, who was Aggers first recruit in 2000, led the Lions with 4.5 rebounds per game, improving that average to 5.0 per game in WCC play. He had six in the first game against UC Riverside as the Lions out-rebounded the Highlanders 37-35. Leading the way for the Lions was sophomore Chris Ayer with a career-high 12 rebounds. He finished the 2002-03 season averaging 4.2 rebounds against WCC opponents. He finished fifth in the WCC with 30 blocks as the Lions led the league as a team with 4.16 blocks per game.
YOUTH IS SERVED
With seven freshmen on the 2002-03 roster, the Lions featured one of its most talented freshman recruiting classes in program history. The Lions had just 11 years of NCAA Division I experience on last year's 15-man roster. Youth has served the Lions well. The 2003-04 season marks the fourth recruiting class of Aggers, who took over the program in April of 2000. The Lions only recruit in his first season, senior Sherman Gay, set the school record for blocks in a season with 60 while leading the West Coast Conference last season. All told, the eight freshman brought in by Aggers and his staff have set 13 LMU freshman records and have taken home four WCC Player of the Week honors in the last two seasons. Three new freshman join LMU this 2003-04 season, including Damian Martin, Matthew Knight and Jon Ziri, who will redshirt with transfer Daryl Pegram.
GROWTH SPURT
The youth from 2002-03 now turns into valuable experience heading into the 2003-04 season. With nine returning players, which includes all five starters, the Lions suddenly have one of the more experienced teams in the WCC. LMU will return 78 percent of its scoring from last season as eight of the nine returning players earned more than 10 minutes a game. "Each of our players gained valuable game experience and there is nothing that can replace that," said Aggers. "I felt our younger players learned how to compete and how to practice hard on a consistent basis. We played a challenging schedule last year that enabled our team to make some good progress in all areas."
KNOCKING THEM DOWN
The Lions will put an emphasis on improving their field goal percentage. The Lions finished the season hitting 42.8 percent from the field to rank sixth in the WCC. Gay led the team with 51.5 percent from the field and Brown is the Lions' top three-point shooter returning at 29.4 percent (35-of-119). A key to the Lions' offense in 2002-03 will be sophomore Brandon Worthy. As a true freshman in 2002-03, the native of San Jose, Calif., was voted the Offensive Player of the Year by his teammates as he earned honorable mention all-conference honors in the WCC last season. He turned heads with his freshman record 24 points in the first game of the season against Loyola Chicago. Coach Aggers breaks down each position heading into the 2003-04 season.
GERSTEN PAVILION
The Lions' home opener on Nov. 21 against UC Riverside will start the 24th season of basketball at Gersten Pavilion. Opening on Jan. 15, 1981, the men's basketball team has set many records, including several national NCAA records. More memorable moments in Gersten's history include the Lions' 16-game winning streak from Feb. 28, 1987 through Nov. 28, 1988. Gersten is also the home of the all-time NCAA Division I highest scoring game, a 186-140 win by the Lions over US International on Jan. 5, 1991. The Lions finished 7-6 in 2002-03 in Gersten, giving them an overall record of 162-134 (.547) in the facility.
- GO LIONS -
