Jan. 19, 2005
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BRIEFLY
Loyola Marymount men's basketball team (9-8, 1-3) returns to Gersten Pavilion for a key home series in West Coast Conference action, starting with Santa Clara (9-9, 2-1) on Thursday, Jan. 20. After being on the road in seven of the last nine games, the contest against the Broncos will start a three-game home stand for the Lions, the longest of the season. The Lions will close the weekend series against Saint Mary's (15-6, 2-1) on Saturday, Jan. 22. Both games will start at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on the Lions' Audio Network.
QUICK HITTERS
The Lions entered the week in the national rankings for free throw shooting. Senior Charles Brown is 13th in the nation from the charity stripe, hitting 89 percent (43-of-48). As a team the Lions ranked 12th nationally, hitting 75.5 percent entering the week.
The Lions have been making a living on getting offensive rebounds and second chance points this season and they did it to one of the best rebounding teams in the West Coast Conference. The Lions finished the game against 16th-ranked Gonzaga with a 39-36 edge in rebounding, grabbing 14 offensive boards in the process, five by sophomore Matthew Knight, who leads the league with 3.24 per game. The offensive boards set-up 19 second chance points for the Lions, the second most allowed by Gonzaga all season. In addition, it was just the third time this season the Zags were out rebounded and the first time since Jan. 26, 2002 Gonzaga was out rebounded at home by a WCC opponent. Against Portland, the Lions grabbed a season-high 21 offensive rebounds to score 16 second-chance points.
Junior John Haywood has picked a good time to play the best basketball of his career at LMU. Haywood, who earned the first start of his career against Washington, started conference play with a bang. He set or equalled his career-high in the first three conference games, scoring 11 against San Francisco and then going for 13 on 6-for-7 shooting from the field against San Diego and 13 on 5-for-6 shooting against Gonzaga. He added 10 points against Portland to give him 11.8 points per game against WCC team, which is ranked 18th in the conference.
INJURY UPDATE
Sophomore guard Brandon Worthy remains out of the line-up following surgery to repair a ligament in his right knee. Worthy, who injured the knee against Virginia, underwent surgery on Dec. 29 and is expected to be out another seven to 14 days. Junior transfer small forward Adoyah Evans-Miller is out of the season due to a major back strain suffered against South Alabama.
OFFENSIVE GLASS
The Lions started conference play with a plus-four edge on the boards against USF. On the season, the Lions have been impressive on the offensive end of the boards, sitting first in the WCC with 13.59 per game. They have had at least 11 offensive rebounds in every game but three this season, and set a season-high with 21 against Portland. The Lions had a nine-game stretch with at least 10 snapped in the win over USF. They had 20 offensive rebounds against San Diego State and Colgate in back-to-back games. It is the first time since Head Coach Steve Aggers' first season (2000-01) the Lions have had two games in one season with 20 or more offensive boards. In total, the Lions had just three games with 20 or more heading into this season in the tenure of Coach Aggers. The Lions had 25 at UNLV (Jan. 3, 2001), 21 vs. Pepperdine (Feb. 21, 2003) and 20 vs. PEP (Jan. 17, 2001).
GO TO GUY
Sophomore Matthew Knight continues to be the go-to-guy for the Lions, earning his second straight double-double with 19 points and a career-best 12 rebounds against Northern Arizona and leading all scorers with 20 points and nine rebounds against 16th-ranked Gonzaga and 17 points against Portland on Sunday. The Australian native is the first player since Ime Oduok in 1994 to have back-to-back double-double games. On the season he has scored in double figures in 15 of the Lions' 17 games. He currently averages 15.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and he enters the week ranked ninth in the West Coast Conference in scoring and 10th in rebounding. His average is 10.6 points per game better than last season, the best turnaround among returning players from the 2003-04 season in the WCC. He also entered the week fourth in the conference in field goal percentage as he is now shooting 53.8 percent. He has been getting it done on the offensive end of the boards and is leading the WCC with 3.24 offensive rebounds per game.
ONE HUNDRED
Senior Charles Brown became the 17th player in LMU history to play in 100 games during his LMU career when he played in his 100th game against Northern Arizona. In the 92 years of LMU basketball, Brown joins an elite list of 100-game players and is the second in as many seasons to accomplish the 100-game mark. Sherman Gay reached the level last season. Brown has played in 106 career games to give him 970 points, 371 assists and 168 steals. He is on pace to become just the fourth player in LMU history to have at least 1,000 points and 400 assists in his career. He would join an elite list of Terrell Lowery (1988-92), Keith Smith (1982-86), Enoch Simmons (1985-89) and Jim Williamson. There have been 26 players in LMU history to score at least 1,000 career points. Brown is currently seventh all-time in career assists.
BENCH SCORING
In the last 11 games the Lions' bench has provided a big lift for the injury depleted Lions. LMU had another 27 points from their bench against Gonzaga and 26 points in the win over San Francisco on Friday. It has been a collective effort as juniors Dustin Brown, Chris Ayer, Wes Wardrop and freshman Jon Ziri have been big off the bench. Wardrop had his best game of the season with 12 points off the bench against Gonzaga, hitting 5-of-9 from the field. He led the bench with nine against Portland. Brown led the bench with eight against both USF and USD. In the win over Northern Arizona, LMU had 29 points from their bench, including a season-best 10 from Ayer. The Lions' bench out scored Washington 35-7 thanks to Brown's season-high 18 points. Ziri then powered the bench scoring in the 72-68 win over San Diego State with his career-high 11 points. Brown was at it again in the win over Colgate with 14 points and then 15 in the heartbreaker to #25 Virginia. In the final two games of non-conference, the Lions had 19 bench points against Utah State, earning another eight from Brown, and 21 against Minnesota, another 10 coming from the junior Ayer.
QUITE THE ROLE
Junior Dustin Brown has become the Lions go-to-player off the bench. In his third season with the program, Brown is having a career campaign, averaging 7.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. In the win over USF he set a career-high with 11 rebounds and his 11 blocks (0.65 per game) entered the week 10th in the WCC. On the season, Brown is shooting 49.1 percent from the field. Brown has been impressive from the field, shooting better than 50 percent in nine games this season. Included in those games is a 7-for-10 effort against Washington, a 7-for-11 game at Colgate and another 7-for-10, this one against Virginia.
A LOOK AT GAME #18
Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara split the two-game series last season with each team winning on their home floor. The Broncos lead the series 73-47 since it began in the 1936-37 season. The Lions have taken three of the last four meetings between the schools, winning the last two contests at Gersten Pavilion. Santa Clara enters the Thursday with a record of 9-9, earning an impressive 65-42 victory at Saint Mary's last Saturday. It has been an up and down season so far for the Broncos, who have defeated North Carolina and Stanford, while falling at home to Central Connecticut State and at Cal Poly. Travis Niesen leads the team with 16.1 points per game while guard Doron Perkins is second on the team with 15.8 points per game while leading the squad with 6.5 rebounds.
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