Dec. 3, 2005

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Dec. 3) - Loyola Marymount finally found their focus and put it to good use, cruising to a 77-60 win over UC Santa Barbara in front of 1,323 at Gersten Pavilion on Saturday night.

"We finally played with focus tonight," said Head Coach Rodney Tention, who picks up his first home win of the season as LMU improves to 2-4 on the year. "We played aggressive and smart defensively and we executed on offense. We really had focus in what we need to do tonight. We have to play like that every time we get on the court."

Four of LMU's five starters hit double figures, including Matthew Knight's game-high 20 points. He added 12 rebounds for his third straight double-double, the first player to do so in 12 seasons at LMU. Jon Ziri added a career-high 16, Brandon Worthy chipped in 15 and Wes Wardrop finished with 14. UCSB, 2-3 on the year, was led by Alex Harris with 15.

"We played better than we did in our win against BYU," said Tention. "And we did it playing a very good Santa Barbara team."

Trailing 18-11 with 11:00 remaining in the first half, the Lions' defense went to work. They went on a 6-0 run to get within one, 18-17 on a Wardrop three-pointer. A jumper by UCSB's Chris Devine made it 20-17 with 8:38 remaining. That was it for the Gauchos from the field.

The Lions held UCSB without a field goal the final 8:38 of the first half and closed the frame on a 27-6 run that saw them go into the locker room up 38-24. Ziri equaled his career high in the half with 11 as Wardrop added nine and Knight added eight. It was the Lions' first halftime lead since their win in the opener against BYU.

LMU expanded the lead to as many as 26, 70-44, when Wes Wardrop hit a three-pointer 5:54 remaining in the second half to put the game away. The Lions held UCSB to just 37.5 percent from the field (21-for-56) and just 16.7 percent from long range (3-for-8). LMU finished the game 43.9 percent, including Knight's 7-for-10. They had a season-best 40 percent from the three-point line, hitting 9-for-23.

On the night, the Lions out-rebounded UCSB 44-35, forced 17 turnovers on nine steals while turning the ball over a season low 14 times. The Lions will head to Montana to complete a home-and-home with the Grizzlies on Dec. 6. Game time is 6:00 p.m. (PST) and can be heard live on Lions' All-Access through KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

- GO LIONS -