After a non-conference stretch filled at heart ache, the Loyola Marymount men's basketball team enters the 2006 West Coast Conference season hoping the return home and WCC play will snap that skid. The Lions open WCC play when they host the University of San Diego at Gersten Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 3:00 p.m. The Lions have not been home since Dec. 17, a 76-63 win over Northern Colorado. The game against the Toreros will be televised live on FSN West and can also be heard live on Lions' All-Access through KXLU 88.9 FM and online at LMULions.com.
Senior Chris Ayer had four blocks against South Alabama, his second four-block game of the early season. With 14 blocks on the season, Ayer has made a major jump in the LMU record books. He entered the season tied for fifth all-time with 72 career blocks. He has moved to fourth all-time with 86 and needs 6 to tie Ime Odouk for third. The all-time record is held by Sherman Gay with 144.
THE TOREROS
Despite being picked to finish seventh in the West Coast Conference by its coaches, the University of San Diego 10-3 record in non-conference action is tied for the best record in the WCC entering conference play. Senior Nick Lewis has been a primary reason by averaging 19.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. The Toreros lead the league in offense at 83.5 points per game and have defeated teams by an average of 13 points per game. They lead the league in both field goal percentage (.502) and three-point field goal percentage (.430). On the defensive end they lead the conference in allowing teams to shot just 27.1 percent from the three-point line. They are also first in steals, averaging just over eight per contest.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The double-doubles by both Matthew Knight (22 points & 10 rebounds) and Chris Ayer (15 & 10) in the win over BYU was the first time the Lions had teammates do it in the same game since Ime Odouk and Wyking Jones in 1994-95. With Knight's eighth career double-double against Hawaii, he has jumped to 18th all-time in LMU history for double-doubles, tied with Greg Hunter. His six this season is the most since Elton Mashack had seven in 1998-99. Ayer added his second of the season and third of his career with 21 points and 10 rebounds against Western Michigan.
FOUR STRAIGHT
By playing just 16 minutes against USC after suffering a concussion at the start of the second half, junior Matthew Knight had his four-game double-double stretch come to an end. Knight put together double-doubles against South Alabama, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, and Montana, as he averaged 21.8 points and 13.3 rebounds in those four games. He became the first player in 11 seasons to claim four consecutive double-doubles. Wyking Jones last did it from Jan. 10, 1994 through Jan. 20, 1994. He is just the sixth player in LMU history to have a consecutive game stretch of four or more, joining a list that includes Jim Haderlein, Steve Smith, Hank Gathers, Brad Dean, and Jones. All five finished in the top-25 all-time in LMU scoring. Knight is currently eighth in the WCC in scoring with 15.1 points per game and leads the league in rebounding with 8.9 per game. He is also 10th in field goal percentage (51.3), third in offensive rebounds (3.07) and first in defensive rebounds (5.86).
30 AND 15
Matthew Knight scored 32 points with 18 rebounds against Long Beach State. The performance ranks as one of LMU's all-time best performances. He becomes just the seventh player in LMU history to score 30 or more points with 15 or more rebounds. After going just 4-for-13 from the field with nine points and six rebounds in the first half, he exploded in the second, going 9-for-12 with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Last season he was the first player since Ime Oduok in 1994 to have back-to-back double-double games. And he joins the Oduok as the last player to do back-to-back double-doubles in consecutive seasons. Jim Haderlein (Feb. 21, 1969 to Jan. 28, 1970) and Steve Smith (Jan. 4, 1972 to Dec. 4, 1972) hold the record with 20 consecutive games with a double-double.
FANTASTIC FOUR
Entering their fourth year for the Lions this season will be seniors Wes Wardrop (G, 6-3, 185, Anaheim, CA), John Haywood (F, 6-6, 200, Chino, CA), Chris Ayer (C, 6-10, 250, Tucson, AZ) and Dustin Brown (F, 6-7, 225, San Rafael, CA). The group has combined to play in 367 games together (Ayer-98, Wardrop-94, Brown-91, Haywood-84) and coach Rodney Tention said they would be a key piece to the coming season. Ayer and Wardrop had big starts to their final season. Haywood had his best game of the season with 11 points and nine rebounds against USC on Dec. 10, playing 29 minutes off the bench. He earned the start against Northern Colorado on Saturday.
GRAND FINALE - II
Seniors Wes Wardrop and Chris Ayer are having record breaking seasons as they wrap-up four-year careers at LMU. Wardrop is third on the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game, jumping his average more than a poing with 19 against San Diego State. He set his career high with 25 points against South Alabama. He went 8-for-18 from the field and 3-for-8 from the three-point line. He is first on the team with 61 assists and second with 19 steals while averaging more than 35 minutes per game. He was the first WCC Player of the Week of the 2005-06 season for his performance in guiding the Lions to an 83-71 win at BYU in their season opener. He finished with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. He ranks 16th in the WCC in scoring (12.6), fourth in assists (4.36 apg), ninth in steals (1.36 spg) and fifth in three-pointers made (2.14 per game). As for Ayer, his season keeps getting better as he has scored 20 or more points ttwice, including a career-best 22 against Northern Colorado and 21 against Western Michigan. Ayer's improved season is most evident from the charity stripe. The Tucson, Ariz., navtive entered the season a 56.0 percent free throw shooter. In 2005-06 he is currently ranked 13th in the West Coast Conferfence with a 73.2 free throw percentage. He is also seventh with 1.1 blocks per game, 10th in shooting percentage from the field (51.3), 11th with 6.0 rebounds per gmae and 26th in scoring (9.0 points per game).
THE COACHES' POLL
According to the coaches of the West Coast Conference, Loyola Marymount University men's basketball has been picked to finish in the top half of the WCC standings this season. The coaches have the Lions taking fourth in the 2005-06 season, and if the Lions under first year head coach Rodney Tention hold true to the coaches' thinking, it will be the best finish in 10 seasons. The Lions earned 40 points in the annual coaches poll and round out the top half of the eight-team conference. Both LMU and Gonzaga return the most experienced squads in the WCC. Both the Bulldogs and Lions return four starters, the most among any team in the WCC. LMU will return 12 letterwinners for coach Tention, who takes over the Lions' program after eight seasons as an assistant with Arizona.
A WORTHY AFFECT
Junior guard Brandon Worthy's impact has been great in his return to the Lions after missing all of the 2003-04 season on a medical redshirt with a broken wrist in his shooting hand. With Worthy, who missed nine games after knee surgery on Dec. 29 during the 2004-05 campaign, in the line-up the Lions averaged 70.7 points per game while allowing just 68.3. Without him in the line-up, they averaged 61.8 points on offense while allowing 75. This season Worthy is second on the team this season with 12.6 points per game, which is ranked 15th in the WCC. He had 20 points, eight assists, four steals, five rebounds and no turnovers against Northern Colorado. Worthy is second on the team with 52 assists and first with 26 steals, ranking 7th and 1st in the West Coast Conference, respectively. He is also fifth in free throw percentage (85.3).
THE WCC CONNECTION
The new coaching staff for the LMU men's basketball team is no stranger to the West Coast Conference. Head Coach Rodney Tention has the strongest ties, graduating from San Francisco in 1988 after a three-year playing career. Tention averaged 10.5 points and 4.3 rebounds during his time at USF, playing for Jim Brovelli, who recently served as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets. The ties do not stop there. Tention played his freshman season at the Air Force Academy, spending a season under Head Coach Hank Egan, who was a one-time WCC coach. The staff joining Tention this season as assistants, Brian Priebe, Calvin Byrd and Steve Wachs, also have ties to the WCC. Priebe's ties come as the only holdover from last year's staff. He enters his sixth season in the league. Byrd joins to the program after four seasons with Pacific. Before his time with the Tigers, Byrd spent two seasons (1999-2001) as an assistant at USF. Wachs is a 1996 graduate of Loyola Marymount, spending four seasons as a student manager and one seasons the director of basketball operations under John Olive.
WELL EARNED
Redshirt junior John Montgomery walked-on to the Lions' squad his first three seasons and as he entered his fourth year with LMU he was rewarded with a scholarship. He has lived up to coach Rodney Tention's decision, proving big off the depleted bench for the Lions. In the last five games for the Lions', Montgomery has averaged nearly 24 minutes a game, nearly triple his average of his first two seasons (6.9 per game). In that stretch he has averaged 5.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 12 assists. His career average entering the season was 1.1 ppg, 0.6 rpg, and 22 total assists in two seasons.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
The Lions' roster for 2005-06 is one of international flavor, featuring six players with international roots. Making up bulk of them are the three Australians, Damian Martin, Matthew Knight and Marko Deric. All three come from Australia's Institute for Sport (AIS), earning valuable experience and getting plug into the country's national program. Both Knight and Martin played with the Under-18 team that won the World Cup and played this past year with the Under-21 team. Deric's roots go beyond Perth, Australia, where he grew. His family migrated from Serbia when he was a child. Also joining the Lions' roster is Adoyah Miller, who grew-up in Verona, Italy, and Vitor Boccardo, a native of Brazil. Both Miller and Boccardo are fluent in multiple languages, with primary languages other than English (Italian and Portugese, respectively). Miller was born in New York but spent more than 15 years of his childhood before moving back to the United States in 1998 to begin high school in Boston. As for Boccardo, his father was a member of the 1960 Brazilian Olympic basketball team that won a bronze medal in Rome games and his Godfather, Evaristo Soares played basketball at Pepperdine for Jim Harrick.
HISTORICAL THREE
Since the three-point field goal was introduced in the 1986-87 season, Loyola Marymount men's basketball has had just one game where they have not had a three-pointer. In the 565 games the Lions have played since the three-point line was instituted, the Lions have hit three-pointers in 564 of them. The only "miss" came on Dec. 19, 1995 when the Lions went 0-for-6 in an 82-80 win over Hawaii. That game snapped a 271 consecutive three-pointer streak for the Lions. They currently have made a three-pointer in 293 straight games heading into the game against San Diego.
WORKING OVERTIME
After the 81-80 heartbreaker in overtime against SOuth Alabama, LMU is 23-38 in overtime games with the first overtime game coming in the 1926-27 season against California Christian College, a 16-14 win for the Lions. The win over Denver on Dec. 16, 2003 was the second consecutive overtime game for the Lions in one season, the first-time that has happened since 1994- 95. It is only the fourth time in the program's history LMU has played in back-to-back OTs (2003-04, 1994-95, 1991-92, 1980-81). LMU has played in double overtime seven times in its history, going 6-1 in those games. The longest game in LMU history was a five-overtime affair against Fresno State in 1957. The Lions lost 92-90.
GERSTEN PAVILION
LMU started 2004-05 5-1 in Gersten Pavilion, the best since 1995-96 when they started 6-1 at home. They finish 6-6 on the year. The Lions finished the 2003-04 season with a record of 8-6, which was the best record at home since the 1998-99 season when they went 9-5. 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 are now 177-147 all-time in Gersten.
NEWEST ADDITIONS
Loyola Marymount University men's basketball added a pair of California high school All-CIF performers during the early signing period in November. Terron Sutton (6-9, 230, F, Price High School) and Brad Sweezy (6-6, 195, F, Ocean View High School) signed National Letters of Intent to attend LMU starting in the fall of 2006, LMU Head Coach Rodney Tention announced on Wednesday. Sutton will come to LMU after playing four seasons at Price High School, helping the team to three straight CIF Championships heading into his senior season. In his junior season he exploded into a role of team leader, earning first-team All-CIF and first-team all-league. Like Sutton, Sweezy earned All-CIF honors and first-team all-league honors while playing at Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach, Calif. Sutton became a full time starter as a junior and averaged eight points and nine rebounds per contest. His career-best just happen to be in the title game, as he earned a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. Price enters the 2005-06 season with Sutton as a senior captain. In 2004-05, Ocean View High School finished the season 15-8 overall and 9-3 in the Golden West league as Sweezy earned All-CIF Division III-AA and All-Golden West League honors. He averaged 15 points and eight rebounds per game. Sweezy finished his junior season with 16 games in double figures, including a career-high 26 in the final game of the season against Artesia High School. His previous high was 19 points as he was the leading scorer in a 57-43 win over Costa Mesa. As a sophomore Sweezy helped the team to a perfect 11-0 record in league play and a 21-6 overall in 2003-04.
UP NEXT
The Lions will complete its two-game homestand when they face San Francisco on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:05 p.m. The WCC went to the Saturday-Monday format this season as the conference is part of ESPN's Big Monday package. The Lions will then hit the road at Portland on Jan. 14 and then Gonzaga on Monday, Jan. 16 televised on Big Monday at 9 p.m.
- GO LIONS -
