Nov. 12, 2006
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Following an impressive 68-65 win to start the 2006-07 season, the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team heads to SEC country as they take on Mississippi State in Starksville, Miss., on Monday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. It is just the fourth team the Lions will face from the SEC in school history and the first trip to Starksville. The Lions opened the season with the win over Oral Roberts, a preseason pick to win the Mid-Continent Conference. They now face the Bulldogs, who opened the season with a 90-55 win over Nicholls. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net-SUN and can be heard through Lions' All-Access on www.LMULions.com and KXLU 88.9 FM.
GREAT START
For the second consecutive year, LMU had a tough test sitting in front of them to start the season. This time it was Oral Roberts, picked to win the Mid-Continent Conference and ranked among the best among Mid-Majors. The Lions, ranked just two spots behind ORU at No. 16, answered the call again, defeating the Golden Eagles, 68-65, in front of 2,855 at Gersten Pavilion Friday night in a solid collegiate basketball game to start the season. A year ago the Lions traveled to Provo, Utah, a state they had won one once in 45 trips, and claimed a win in Head Coach Rodney Tention's first year. With higher expectations entering 2006-07, the Lions, facing a tournament team with a two-time conference player of the year, came from seven down to start the year 1-0.
WORTHY KNIGHT
The senior tandem of Brandon Worthy and Matthew Knight were stars as expected, scoring 42 of the Lions 68 points. Knight went for 23 points, nine boards and hit 10-of-14 from the field. Worthy took over down the stretch when the Lions needed him, scoring 19 points with seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. "They are two competitive kids who want to win," said Tention, who improves to 2-0 in season openers as the Lions go to 35-17 in the first game of the year since 1955-56. "Our team knows that when Brandon and Matty are playing well, we are playing well. They are good." Down by three at the half, the Lions saw their deficit grow to as many as seven when ORU's Marchello Vealy hit a jumper to make it 48-41 with 13:15 remaining. The Lions would go on a 10-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 51-50 lead when Knight hit an easy lay-up after a Worthy steal. As expected, the two teams traded leads until the Lions went on an 11-2 run to take the lead for good. The run led to a seven-point lead at 64-57 when Worthy hit a driving lay-up and was fouled with 2:47 remaining. Oral Roberts cut the lead to three, 66-63, on a three-pointer from Moses Ehambe with 24 seconds remaining. Senior Adoyah Miller hit one of two free throws to make it a two possession game and put it just out of reach for the Golden Eagles. ORU was led by Ken Tutt's 26 points while two-time player of the year in the Mid-Continent Conference Caleb Green had just 12 points but with 12 rebounds. The turning point in the game for the Lions was the turnovers. After committing 17 in the first half, the Lions finished with just 19 for the game. ORU also had 19 for the game, 12 in the first half. The fast-paced first half saw the Lions jump out to an 11-0 lead before Oral Roberts came back to take a 36-33 lead at the break.
UP NEXT
The Lions head to Mississippi State for the first meeting against the Bulldogs. It is just the fourth team from the SEC the Lions will face in program history and just the seventh game overall. The Lions are 1-5 against the SEC, earning a 62-60 win over Alabama in the 1990 Sweet 16. The Bulldogs finished the 2005-06 season at 15-15 overall and 5-11 in the SEC. They have picked by the media to finish fourth in the SEC West Division. Jamont Gordon, who averaged 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a year ago, is a second-team preseason All-SEC selection. In addition to Gordon, Charles Rhodes is a second-team preseason All-SEC selection by the coaches in the cocnference. The Bulldogs began the season with a 90-55 win over Nicolls.
SEASON OPENERS
With the win over Oral Roberts, the Lions improve to 35-17 in season openers since it joined the West Coast Conference in 1955-56. LMU has not lost a home opener since Nov. 17, 1998, a 98-92 setback to Long Beach State. On the road, the Lions are 1-0 in road openers under Head Coach Rodney Tention, defeating BYU in the first game of the season a year ago. They have won three straight road openers, last falling to UC Irvine on Dec. 4, 2002. They are 18-29 since 1959 in road openers.
PRESEASON TOP-25
The preseason expectations and honors continue for LMU as they have been ranked No. 16 in the CollegeInsider.com Preseason Mid-Major Top-25. It is the first time the Lions have made the poll since it began in 2000. The Lions were voted to finish the West Coast Conference in second place this season, according to the annual preseason coaches' poll. Creighton took home the No. 1 spot. All told the Lions have five teams currently ranked in the poll on their schedule this season. They have No. 2 Gonzaga twice with play in the West Coast Confefence. They also play at No. 8 Akron on Dec. 28, No. 23 Long Beach State at Gersten Pavilion on Dec. 22 while traveling to No. 24 Sam Houston State on Dec. 6.
COACHES' POLL
When first-year Head Coach Rodney Tention led the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team to the West Coast Conference Championship and within seconds of its first NCAA trip in March, he made strides in the LMU program that had not been made in 17 years. More history is being written as Tention in his second year has his Lions picked to challenge for the WCC title and tabbed second by the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll. It is the team's highest preseason ranking in 17 years. The Lions earned 51 points to edge out the University of San Francisco (50 points) for second place in the annual poll. Gonzaga finds themselves still as the team to beat, earning six first place votes and 62 total points. LMU has turned many heads with their performance in the WCC tournament a year ago and have the pieces in place that have them as a top contender in 2006-07. The Lions might have two of the better players in the WCC in seniors Brandon Worthy (6-2, 205, Sr., San Jose, CA) and Matthew Knight (6-8, 240, Sr., Tasmania, Australia), a pair of WCC first-team selections who both scored their 1,000th career point in the WCC tournament. Both have been tabbed by the coaches as two of the top-six returning players for the upcoming 2006-07 season and are possibly the league's best inside-outside tandem.
WHY THE HYPE
What a first season it was for Rodney Tention and the Loyola Marymount men's basketball program. After growing pains in non-conference saw them stuck with five setbacks coming at the buzzer and/or overtime, Tention stayed focused, kept things simple and knew his team would gel. They did, and it came in a way LMU fans had not seen in almost two decades. The success has the Lions looking for even more for the upcoming 2006-07 season and facing much higher expectations. The Lions finished in second place in the WCC, tied with Saint Mary's at 8-6. It was the most WCC wins since the 1996 and 1992 seasons. With the number two seed in the WCC tournament, the Lions defeated Saint Mary's for the first semifinal win since 1989 and the first championship game appearance since that same year. In the title game the Lions fell to fourth-ranked Gonzaga on the Bulldog's home floor at the buzzer.
THE CHALLENGE
Entering in his second season, Tention will have to combine returning talent with the league's largest recruiting class of true freshman and a transfer from a local rival. The Lions return three starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad. In the transition from 2005-06 to 2006-07, Tention will have to overcome the loss of five players, four of whom played four years in the program and leave having played 331 games together as Lions (Chris Ayer, Dustin Brown, John Haywood, Wes Wardrop) and another due to injury (Daryl Pegram). "The important part of replacing solid starters like Chris and Wes is to challenge everyone coming in to step up their game," said Tention. "We also have to challenge each of our returning players to become better as leaders. We will challenge the newcomers to put in the work that it takes to win at this level."
ONE-TWO 1,000-point PUNCH
The Lions might have two of the better players in the WCC in seniors Worthy and Knight, a pair of WCC first-team selections who both scored their 1,000th career point in the WCC tournament and are preseason All-WCC and All-American candidates. With the attention, the duo find themselves as one of the best returning inside-outside tandem in the league and player of the year candidates. "The leadership of Brandon and Matty is important. They are going to have to be really good senior leaders," said Tention. "They are no different than any of the higher profile players. They are going to get a lot of attention from our opponents and they will not be able to do it themselves." Both proved up to the challenge as they scored 42 of the Lions 68 points on Friday. Knight now has 1,028 career points, moving him to 26th all-time in LMU history, tied with John Arndt. Worthy's 19 points give him 1,034 in his career, moving him to 25th all-time in LMU history.
A KNIGHT'S TALE
Senior Matthew Knight finished with 17 double-doubles in 2005-06, bringing his total to 19 in his career. The WCC Player of the Year candidate had consecutive double-double streaks of six and four as he continues to put his name in the LMU record books. His 17 was the most since Hank Gathers had 26 in the 1988-89 season and ranks him seventh all-time for single season double-doubles. His 19 in his career is now tied for sixth in program history, passing Mark Armstrong (1984-88). He had a stretch of six straight last year, putting him in even more elite company. He is just the fifth player in 96 years of college basketball at LMU to have a consecutive game streak of six or more, joining a list of Jim Haderlein, Steve Smith, Hank Gathers and Brad Dean. All five finished in the top-25 all-time in LMU scoring.
Knight scored his 1,000th career point against Gonzaga in the WCC tournament in 2006, making him the 28th player to hit the 1,000-point mark. He is also the 22nd player in LMU history to reach 500 rebounds in his career. He is just the 12th player in LMU history to score 1,000 career points with 500 career rebounds. He has 537 rebounds, 19th all-time, just two behind Dick Sebek for 18th. Knight concluded 2006 seventh overall in the WCC in scoring with 16.2 points per game and is fifth in conference games at 17.6 ppg. He led the league in rebounding with 10.0 per game overall and 10.6 in WCC play. He was also fourth overall in field goal percentage (51.9), first in offensive rebounds (3.73), second in defensive rebounds (6.23), and 9th in blocked shots (.82). Knight earned Player of the Week honors in the WCC on Jan. 10 after averaging 22 ppg and 11 rpg in the home sweep to start WCC play.
WORTHY SEASON
Brandon Worthy, who also scored his 1,000th career point at the WCC tournament, has been named by CollegeInsider.com as a preseason Mid-Major All-American. Worthy, a first-team All-West Coast Conference selection in 2006, is one of 25 players voted on the annual list. Worthy finished his junior campaign averaging 15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. The fifth-year senior who earned his degree in Philosophy in May is working towards a second degree this year in Liberal Studies. He was voted by the WCC coaches as a preseason All-WCC selection.
Worthy concluded the 2006 season on a hot streak. He led all scorers with 27 points against Saint Mary's and in the last nine games of the season he led the Lions with 20 points per game. In that stretch he scored 20 or more points six times while his aggressive play set the tone for the Lions. He averaged more than eight free throw attempts while making 7.2 per game, adding 4.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game. He finished the year ranked fifth in free throw percentage (82.2), third in assists (4.33), third in steals (1.77 and third in assist/turnover ration (1.6).
By going 5-for-6 from the free throw line with seven assists and two steals, Worthy competes adding to his school records. He is fifth all-time with 381 free throws made, ninth in assists with 279 and eighth in steals with 136.
ALSO BACK
Joining Worthy and Knight as a returning starter will be redshirt junior Jon Ziri (6-2, 200, Jr., Tempe, AZ). The fourth-year player from Arizona was one of the biggest surprises of 2005-06. After being inserted into the starting line-up in the fourth game of the season, Ziri became a jack-of-all-trades for the Lions. Ziri finished the season averaging 25.3 minutes, up from eight he averaged the year prior. He averaged 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds while earning 72 assists and 47 steals, which was second on the squad. Ziri played 19 minutes with three assists and three points on Friday.
Also returning in 2006-07 for the Lions will be senior John Montgomery (6-1, 175, Sr., Menlo Park, CA) and sophomore Marko Deric (6-9, 230, So., Perth, Australia). In his fifth-year as a Lion, Montgomery proved big off the bench. He played in all 30 games while averaging 14.4 minutes a contest, both personal highs. The back-up point guard provided steady play in crunch time for Tention, dishing out 63 assists, hitting 14 three-pointers with 19 steals. He went for two points, two boards and an assist in 14 minutes against ORU. As for Deric, he played in 21 games on the year. He showed improvement throughout the season and finished averaging five minutes on the season. In the opener against Oral Roberts he played a career-high 19 minutes, equalling a career-best with three boards while adding four points.
Damian Martin (6-2, 200, Jr., NSW, Australia) the fourth-year player from Australia was forced to serve a medical redshirt season in 2005-06 due to a torn Achilles tendon suffered while playing the Australian National Team. He was never able to practice for the Lions in Tention's first season. In his first two seasons, Martin played in 57 games, starting in 36 of them. He averaged 27 minutes with 4.3 points per game. He added 173 assists and 93 steals to rank among the leaders during both seasons. In his first game in nearly two years, he had a team-high four steals with four assists in 26 minutes.
A NEW TWIST
Possibly the missing piece to the Lions puzzle is fifth-year transfer Derick Grubb (6-9, 255, Sr., Grapevine, TX). Thanks to the new transfer rule, Grubb joins the Lions in his fifth year of eligibility. A new rule for men's basketball allows a fifth-year senior who has earned his undergraduate degree to transfer to a new school without having to sit out a season. Grubb earned his degree at Pepperdine in May of 2006. Grubb played in 85 games for the Waves in four seasons, suiting up for just five games in 2004-05, forcing him to take a medical redshirt. Grubb had his best season a year ago with 4.3 points and 3.6 rebounds. In addition, he hit 16 three pointers on the season, this coming after attempting just one three-pointer in his previous three campaigns. Grubb had 10 points with three rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes against Oral Roberts.. Tention signed five true freshmen to letters of intent heading into the season. Max Craig (7-0, 260, Fr., Quebec, Canada), Shawn Deadwiler II (6-3, 175, Fr., Chandler, AZ), Mason Maynard (6-9, 220, Fr., Glendale, AZ), Terron Sutton (6-9, 230, Fr., Los Angeles, CA) and Brad Sweezy (6-6, 195, Fr., Westminster, CA) will all join the Lions this coming season. Craig was the only newcomer to play in the opener, earning five minutes with a rebound.
- GO LIONS -
