Nov. 23, 2006

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Loyola Marymount (4-1) will find a familiar and old-school foe when they play the University of the Pacific (2-1) in the semifinals of the 2006 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. The Lions and Tigers took care of business in the quarterfinals of the annual Thanksgiving classic and will play in the first semifinal on Friday, Nov. 24 at 6:30 p.m. PST. The match between the two California schools is the first since 1999 and matches a a pair of teams from the original California Basketball Association in 1955-56. The league eventually turned to the West Coast Athletic Conference and the now West Coast Conference. Pacific was part of the league through 1971 and the series between the programs is an even 23-23. The game will be televisied on ESPNU and can also be heard on Lions' All-Access through KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
The Lions have started the season 4-1 in Head Coach Rodney Tention's second season. They have started the season 3-0 at home, the fourth time in five years the Lions have started the season at least 3-0 at Gersten Pavilion. In one-plus seasons under Tention, the Lions are 10-5 at home. The difference this season for the Lions is it has picked up where they left off a year ago. At 4-1 five games into 2006, they have now won 60 percent of their contests in their last 20-plus games. The Lions started the non-conference season in Tention's first year 3-11. They did not pick-up their fourth win of the season until Jan. 7. However, the Lions took off in West Coast Conference play, winning eight of their first 10, and playing in the title game of the WCC tournament for the first time in 17 years.

THE RESURGENCE
The resurgence for the Lions is in the two-headed inside-outside monster of seniors Brandon Worthy and Matthew Knight. The pair of 2006 first-team All-WCC selections and preseason all-conference picks have proven to be a one-two punch they were expected to be. Worthy leads the team with 19.4 points per game while sitting second in rebounds at 5.6. Knight averages 18.0 points per contest while leading the team in rebounds at 9.0. Knight and Worthy have scored in double-digits all five games this season.

DEFENSE
The Lions have been getting it done on the defensive end, allowing just 65.6 points by opponents. LMU held Oral Roberts, one the nation's leading scoring teams a year ago to just 65 and then held Mississippi State, who had over 90 in their first game, to just 61. They then held New Mexico State to just 38 percent shooting, 28 in the second half. The forced the Aggies into 26 turnovers. Against Cal State Bakersfield, they held them to 41 percent for the game, just 35 percent in the first half. The Lions held Alaska to just 42 percent shooting, 38 percent in the second half as the Lions took a two-point halftime lead and turned it into a double digit win. The perimeter scorers of Alaska in Allen McFarland, Eric Draper and Buddy Bailey entered the game averaging a combined 45 points per game, hitting 30 three-pointers in four games. On Wednesday, the Lions held the trio to 11 points, hitting 2-of-5 three pointers. Teams are shooting just 41 percent against the Lions on the season.

THE LIONS SIDE
The Lions' side of the bracket features Alaska-Anchorage, Pacific and Missouri-Kansas City. With LMU's 69-58 win over Alaska, their first double-digit win since 11-point overtime win against Pepperdine on Feb. 11, and Pacific's come-from-behind 71-70 win over Missouri-Kansas City, the semifinal on the Lions' side the bracket will feature a pair of jungle cats. The Lions and Tigers will play in the first semifinal at 6:30 p.m. (PST). Alaska and UMKC will play at Noon in the first consolation semi. Pacific once again was in the NCAA tournament a year ago as winners of the Big West. With the win, Pacific is now 2-1 on the season, facing two similar opponents as the Lions. The Tigers opened with a 75-67 home win over Cal State Bakersfield but lost to New Mexico State on the road, 76-74. Pacific is led by Anthony Brown at 19.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He was the Tigers' Player of the Game with 19 points and 14 rebounds against UMKC.

THE CBA, TIGERS and LIONS
The West Coast Conference started as the California Basketball Association in 1952. Pacific, along with Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Jose State started the CBA. Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Fresno State joined the league in 1955 and in 1957 the league transformed into the West Coast Athletic Conference. Pacific left the conference in 1971 and in 1979 the league, now the West Coast Conference, made its final changes to the now current eight-team conference that is currently the third most stable in the nation, only the Ivy League and Pac-10 have been together longer. Pacific won the WCAC title in 1966, 1967 and its final year in 1971. LMU has won the league in 1961, 1988, 1989 and 1990. The series between LMU and Pacific is even at 23-23 as the teams have played eight times since Pacific left the WCAC and joined the Big West. The Lions have won six of those meetings.

BACK TO ALASKA
LMU makes their second-ever trip to the prestigious Great Alaska Shootout. This year's tournament features host Alaska-Anchorage, Missouri Kansas-City, Pacific, Hawaii, Hofstra, Marshall and California. The Lions made their first-ever trip to the annual November tournament in 2002. Brandon Worthy, a true freshman that season, played big minutes for the Lions and is one of the rare players not from host Alaska-Anchorage to make a return trip to the tournament. Worthy went on to average 11 points per game as a freshman, earning All-WCC honorable mention honors. Fellow fifth-year senior John Montgomery was also a freshman that season but was serving his redshirt year. That season the Lions opened with Villanova and fell 87-71 before defeating Montana 65-62 in the second game. They finished the tournament falling to Wyoming, 72-65. All three LMU opponents went to the postseason that year.

TAKING THE FIFTH
The Lions have a top and bottom heavyroster this 2006-07 season. LMU has four fifth-year seniors in Brandon Worthy, Derick Grubb, Adoyah Miller and John Montgomery. They have a fourth senior in four-year player Matthew Knight. As a group they have combined to play 330 games heading into the Pacific game. The other half of the Lions' roster includes five scholarship freshmen in Max Craig, Mason Maynard, Brad Sweezy, Terron Sutton and Shawn Deadwiler. Seniors and freshmen combine for 10 of the Lions 16 roster spots.

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.

THE SHOT
The Lions entered the Great Alaska Shootout coming off an emotional two-game homestand, including a come-from-behind win over New Mexico State on Friday night as they erased a 17-point deficit to defeated the Aggies 71-69. Worthy was a man on fire as he did everything, including hitting the game winning three-pointer with .9 seconds remaining. The off-balance shot, which was ESPN SportsCenter's top play of the day, was part of a 28-point day for Worthy. He did it all, as he led the team with eight rebounds two assists and two steals. He also blocked New Mexico State's shot at the buzzer to secure the win. Knight had 13 points against the Aggies while senior Derick Grubb added 14, his best as a Lion. Lost in the midst of "The Shot" was junior Damian Martin's 11 assists, the most since Haywood Eaddy had 12 on Feb. 19, 1999 against Portland. The junior had three steals, three points and four rebounds. The Lions were down 17 with 15 minutes to play in the second half and then went on a 15-0 run to take the lead in the final 11 minutes after Head Coach Rodney Tention was ejected after his second technical. To close the three games in six-day stretch, Knight went for his 20th career double-double with 26 points and 16 rebounds in the wire-to-wire win over Cal State Bakersfield, 83-75, on Sunday. Worthy added 19 and junior Jon Ziri added his best effort of the season with 12 points and nine rebounds.

ONE-TWO 1,000-point PUNCH
The senior tandem of Brandon Worthy and Matthew Knight have been stars as expected in the Lions' 3-1 start this season. They scored 42 of the Lions 68 points in the win over Oral Roberts. Knight went for 23 points, nine boards and hit 10-of-14 from the field to earn Player of the Week honors in the WCC.In the win over New Mexico State, they combined for 41 points as Worthy went for 28. In the third win over CSUB, they went for 45 points as Knight had 26 and Worthy 19. On Wednesday they kept it going with 38 combined points. They have been doing it their entire career, as they 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. Knight now has 1,095 career points, moving him to 22nd all-time in LMU history, tied with Bob Burns. Worthy's has 1,112 points in his career, moving him to 20th 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. He added his 20th in the win over Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 19. He went for 26 points and 16 boards. He is now tied with Ime Oduok for fifth all-time in LMU history. 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. 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. This season he is at it again, averaging 18.0 points, 9.0 rebounds with five blocks. In addition to ranking 22nd all-time in scoring, Knight has 573 career rebounds, ranking him 15th in LMU history. Robert Cox (1953-55) is 14th with 609. Knight concluded 2006 seventh overall in the WCC in scoring with 16.2 points and the league leader in rebounds with 10.0 per game.

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. He is averaging 19.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 steals through the first five games this season.

AT THE LINE
For the second time in his career Worthy went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the win over Alaska. He did it against Portland in 2003. In his career, the San Jose native has made double-digit trips to the free throw line 14 times, including his first game as a Lion when he set a freshman record with 24 points. Worthy is 37-for-46 (80.4 percent) from the free throw line this season, moving his career total for made free throws to 413, which ranks fifth all-time in LMU history, three behind Hank Gathers. Worthy is also ninth in assists with 290 and eighth in steals with 143.

FINALLY BACK
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. He is finally back and brings the Lions a true point guard. 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. He is beginning to knock off the rust as he went for 11 assists, three steals, three points and four rebounds against New Mexico State. This season he is averaging 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals in the five contests. He also adds 4.0 rebounds per game and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5.

A NEW TWIS
Possibly the missing piece to the Lions puzzle for 2006-07 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. 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 and went for 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the win over New Mexico State. He is averaging 7.2 points through five games.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
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) all join the Lions this season. Craig has logged the most minutes to date of the bunch, averaging 9.7 minutes per contest and going for a career high eight points with three rebounds in 12 minutes against New Mexico State. Also giving the Lions big minutes off the bench against NMSU was Maynard. In eight minutes he had two points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. With Knight and Grubb only playing a combined 14 minutes, Maynard was asked to close out the half. He helped the Lions stay close enough to push for the win. He followed that with more foul trouble on the starters against Alaska, going for a career best seven points in 12 minutes.

WHAT WAS DONE IN 2006