March 15, 2006

Los Angeles, CA (March 15) - After advancing to their first West Coast Conference Tournament championship game in 17 years, the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team handed out their team awards at the annual year-end banquet on Saturday, March 11. Juniors Brandon Worthy and Matthew Knight shared the Most Valuable Player award.

Both Worthy and Knight earned first-team All-WCC and All-WCC Tournament honors in the 2005-06 season and will be the top inside-outside duo of the WCC next season. Worthy also earned the Captain's Award, Most Assists, Best Free Throw Percentage honor and Most Steals honor. Worthy finished second on the team with 15.0 points per game while leading the team with 53 steals (1.77 per game), 130 assists (4.33 per game) and 82.2 percent from the charity stripe.

Knight, who led the team with 16.2 points per game, also led the team with 10.0 rebounds per contest to earn Most Rebounds honor. Knight was the first player since Hank Gathers in 1989-90 to average a double-double. He finished the season with 17 double-doubles, the most Gathers had 26 in 1988-89.

Sophomore Jon Ziri had a breakout season and because of it he earned Most Inspirational and Most Improved honors for 2005-06. Ziri finished second on the team in steals with 47, leading the team with 30 against WCC opponents. Ziri entered the starting line-up in the fourth game of the season and his improved play kept him there the rest of the season. He finished the season averaging 5.8 points, 1.57 steals, 2.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.

Seniors Wes Wardrop and Chris Ayer took home the Senior Award. Wardrop, who earned first-team All-WCC honors, was also named Defensive Player of the Year for the Lions. Wardrop finished with 34 steals and was third on the team with 13.8 points per game. He led the team with 64 three-pointers and was second with 3.77 assists per game. Ayer, who also earned Mr. Hustle honors, had a season to remember, setting career highs with 9.4 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. He also had a career best 38 blocks.

Earning the Coaches' Award was freshman Chris Kanne and junior John Montgomery. Outstanding freshman honors went to Marko Deric. Montgomery earned a scholarship at the start of the season and did not disappoint, becoming the Lions sixth man off the bench this season. He averaged season highs in minutes (14.4 per game), points (89 - 3.0 ppg), assists (63 - 2.10 apg), steals (19 - 0.63 spg) and three pointers (14). Kanne earned a walk-on spot to the Lions' squad and appeared in seven games for the Lions. Deric's minutes improved late in the season as he played in 21 games and averaged five minutes a game.

2005-06 LMU Team Awards
Captain's Award: Brandon Worthy
Most Valuable Player: Brandon Worthy, Matthew Knight
Most Inspirational: Jon Ziri
Defensive Player: Wes Wardrop
Mr. Hustle: Chris Ayer
Outstanding Freshman: Marko Deric
Most Improved: Jon Ziri
Coaches Award: Chris Kanne, John Montgomery
Senior Award: Chris Ayer, Wes Wardrop
Most Rebounds: Matthew Knight
Best Free Throw Percentage: Brandon Worthy
Most Assists: Brandon Worthy
Most Steals: Brandon Worthy