Jan. 5, 2007
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The 2007 West Coast Conference campaign begins this week with the preseason favorites doing battle in the opening game of the conference season on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. Loyola Marymount, picked to finish second, will travel to Spokane to face favorite and five-time defending champ Gonzaga. While the game is between the preseason 1 and 2, it will be a match-up featuring teams hoping to reverse some untimely fortune. For the Lions, they lost their top two scorers to injury including one for the season to end non-conference. LMU has dropped their last three to enter WCC play 8-8. For the Bulldogs, they have played six of their last seven away from home and have dropped their last four contests, all away from the McCarthy Center, to enter Saturday's contest 9-6. The game will be on FSN Northwest and on Lions' All-Access through KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.
ON THE ROAD
While the WCC is just beginning, the Lions are in the middle of their second longest road swing of the season. They finished the non-conference campaign with a pair of setbacks on the road and will open WCC play at Gonzaga and then at Portland on Monday, Jan. 8. This isn't the longest road swing of the season, the Lions went six straight away from home, going 3-3 in that stretch. They have dropped their last five on the road, last winning at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 29.
OPENING ROUND
This is the third time in five years the Lions have opened WCC play against the Zags and the first time they have opened WCC play on the road since they fell to Gonzaga 85-73 on Jan. 9, 2003. Entering his second tour of WCC competition, second-year Head Coach Rodney Tention won his WCC opener last season, 86-84 over San Diego. LMU is 26-28 in WCC openers, winning their last two. The game against the Pilots will be the first game of the WCC's television package with ESPN. The game will be on ESPNU at 8 p.m.
LMU VS GONZAGA
LMU and Gonzaga battled three times last season with the Bulldogs taking each of them, including the WCC Championship game in Spokane to end the Lions' run in the WCC tournament. The Lions missed a lay-up attempt at the buzzer as they fell just short of upsetting the Bulldogs, 68-67. The classic championship battle propelled the teams to the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the preseason polls this season. The 2006-07 seasons started well for both squads as the team's featuring the two toughest non-conference schedules both started 5-1. However, the Lions lost senior preseason All-American Brandon Worthy to a torn ACL and did not play with preseason All-WCC forward Matthew Knight the last two games of non-conference. They have dropped their last three but received some good news to start the week with the return of Knight. Gonzaga, playing the fourth toughest schedule in the nation, caught up with them. They are 5-0 at home but went 0-2 in their two true road games and 4-4 in neutral site game. They have played their last four away from home, dropping each of them, including a 108-87 defeat at Virginia on Wednesday.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The WCC is ranked No. 8 in the latest Collegiate Basketball News RPI listing. The No. 8 ranking marks the third consecutive season that the WCC has been ranked in the top 10, including a conference-best No. 7 ranking to end the 2004-05 season. The WCC's No. 8 RPI ranking is better than some other highly regarded basketball conferences such as the Big 12, the WAC, Conference USA, and the Atlantic 10. The Collegiate Basketball News RPI mimics the NCAA RPI taking into consideration Division I winning percentage, schedule strength, and opponent's schedule strength to generate the RPI rankings.
WCC Owns No. 1 Strength Of Schedule
A large contributing factor in the WCC's No. 8 RPI ranking is the Conference's schedule strength. According to the Collegiate Basketball News RPI report, the WCC has clearly played the toughest schedule in the country. Gonzaga, well known for playing a demanding non-conference schedule, headlines six WCC schools ranked in the top 70 in the country in schedule strength. The Zags (9), are followed by Loyola Marymount (45), Pepperdine (49), Saint Mary's (52), Santa Clara (67), and San Francisco (70). Portland (129) and San Diego (139) rounding out the rest of the WCC schools, making the league the only Division I conference in the country with all of its member institutions in the top 140 in strength of schedule.
Miller's Time
After playing just 10 games in his first two years at Loyola Marymount, fifth-year senior Adoyah Miller entered 2006-07 with one last shot. He is making the most of it, becoming the Lions scoring threat in the month of December. Against Long Beach State and Boise State, he score a combined 43 points to earn the West Coast Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 26. The transfer from Miami Dade College played 10 games and scored just 53 points in his first two injury plagued seasons. However, he has caught fire of late, earning his first two 20-point games of his career while averaging 14.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in December. He added 19 assists, six steals, two blocks and shot 47 percent (24-for-51) from long range in the month. In a double overtime win over Boise State and a heartbreaking buzzer beater defeat to Long Beach State, Miller averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists with two blocks and two steals. In the win over Boise State, he hit 6-of-9 three-pointers to score 23 points, including a long ball with less than 40 seconds to play to send the game to the first overtime. He added six rebounds and eight assists in that win. Against Long Beach State he went for 20 points, hitting 3-for-7 from long range, adding another six boards. Miller has gone for double digits in 10 of the Lions last 12 games.
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 has become a work horse for the Lions. He is averaging 28 minutes per game and since the loss of Worthy, he is averaging 10 points, nine rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest. He has put up some impressive games this season. He went for 11 assists, three steals, three points and four rebounds against New Mexico State. He followed that with an impressive 10 rebounds, a school-record nine steals, and six assists in the win over Boise State. This season he is averaging 4.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals.
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, 21st in the setback to USC on Dec. 2 and 22nd against UC Irvine on Dec. 9. He went for 26 points and 16 boards against the Roadrunners, 13 points-13 rebounds against USC and the 15 points, 10 rebounds against UCI. He replaces Ime Oduok for fifth all-time in LMU history with the 22 double-doubles. His 17 last year 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 didn't get the double-double against Boise State with nine rebounds but equaled a career-best with 32 points. He entered the season with teammate Brandon Worthy as one of just three 1,000-point career scoring tandeums in the country. Knight is ranked 19th all-time in scoring with 1,246 points and Worthy is 16th at 1,255. In addition to scoring, Knight has 650 career rebounds, replacing Elton Mashack (1997-01) for 12th all-time. Ime Oduok is 11th with 678. 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.
UNWORTHY ENDING
Loyola Marymount University men's basketball fifth-year senior Brandon Worthy will miss the remainder of the 2006-07 season after results from an MRI released Friday, Dec. 22, showed a torn ACL in his left knee. Worthy injured the knee in the final moments of the Lions' double overtime win against Boise State on Tuesday. He finished the game with 14 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Entering the Lions first game without the San Jose native, Worthy ranked second in the West Coast Conference in scoring at 18.8 points per game. The preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major All-American also ranked 17th in the WCC in rebounds (4.5 rpg), seventh in free throw percentage (77.2%), ninth in assists (3.69 apg), seventh in steals (1.77 spg), ninth in three-point percentage (38.8%), 10th in three-pointers made per game (1.46), and 11th in defensive rebounds (3.54). Worthy's playing career at LMU concludes with 1,255 points, ranking 16th all-time in LMU history. Worthy is also ranked fourth all-time in free thorws made with 437, eighth in assists with 320 and seventh in steals with 157.
RECORD SETTERS
Damian Martin nearly pulled off the rarest of double-doubles against Boise State. He set a career-high with 10 rebounds and set the LMU single-season record with nine steals. He broke the record of eight set by Corey Gaines against Westmont on Dec. 2, 1987. Martin has 29 steals on the season to lead the Lions, giving him 122 in his career and is 11 shy of cracking the top-10. He is currently ranked fifth in the WCC in steals. Earlier this season, Martin had 11 assists against New Mexico State, the most since Haywood Eaddy had 12 on Feb. 19, 1999 against Portland. He is also ranked ninth in assists, 13th in rebounding and fifth in assist/TO ratio.
Also setting career marks in the win over Boise State was Adoyah Miller with a career-best 23 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the three-point line. It was the most three-pointers since Willie Allen had six against Saint Mary's on Jan. 29, 1999. Miller also had a career-high eight assists in 40 minutes. He added six rebounds, two blocks and a steal in a complete effort. He went on to add 20 points against Long Beach State, the first time in his collegiate career he has put together back-to-back 20-points games. Miller is 22nd in the WCC in scoring with 9.8 per game, sixth in three-point field goal percentage (41.0) and fifth in three-pointers per game (2.0).
Senior Matthew Knight added 32 points to his resume against Boise State, equalling a career-high he had against Long Beach State a year ago. Knight is fourth in the WCC in scoring (17.2 ppg) and first in rebounds (8.7 rpg).
SETTING STANDARDS
The Lions went 5-1 at home this non-conference season, going 5-0 to start the season, the best since the 1987-88 season when they went a perfect 14-0 at Gersten Pavilion. It is not the longest stretch under second-year Head Coach Rodney Tention. LMU won six straight in one stretch at Gersten Pavilion in 2005-06 to finish with a 7-5 record at home. The Lions are 12-6 at home under Tention, winning 11 of their last 14. In addition, the win in double overtime by a pair over Boise State improves the Lions to 5-1 in games decided by three points or less. In the program's history, the Lions improved to 9-1 all-time in double overtime games, winning their sixth straight.
DEFENSE
The key in the Lions eight wins this season has be on the defensive end. 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. LMU 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. The Lions held the trio to 11 points, hitting 2-of-5 three pointers. In the win over Pacific, the Lions held the Tigers to just 36.8 percent in the second half and forced them into a season-high 28 turnovers to lead the comeback. Against UCSB, the Lions held them to 34.8 percent shooting for the game and just 55 points. They entered the game hitting over 50 percent and scoring more than 75 points per game through their first five games. In the latest win, the Lions forced UC Irvine into 16 turnovers on eight steals. The Lions finished the game scoring 23 points off turnovers. Against Boise State the Lions held the Broncos to just 24 percent shooting from the three-point line and forced 23 turnovers on 14 steals, nine coming from Damian Martin.
CARDIAC KIDS
The Lions are 8-6 thanks in large part to their ability to come from behind. LMU has erased five second-half deficits this season and are 5-1 this season in games decided by three points or less. The reason for the comebacks - their defense. In their three wins after trailing by more than 10 in the second half, the Lions have held their opponent without a field goal for 11 minutes or more. The trend started with a "simple" seven-point rally as they went on an 8-0 run over a four-minute span to earn the win over Oral Roberts in the opener. Since then they haave erased second half deficits of 16, 14 and 11. They held New Mexico State without a field goal from the 11:17 mark until just 14 seconds left to set-up Brandon Worthy's game winner with 0.9 remaining. They then held Pacific without a field goal from the 16:16 mark until 4:08 remained in the second half as LMU tied the game and sent it to overtime. The most recently they held UCSB without a field goal with 14:26 remaining until just 3:53 showed on the clock. The Lions are 4-0 in games decided by three points or less this season. Although the lead was not as big, the Lions came back from six down against UC Irvine, using a full court press to force 16 turnovers for an eight-point win. Against Boise State the Lions erased a 13-point deficit, this one coming in the first half. The Lions trailed 23-10 with seven minutes to go in the half before going on a 21-6 run to take a two-point lead at the break. LMU then trailed by 11 with 9:27 left in the second half against Long Beach State. The Lions erased the deficit and took their only lead of the second half on Derick Grubb jumper with two seconds left. However, Long Beach State hit a shot just inside half court to take away the win.
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 378 games heading into the game against San Diego State. 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.
RECENT NOTES
The Lions finished the game against UC Irvine with just six turnovers. According to LMU records it equals the lowest in program history since it joined the WCC in 1955. The six turnovers is the lowest since the Lions had six against Santa Clara in January of 2003. The Lions also committed just six on Jan. 16, 1993 against Gonzaga.
The Lions became just the third West Coast Conference school to reach the finals of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout (Portland and Gonzaga). They defeated host Alaska-Anchorage 69-58 in the quarterfinals and then took care of Pacific in a thrilling double overtime come-from-behind win, 88-85. LMU fell to Cal in the finals, 78-70. Seniors Bradon Worthy and Matthew Knight were both named to the All-Tournament team.
The Lions' freshmen are starting to play big minutes this season. Mason Maynard came off the bench to score seven points in 12 minutes to follow up a two-point, five-rebound, two-assist performance against New Mexico State. He then broke through in his first career start against Sam Houston State with 10 points, four rebounds and an assist in 22 minutes. He leads all freshmen with 161 minutes (12.4 per game) and in scoring at 2.8 ppg. Fellow freshman Shawn Deadwiler made his first appearance as a Lion against USC, scoring four points with three rebounds in 11 minutes. He is averaging 13.6 minutes since he made is debut, dishing out 17 assists, good for more than two per game. Lions' big-man Max Craig was the first to get playing time and is averaging more than nine minutes a game while appearing in 14 of the Lions' 16 games this season. He had eight points, three rebounds against New Mexico State and then went for eight points and five rebounds against Monmouth to close non-conference.
LMU played their first overtime game of the season in the win over Pacific. They played their second against Boise State. Both went to double overtime. The Lions went 2-1 in Head Coach Rodney Tention's first season, including an 84-75 win in double overtime against San Francisco. LMU is 27-38 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. As for double overtime, the Lions improved to 9-1 with the win over Boise State. The longest game in LMU history was a five-overtime affair against Fresno State in 1957. The Lions lost 92-90.
Brad Sweezy and Terron Sutton continue to nurse injuries. Both Sweezy and Sutton are possilbe redshirts this season.
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