Jan. 7, 2007

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The Loyola Marymount men's basketball team will be finally looking for some breaks to go their way as they conclude a four-game road swing at the University of Portland on Monday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. It has been a tough last three weeks for the Lions as they have had to deal with key injuries, major travel delays and another long road swing. The four-game, four-state road swing will end with the Lions second West Coast Conference game of the season as LMU (8-9, 0-1) and Portland (5-12, 1-0) play on ESPNU. The game can also be heard on Lions' All-Access through LMULions.com and KXLU.

ON THE ROAD
While the WCC is just beginning, the Lions end their second longest road swing of the season. They finished the non-conference campaign with a pair of setbacks on the road and opened WCC play with an 97-62 setback to Gonzaga. The current swing has taken the Lions from coast-to-coast, hitting the states of Ohio, New Jersey, Washington and finally Oregon. In addition, the Lions encountered major delays in flying to Spokane for the game against Gonzaga, getting delayed in Seattle for six hours an not arriving until after midnight for a game at 1 p.m. the next day. This isn't the longest road swing of the season, the Lions went six straight away from home, going 3-3 in a three-week stretch. They have dropped their last four games overall, their last six on the road, last winning on the road at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 29.

OPENING ROUND
This was 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 and with the setback to Gonzaga, Tention falls below .500 in WCC for the first time in his career. LMU is 26-29 in WCC openers, winning two of their last three. 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 PORTLAND
LMU enters Monday's game coming off a 97-62 setback to Gonzaga as the Bulldogs used a 16-0 run to start the second half to put the game away. The Zags scored 27 points off 20 LMU turnovers. In the Lions' last three setbacks on the current road trip, the Lions have turned the ball over an average of 23.6 times, leading to an 82 points of turnovers for their opponents, an average of 27.3 per game. Portland enters 5-12 overall but 1-0 in WCC play after a 73-69 win over 4-13 Pepperdine. The Pilots have won two in a row and three of their last four, all coming at home. They are 5-3 at the Chiles Center this season but 0-9 away from home. Darren Cooper scored 19 points with seven rebounds in the win. The teams split the meetings a year ago, with both coming away with victories on the road.

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

A KNIGHT'S TALE
After missing two games with a strained left patella suffered against Long Beach State, Senior Matthew Knight returned to the Lions' line-up in a big way against Gonzaga. He wetn for 19 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes. Knight's 19 points gives him 1,265 points in his career, moving him ahead of injured teammate Brandon Worthy for 16th place all-time in LMU history. He is 24 points behind Greg Hunter for 15th in LMU history. He entered the season with teammate Brandon Worthy as one of just three 1,000-point career scoring tandeums in the country. Worthy is 16th at 1,255. Knigth's career has been defined by the the double-double. He had 17 in 2005-06, bringing his total to 19 in his career heading into his senior campaign. 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. In addition to scoring, Knight has 657 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.