Nov. 30, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Loyola Marymount men's basketball will play their first televised game of the season when they welcome UC Santa Barbara to Gersten Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 1 for Homecoming 2007. Festivities have been taking place all week and will culminate with a pregame tailgate and BBQ in front of Gersten Pavilion starting at 3:00 p.m. followed by the game, which starts at 7:05 p.m. The game will be aired live nationally on CSTV and can also be heard live on KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

TOUGH STRETCH
The Lions enter their eighth game of the season and will be playing just their third home game of the young season. Their home slate has been anything but easy. The combined records of their first three opponents is 17-3. Arkansas-Little Rock is 5-1, San Diego State is 6-1 and the Gauchos will come into Saturday's game at 6-1. It doesn't get much easier to close out the non-conference portion. The entire combined record of the Lions non-conference opponents at home is 29-8. Mississippi State (Dec. 19) of the SEC has the worst record of the bunch at 3-3. Wagner (Dec. 22) is 4-2 and Sam Houston State (Dec. 30) is 5-0.

COVERAGE
CSTV Networks, Inc. announced that the Loyola Marymount vs. UC-Santa Barbara men's basketball game on Sat., Dec. 1, 2007, will be available across the nation as part of a special online pay-per-view event. The special presentation of this match-up will be available live and on-demand via Internet video streaming for one-time payment of $9.95. The game will also be broadcast nationally on CSTV, available via satellite on DirecTV channel 610 and Dish Network channel 152. Sign up today.

EXPERIENCE CHANGE
The Lions made a change in their starting line-up during the BTI Invitational, as senior Jon Ziri and junior Marko Deric earned starts, giving the Lions a line-up with previous starts under their belt. The duo had a combined 60 starts entering the 2007-08 season, more than the rest of the entire roster combined. The move provided some spark as the Lions picked up their first victory with the new line-up in its second start together and went 2-2 on their four-game slate away from home. Ziri was a stat-stuffer, averaging 11.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in those four games. As for Deric, he is second on the team in scoring with 9.6 points per contest, going for 14 points while hitting the game winner in overtime against Mercer.

STAT STUFFER
Senior Jon Ziri has been doing "all the little things" according to Head Coach Rodney Tention, and it has been showing in the stats. His line scorers from the four-game road swing were impressive as he proved to be a stat stuffer. In the four games, Ziri averaged 11.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.5 steals. In the win over Presbyterian, he added a block and hit a 10-foot jumper in the final minute that put the game away. In scanning the stats, Ziri had just one zero in his entire line, going 0-for-1 at the free throw line. In his career-high outburst on Sunday against undefeated New Mexico, his stat line had no zeros in it. In the win over Mercer, his only zero was in the blocks.

GROWING UP
The Lions' underclassmen continue to grow through just seven games this season. Tim Diederichs set a career-high with 14 against St. Bonaventure and is fourth on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.5 rpg). Orlando Johnson netted a career-best 23 in the win against Presbyterian and added 17 against New Mexico while earning All-Tournament team honors. After scoring 21 against Mercer, Johnson leads the team with 11.6 points per game. Freshman Brandon Walker had a break-out game against Mercer, going for nine points as eight different Lions had seven or more points in the win. Walker also had nine in the loss to San DIego State. The Lions offense scored 83 points on 32-of-66 shooting in the win over Presbyterian. It was the Lions' best point production since scoring 88 against Pepperdine on Feb. 17. They did one better against Mercer, going for 97 in the overtime win. It was the most points in 10 seasons, as the Lions had 101 in a win over Saint Mary's in the 1997-98 season. LMU went 31-for-69 while hitting 12-for-30 from the three. The three-point total is the most since the Lions hit 12 on Jan. 29, 1999, also against Saint Mary's.

FRESHMAN ALL-TOURNEY
Freshman Orlando Johnson is already making a name for himself just six games into his career. His 23 points on Saturday against Presbyterian ranked 10th all-time in LMU history for single-game scoring by a freshman. He added 21 in the win over Mercer, which ranks 18th all-time and makes him the first freshman with multiple 20-points games since 1999-00. The point total against Presbyterian was the highest since Brandon Worthy scored 24 points in his debut against Loyola of Chicago on Nov. 22, 2002. Johnson went 9-for-14 from the field and 3-of-6 from the three-point line. He was also 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and had seven rebounds, an assist, block and a steal. Johnson has scored 75 points through five game.

LMU'S JZ
The Lions lone senior in 2007-08 is Jon Ziri, a fifth-year player from Tempe, Ariz. Ziri leads the team with 90 games played, 48 starts and in diplomas. He earned his Business Administration degree in May and will complete his double major this year in Sociology. Possibly the most athletic player on the squad, the 6-2 Ziri enters his final season with a 4.6 points per game average. Labeled as a high-energy performer, Ziri's defense has been solid in his career with 93 total steals, eight this season and a career-best 47 as a sophomore in 2005-06. He is averaging 8.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game through seven games this season.

WHERE IT COUNTS
Corey Counts was named to the 2007 West Coast Conference Winter All-Academic team for his performance both in the classroom and on the hardwood for the LMU basketball team. Counts has gone from try-out walk-on to a valuable member to the Lions' squad. Counts has a 3.08 GPA and is an Economics major. He had the best game of his career as a Lion in the win over Presbyterian, scoring 10 points with six assists off the bench, hitting 3-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-3 from the three-point line and charity stripe. He is averaging 3.9 points with 14 assists this season.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
UC Santa Barbara entered the 2007-08 season tabbed by many to win the Big West Conference. So far they have shown why, starting the season 6-1. Their only setback was on the road at Stanford, 67-48. They have played their last four at home, all wins, including a 63-60 win over UNLV Tuesday and a 74-69 win over San Francisco on Nov. 20. Alex Harris leads the team in scoring at 24.0 points per game. The Guachos as a team are solid in shooting, hitting 44.7 percent from the field, 39.4 percent from the three-point line and 79.0 percent from the charity stripe.

AGAINST UCSB AND THE BIG WEST
For the second time this season the Lions will take on a team from the Big West. After going 3-1 against the conference a year ago, the Lions started the season falling to UC Irvine to open the season. Overall, the Lions are 115-108 against the Big West, going 48-35 against UCSB. The Lions defeated the Gauchos last season in Santa Barbara, 58-55. The Lions will play three of their next four games against teams in the Big West (UCSB, Long Beach State and UC Riveside).

The Big West:

Cal State Northridge 	11	7	.611	2003
UC Santa Barbara 	48	35	.578	2006
Cal State Fullerton 	11	13	.458	2003
Pacific 	24	23	.510	2006
UC Davis 	0	0	.000	--
Cal Poly 	4	2	.667	2003
UC Irvine 	10	9	.526	2007
UC Riverside 	2	2	.500	2004
Long Beach State 	5	17	.227	2006
Totals	115	108	.515	--

LAST TIME OUT
After taking steps forward in their previous four games, the Loyola Marymount men's basketball team where given a step back by San Diego State and their pressure defense as the Aztecs earned a 78-56 win at Gersten Pavilion on Wednesday night. The Lions fall to 2-5 while San Diego State improves to 6-1. San Diego State forced 25 LMU turnovers on 19 steals, three shy of the Gersten Pavilion record, as they pulled away for the double digit win. After giving up only a season-low 11 turnovers in the win over Mercer, the Lions were outscored on points off turnovers, 27-17. The Lions were led by Shawn Deadwiler with 14 points while no other Lion reached double figures. Brandon Walker had nine points while Marko Deric added eight. Ryan Amoroso had 19 points to lead all scorers. The Lions third leading scorer, forward Tim Diederichs, finished with just two points on free throws and no field goal attempts. The Lions fell down 21-4 and didn't get their third field goal until Quentin Turner hit a jumper with 10:08 remaining. The Lions trailed 43-26 at the break. The showed a little life in getting the lead down to 12, 53-41 with 11:59 remaining on Orlando Johnson's three-pointer. The Aztecs answered with an 11-3 run of their own and put the game away. San Diego State finished the game shooting 54.2 percent from the field while the Lions hit just 42.2 percent.