Dec. 7, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Loyola Marymount (2-7) will head to Boise, Idaho, to take on Boise State (6-2) in a non-conference tilt on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 6:00 p.m. (PT) The Lions-Broncos match-up will be one of contrast as the Lions and their nine underclassmen will take on a Bronco team with four senior starters in their line-up. The Lions won in double overtime a year ago in Los Angeles and return the game this season in Boise. Listen to the game on KXLU 88.9 FM or online at LMULions.com.

INSIDE THE LIONS
After winning two of three including an impressive overtime win at Mercer, the Lions have dropped their last three games and will look to end that streak against a senior heavy Boise State. Sophomore Shawn Deadwiler opened the 2007-08 campaign with a team-high 15 but failed to get double digits the next five games. He has found his touch again, leading the Lions the last three games in scoring. He went for 14 against San Diego State and then had a career-best 23 against UC Santa Barbara. He added 16 against Long Beach State on Wednesday. He is second on the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game, giving the Lions with two players averaging double digits for the first time this season. Freshman Orlando Johnson still leads the team in scoring with 11.0 points per game, going for 11 on Wednesday. Freshman Brandon Walker became the eighth player on the season to score double figures, going for a career-best 10 against the 49ers.

IN THE WCC
Freshman Orlando Johnson leads the team in scoring and is ranked 18th in the West Coast Conference at 11.0 points per game. Johnson is also ranked 11th in three-pointer percentage at 38.9 percent and in three-poiners made with 14. Sophomore Shawn Deadwiler is sixth in the WCC in three-pointers made with 16 while also ranked 21st in scoring at 10.3 per game. Deadwiler has also been doing at the charity stripe, hitting 85.2 percent, good for sixth in the league. Senior Jon Ziri is also in the rankings as his team-high 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.0 steals ranked 9th, 9th and 5th in the WCC. Junior Marko Deric finds himself in the rankings as well, sitting 9th with a field goal percentage of 50.0.

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 while 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 11.0 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 and then a career-best 10 against Long Beach State. Sophomore Shawn Deadwiler has gotten on track with 23 points against UCSB and 16 against Long Beach State, bumping his average to 10.3 per game. 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.

STAT STUFFER AT BTI
Senior Jon Ziri did "all the little things" according to Head Coach Rodney Tention, during the Lions four-game road trip that started at the BTI Invitational. 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.

FRESHMAN ALL-TOURNEY
Freshman Orlando Johnson is already making a name for himself just six games into his career. His 23 points 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 99 points through eight games, the best point total by a freshman since Brandon Worthy had 109 in his first nine games.

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 92 games played, 50 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 103 total steals, 18 this season and a career-best 47 as a sophomore in 2005-06. Ziri is currently third on the team in scoring this season at 7.6 and leads the team in rebounds (6.4 rpg), assists (2.9 apg) and steals (2.0 spg). He set career-highs with 19 points against New Mexico, 12 rebounds against UC Santa Barbara, and has equalled career highs with seven assists and four steals.

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 3.8 points with 21 assists this season.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE
Boise State and Loyola Marymount are polar opposites this season. The Broncos has been mentioned to challenge for the Western Athletic Conference crown this season thanks in large part to its senior heavy squad. They start four seniors, who happen to be their top four scorers. Reggie Larry leads the team with 18.4 points, Matt Nelson is second at 15.5 and Tyler Tiedman is third with 12.5. Tiedman is the three-point specialist, leading the team with 16 on 48.5 percent shooting while Nelson and Larry are one-two in rebounding at 8.0 and 7.9, respectively. The Lions defeated Boise State for the first time last year, 84-82 in double overtime. Nelson and Larry with for 22 and 19 each while former Lions Matthew Knight played 44 of the 45 minutes and had 32 points and nine rebounds in what was Brandon Worthy's last game.

AGAINST THE WAC
For the fourth straight year the Lions will take on a team from the current Western Athletic Conference. This with be the 136th time the Lions will face one of the nine teams from the WAC, having faced New Mexico State and Boise State last year, Hawaii in 2005 and Utah State in 2004. The Lions are 2-2 in the last three years against those three teams, defeating Boise State and New Mexico State last year on last second shots. LMU holds a 72-65 mark against those nine teams.

The WAC:
Boise State 	1	2	.333	2006
Fresno State 	9	6	.600	1979
San Jose State 	20	23	.465	1998
Utah State 	0	6	.000	2004
New Mexico State 	3	5	.375	2006
Hawaii 	10	6	.625	2005
Nevada 	28	15	.651	1995
Louisiana Tech 	0	0	.000	--
Idaho 	1	2	.333	1982
Totals	72	65	.533

LAST TIME AGAINST BSU
Senior John Montgomery hit a kiss off the glass with less than three seconds to play in double overtime to lift Loyola Marymount to an 84-82 win over Boise State at Gersten Pavilion on Dec. 19, 2006.It was a career night for many of the Lions. Senior Matthew Knight equaled a career-high with 32 points and nine rebounds, senior Adoyah Miller set a career high with 23 points, hitting six three-pointers and junior Damian Martin set a school record with nine steals, adding a team-high and a career-high 10 rebounds. Matt Nelson led Boise State with 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Lions scored the first six points in the second overtime to go up 82-76. Senior Brandon Worthy, who had 14 points and six assists, hit a jumper to start the second frame, had one of his two steals to set-up his monster dunk over Carl. He was fouled and the free throw was good to make it 81-76. Miller hit a free throw to make it 82-76 before Boise State scored the next six points, the last four on free throws to tie it at 82-82 with 1:39 remaining. Both teams had a chance, including Boise State with 10 seconds remaining after a Lions miss. However, Matt Bauscher's inbound pass went out of bounds to give the Lions the ball back. Monty took the inbound pass and went right of the paint where he pulled up and hit the eight-foot jumper. Anthony Thomas' three-pointer at the buzzer sailed right to give the Lions the win. The Lions trailed by as many as 13 in the first half and were down by three with 1:09 remaining in regulation, 64-61. Miller hit his sixth three-pointer with 47 seconds to play to send it to the games first overtime. Miller finished 6-for-9 from beyond the arc. In the first overtime, Boise State took a four-point lead at 74-70 before Knight and Marko Deric hit back-to-back jumpers to tie it at 74-74. Boise State took the lead on a jumper by Karl with 10 seconds to play. Worthy then set the tone for the start of the second half by tying the game at 76-76 with 5.1 remaining.