Dec. 19, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Loyola Marymount continues its five-game, 10-day tour of southern California when they return home for back-to-back games at Gersten Pavilion. The homestand will start with the University of Tulsa on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 7:05 p.m. This is the fourth game of the Lions' brutal stretch of games all in southern California. The stretch started with a trip to UCSB on Dec. 13, a home date on Monday with UC Riverside and a trip up the road to No. 12 UCLA Wednesday. The trip will conclude with a home date with Mercer (Dec. 22, 7 p.m.) The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

DEPLETED ROSTER
Already with the absence of head coach Bill Bayno (see note below) due to health issues, five players on LMU's roster, which includes six newcomers and just three seniors, are not out for the season. Junior transfer Larry Davis (Seton Hall) and sophomore Drew Viney (Oregon) will redshirt the season due to transfer rules. The other three players out for the year are all due to injury. Redshirt sophomore Terron Sutton is out for the year due to a torn ACL suffered in practice this October, and Tim Diederichs, who had played limited minutes in the first three games, requires surgery on his injured right shoulder suffered in the first weeks of practice this season. He will miss the remainder of the season and plans on applying for a medical redshirt. The third player in that group is Ashley Hamilton, who played in five games this season, will miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his back. There is more. Leading scorer, rebounder and assist man Vernon Teel broke his right foot against Notre Dame and had surgery Nov. 26 and will be out four to six weeks. With the injuries, the Lions are down to seven scholarship players, two of which - seniors Corey Counts and Chris Kanne - earned scholarships this summer after playing as walk-ons the last three seasons. Current walk-on Griffin Reilly is the ninth active player and saw his first minutes of action at Arizona. The Lions added a 10th player to the roster in walk-on Daniel Latimer.

Bill Bayno
Loyola Marymount University Athletics announced on Sunday, Nov. 23, that Bill Bayno is taking a leave of absence, effective immediately, as the head coach of the LMU men's basketball team. Assistant Coach Max Good will serve as acting head coach during Bayno's leave. "Recently, I was diagnosed with a serious medical condition, in part, related to the stress and anxiety of head coaching," says Bayno. "It will require treatment which will force me to take a leave of absence. It is unfortunate and I feel badly for the University, the coaching staff and most of all my players and their families, all of whom I will miss very much. I ask for privacy for myself and my family and I thank you for your prayers and support." "The LMU Family's greatest concerns are for the wellbeing of Bill and the team," said LMU Athletics Director Dr. William Husak. "His health is the most important thing he needs to focus on right now. He has done great things in his brief time at LMU and has earned the love and respect of all. I have asked Max Good to be our acting head coach during this time period and I have great confidence that Max and the rest of the staff will continue the process Bill began. All of us at LMU are concerned for Bill's wellbeing and he and his family are in our thoughts and prayers."

TOUGH STRETCH
When it rains, it pours never fit better. Playing with just seven scholarship players, Bill Bayno taking a leave of absence and seven of their previous 10 games on the road, the Lions have had to do this with a murderous schedule. The Lions' 11 opponents heading into the Tulsa game have a combined record of 66-32 (67.3 percent) while the entire non-conference schedule posts a record of 91-54 (62.5). Only two teams on the schedule have sub-.500 records, UC Davis (4-6) and Cal State Bakersfield (3-7). In addition, this is the first time since the 2004-05 season the Lions have played at least two ranked teams in non-conference play.

MORE ON THAT YOUTH
Five newcomers on LMU's roster, including four true freshman, have been asked to carry the load for the Lions this season. Sophomore transfer Vernon Teel and freshmen Jarred DuBois, Ashley Hamilton, Kevin Young and LaRon Armstead have combined to play 1,297 of the 2,200 minutes played in 11 games this season, good for 58.9 percent. That number is expected to lower just a tad due to the injured foot of Teel. DuBois leads the group with 35.0 minutes per game, on pace to snap the record by a freshman set by Forrest McKenzie with 29.8 minutes in 1981. Fellow freshman Armstead is quickly catching up, playing all 40 minutes in back-to-back games. He had his stretch of consecutive minutes snapped at 108, getting his first break since UALR. The group has also combined for 411 of the 594 points (69.1 percent) and 227 of the 375 rebounds (60.5 percent).

MORE MINUTES
LaRon Armstead became the first Lion since Jim Williamson in the 1995-96 season to play a complete 40 minutes in back-to-back games. Armstead, who started the season averaging just 22 minutes a game at the Iowa State Tournament, is now averaging 30.5 minutes per game after going 40 minutes against Arizona and then against Wyoming. Williamson averaged 35.7 minutes a game in 1995-96, logging 40 minutes in a 67-63 win over Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 16, 1995 and then 40 minutes on Dec. 19, 1995 in an 82-80 win at Hawaii. That season total ranked seventh all-time in LMU history. The all-time leader is Keith Smith, who logged 38.1 minutes per contest in 1984-85. That season he played 40 or more minutes in 12 games, including a stretch of three straight games of 40 minutes and three more times where he went back-to-back games with 40 minutes.

MAKING A POINT
Freshman Jarred DuBois, who had a 40-minute game of his own against Wyoming, is turning into a floor leader. The true freshman point guard first turned heads with his defense against No. 8 Notre Dame, helping LMU hold first-team All-Big East performer Kyle McAlarney to zero points (0-for-7), forcing him into four turnovers. DuBois has now added offense to that effort, going for 16 points, hitting 4-of-6 from long range against the Irish. He did one better against UALR with 23 points. The point total ranks tied for 12th among single game scoring by a freshman. He added another 16 points against Arizona to move his average to 11.2 points per game and entered the week 11th in the West Coast Conference in scoring. He also entered the week third in the WCC in free throw shooting and raised his average even more after going 4-for-4 against UCR. He now has a .882 free throw percentage. He also started the week fifth in three-point percentage in the WCC, but that dropped after going 0-for-8 the last two games. He now has a percentage of .362 (17-for-47). He also leads the team with 33 assists (3.0 per game)

ON THE BOARDS
Leading the way on the rebounding end this season has been freshmen Kevin Young and LaRon Armstead, who have 75 and 62 rebounds, each in 11 games. Young has games of 13 (Wyoming), 11 (at Arizona, at UCSB) and 10 (vs. Notre Dame) on his resume, ranking second, tied for fifth and 12th respectively for freshman in LMU history. Young has 31 offensive rebounds this season to lead the Lions and is ranked sixth in the WCC. His 6.8 rebounds per game overall is ranked 10th in the WCC. As for Armstead, since entering the starting line-up against Wagner, he has caught fire. He has averaged 7.1 rebounds (50) and 14.1 points (99) in the last seven games.

MAKING THEM COUNTS
Senior Corey Counts made sure the Lions didn't go long without a three-pointer, going 5-for-6 from long range against Iowa State. It was the second time in his career he has hit five in a game, hitting the mark while going for 21 points against Gonzaga in the WCC opener a year ago. Counts is 22-for-56 (39.3 percent) from the three-point line in 2008-09, moving his career total to 71-for-186 (38.2 percent) in his career. On the season, he entered the week fourth in the WCC in three-pointers made per game (2.0) and seventh in three-point percentage. His career three-point percentage entered the season ranked 11th and is now ranked 9th. His 71 made three-pointers moves him to 14th all-time in LMU history, replacing Chris Nikchevich, who had 68. His 182 attempts is ranked 19th.

INSIDE THE GAME
This will be the third meeting between Tulsa and will be the first at LMU. The Golden Hurricanes won both the earlier meetings, the first in 1951 and the last 14 years later. Tulsa is off to a 6-4 start this season while facing an impressive schedule. They have wins against NCAA tournament teams Oral Roberts (at home, 50-43) and a neutral game against Texas A&M (67-56). Their four setbacks have been to Oklahoma State, Illinois, Ohio and Oklahoma. They have won their last two,, at home against Missouri State and Presbyterian.

AGAINST CONFERENCE USA
Tulsa is a member of the realitively new Conference USA. It will be just the 10th meeting for the Lions against a team from the conference. It will be the first meeting since falling to UTEP in El Paso in 2000 and just the second meeting since 1971 when LMU defeated East Carolina. The Lions are 3-6 against Conference USA.

SHOOTING TOUCH
Against Arkansas-Little Rock in game two of the three-game road trip, the Lions shot 56.8 percent from the field (21-for-37), 58.3 percent from long range and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. It was the best shooting performance for the Lions in over two seasons and ranks seventh overall in the last decade. The Lions held UALR to just 41.7 percent shooting (25-for-60) and out-rebounded one of the best rebounding teams in the nation by nine (34-25).

TAKE A GOOD LOOK
The Australian forward Marko Deric is the only senior on the Lions' roster who came to the Lions on a scholarship. He enters the Tulsa game with 93 games as a Lion, averaging 4.2 per game in his first three-plus seasons. Fellow senior guards Corey Counts and Chris Kanne are former walk-ons who earned scholarships this summer. Kanne is a fifth-year senior who earned his Business degree in May and is now in graduate school at LMU for Business Law. Kanne turned heads this offseason with his shooting and is expected to play more as he enters the Tulsa game with 42 career games in three-plus seasons. Counts had a breakout year last season, starting 22 games, leading the team with 88 assists while hitting on 39 percent from the three-point line (37-for-95). Counts has played 70 games as a Lion, hitting 71 three-pointers with 150 assists. Take a good look at seniors this season as Counts, Kanne and Deric will be the only three seniors in the LMU men's basketball program for the next two years as the roster has only one junior and that is redshirt Larry Davis.

HISTORICAL THREE
Since the three-point field goal was introduced in the 1986-87 season, LMU has had just one game where they have not had a three-pointer. Well, in the first game with the three-point line pushed back a foot they had their second, snapping a streak of 375 games snapped. The Lions went 0-for-8 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, marking just the second time they went without a three. The only other "miss" came on Dec. 19, 1995 when the Lions went 0-for-6 in an 82-80 win over Hawaii. That game snapped a 271 consecutive three-pointer streak for the Lions. Heading into the game against Tulsa, in the 658 games the Lions have played since the three-point line was instituted, the Lions have hit three-pointers in 656 of them. The Lions have never gone without a three-pointer in WCC play.

DEFENSE
It might not show in the record, but the Lions and their zone defense has frustrated opponents. First it was No. 8 Notre Dame, holding first-team All-Big East performer Kyle McAlarney to zero points. The senior McAlarney averaged 15.1 points a year ago and hit 108 three-pointers (hitting 44 percent) and then went on to hit 39 against No. 1 North Carolina a week later. Freshman Jarred DuBois and senior Corey Counts held him to 0-for-7 from the field and 0-for-4 from long range, forcing him into four turnovers. The Lions then held Arizona's Chase Budinger to just 10 points in 27 minutes, more than 12 points less than his average entering the game. Then last week against Wyoming, holding the Mountain West Conference's highest scoring team more than 20 points under its season average. The Lions held Preseason All-American Honorable Mention selection, Brandon Ewing, under double digits for the first time in 21 games, dating back to the middle of last season. On top of that, the Lions held a Cowboys team that averages better than 48 percent from the field to 40 percent and 28 percent from behind the arc. Against UC Riverside, they limited the Highlanders to a season low 59 points on 25.9 percent shooting from the three-point line (7-for-27) while at No. 12 UCLA, the Lions held the Bruins to their lowest shooting percentage at Pauley Pavilion, 39.4. It was also the lowest shooting percentage by any opponent against LMU this season.