Nov. 17, 2009

LMU GAMEDAY:
LMU Lions (1-2) vs. UC Irvine (1-1)
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009
8:06 p.m. (PT)
Gersten Pavilion (4,156)
Los Angeles, CA

TELEVISION:
Prime Ticket (Paul Sunderland & Don Maclean)

RADIO:
KXLU 88.9 FM (Jeff Lampe)

GAMEDAY:
LMU GameDay Central

Weekly Release in PDF/Printable Format

The LMU men's basketball team opened the 2009-10 season going 1-2 at the 2009 Grizzly Classic hosted by the University of Montana. The Lions return home with their two losses coming by a combined four points, both ending with the Lions having a shot to tie or win it at the buzzer. The Lions are led in scoring and in rebounding by players who were not in an LMU uniform a year ago. The new look Lions will make their home debut when they take the court against UC Irvine on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 8:05 p.m., against UC Irvine. The game will be televised live on FSN Prime Ticket and can be heard live on KXLU 88.9 FM.

INSIDE THE LIONS
The 2009-10 Lions opened the new campaign missing something - seniors. The Lions roster is one of the youngest in the West Coast Conference as they feature eight freshman, seven sophomores and three juniors. The young and new look of the Lions' roster in the early stages of 2009-10 is shown in the stats as two of the three scoring leaders where not in a Lion uniform last year, nor was the leading rebounder. Junior Larry Davis shook off the early spring Achilles heal injury by scoring 22 points in his first college game and leads the Lions in scoring at 17.3 points through the first three games. Davis served his redshirt season after transferring from Seton Hall last year. Sophomore Drew Viney, who sat last year after transferring from Oregon, is tied for second in scoring with junior Vernon Teel, scoring 14.0 points per game. Teel has been the spark plug for the Lions, going for 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Freshman Edgar Garibay has come off the bench to play an averaged of 24 minutes a game and leads the team with 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per contest. He is averaging 16.0 points per game while also averaging 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.5 steals while only averaging 2.0 turnovers.

A NEW LOOK - QUICK HITTERS AFTER MONTANA
• The Lions scored 87 and 83 points in their first two games, respectively, going for more than 80 points in consecutive games since the 2005-06 season. The Lions defeated San Diego 94-76 on Feb. 6, 2006 and then Pepperdine in overtime, 89-78, on Feb. 11. The Lions are averaging 22 more points than a year ago, putting in 77.7 points per game this season after averaging just 55.7 a year ago.
• The 87 points against Boise State was the most since the Lions scored 97 in an overtime win at Mercer on Nov. 24, 2007. It is the most points in regulation since 88 at Pepperdine on Feb. 17, 2007.
• The 23-point win over North Dakota (83-60) was the largest margin of victory since Nov. 24, 2004 when LMU travelled to Greeley, Colo., and defeated Northern Colorado 83-51.
• The Lions had 16 steals in the win over North Dakota, leading to 25 points. It was the most steals in a single game since they had 17 in an 83-79 overtime loss to Portland on Feb. 16, 2002.
• Larry Davis scored 22 points in his first game as a Lion against Boise State. It was the best debut by a Lion since Brandon Worthy scored 24 games in his first game as a true freshman on Nov. 22, 2002 against Loyola-Chicago.
• The Lions opened the 2008-09 season going 0-for-8 from the three-point line, snapping a stretch of 375 games with a three-point field goal. It was a different story to start 2009-10 as the Lions went 8-for-17 from behind the arch against Boise State and then 9-for-20 against North Dakota. The Lions are 21-for-45 (46.7 percent) through three games. After three games in 2008-09, the Lions had made 12 three-pointers.
• LMU has scored 51 points off turnovers in three games at Montana. They have forced opponents into an average of 15.3 turnovers per game while only turning it over 14.0 per game themselves for a +1.3 turnover margin. The Lions are averaging 9.0 steals per game after leading the WCC in steals with 7.43 steals per conference game. Opponents are only averaging 4.7.
• Freshman Edgar Garibay has six blocks, sophomore Kevin Young, who set the freshman record last year with 34 blocks, has three and junior Vernon Teel has a pair of blocks this season to pace the Lions, who have 13 as a team. In 2008-09 the Lions did not have a block in their first four games and did not crack a baker's dozen until game 14 of the season against New Mexico State on Dec. 28, 2008.