Dec. 2, 2009

Box Score

Audio Highlights from Podcast Center
Coach Good Postgame Audio Quotes

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - What a difference a year makes. After cracking 70 points just once all season a year ago, the 2009-10 LMU men's basketball team cracked 90 points for the first time in two years with a 91-72 win over Academy of Art University at Gersten Pavilion Wednesday night.

The Lions have scored more than 80 points four times this season and the 91 is the most since the 97 they scored in the overtime win over Mercer on Nov. 24, 2007. A big source of that offense is sophomore Drew Viney, who scored 20 points for the fourth time this season with 20 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Urban Knights.

Viney has scored 129 points the last six games, including games of 30 and 25. He leads the Lions with just under 19 points per contest.

Freshman Alex Osborne added a career-best 15 points on six-for-six shooting from the field, helping the Lions score a season-best 48 points in the paint. Junior Vernon Teel added 15 points with seven assists and three steals. LMU equals their win total from a year ago, improving to 3-5 on the season. Academy of Art falls to 0-5.

"Alex did a good job tonight in adjusting to playing so many more minutes than he has to start the season," said Head Coach Max Good. "Playing without Edgar Garibay (ACL) and Quincy Lawson (hip) will put more time on players who aren't used to it. Frankly they are a little out of game shape. Alex played well in his first extended minutes."

The Lions finished the game shooting 54.2 percent and equaled a season-high with 17 steals, forcing AAU into 26 turnovers. The extra opportunities led to points as the Lions outscored the Urban Knights 36-9 on points off turnovers.

Despite the steals and forced turnovers, defense was still an issue for Good.

"Our offense right now isn't the issue," said Good. "We worked very hard on defense the last two days and we still allowed them to score the most points they have scored all season. Some of that had to do with the fact we scored 91 points, meaning more possessions. But the guys are really frustrated and worked very hard to do better on defense. We are all very frustrated."

AAU finished the game shooting 49.1 percent, hitting 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from the three-point line. Ivan Prema led the Knights with 16 points and nine rebounds, hitting both of his three-pointers.

The Lions had even more opportunities, but went just 22-for-37 from the charity stripe (59.5 percent). "Our free throws are a concern," said Good. "We hit our average, we break 100 points and really pull away."

LMU will head to Wyoming to take on the Cowboys on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. (PT). The game can be heard live on KXLU 88.9 FM.