Dec. 26, 2009

Game Notes in Printable PDF Format

Interactive Game Notes with Audio:

The LMU men's basketball team entered the Christmas holiday lay-off on a high note, defeating Long Beach State in overtime (85-80) to double their win total from the previous year. They will come out of the break with three non-conference games left, starting with a trip to Sacramento State on Sunday, Dec. 27 at 1 p.m. The game can be heard live on KXLU 88.9 FM.

INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions, who do not feature a senior on the roster and who are starting three sophomores, a freshman and a junior, have already doubled their win total from the injury plagued 2008-09 season and are 6-7 after an 85-80 win over Long Beach State Monday night. Two of the Lions wins have come on the road against teams from the "Power 6" conferences (Nov. 21 at USC, 67-59; Dec. 12 at Notre Dame, 87-85). In addition, five of the Lions' seven setbacks have come by six points or less, and combined are at an average of just over four points. In all five of those games, the Lions were tied or held a lead with under three minutes to play. LMU entered the week of play ranked first in the WCC in offensive rebound percentage and turnover marin, while ranking second in scoring offense, three-point percentage, rebound margin, blocked shots, steals, assists, assist/turnover ratio, and offensive rebounds.

FIVE DOUBLES
The Lions have five players averaging double figures, led by sophomore Drew Viney, who leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per contest and rebounds at 7.0 per contest. The first-year player who transfered from Oregon in 2008, has had a pair of double-doubles this season, including 18 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in the overtime win against the 49ers. He entered the week ranked fourth in the WCC in scoring, seventh in rebounds, seventh in free throw percentage, fifth in both three-point percentage and three-pointers made, and eighth in blocked shots. Vernon Teel, who was named WCC Co-Player of the Week after his 24-point, 11-rebound performance in the win over Notre Dame, is second on the team at 13.3. Teel has been the spark plug for the Lions, ranking 23rd in the nation (as of Dec. 20) and second in the WCC (as of Dec. 20) in assists. He is also entered the week ranked 11th in the WCC in scoring, 12th in rebounds, fourth in steals, and fourth in minutes played at 33.2 per game. Junior Larry Davis made his first appearance in six games against Notre Dame, and made an instant impact with the assist on the game winner against Notre Dame and the three-pointer with 15 seconds left to send the LBSU game to overtime. He is third on the team with 12.5 points. Davis served his redshirt season after transferring from Seton Hall last year. Sophomore Jarred DuBois cracked into the double-digits thanks to his 24 points against CSUB, and is now averaging 10.6 points. Sophomore Kevin Young had his fifth double-double of his career with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Wyoming and is now averaging 10.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 60.4 percent from the field (54-for-88), which is tops in the WCC (as of Dec. 20).

2009-10 QUICK HITTERS
• 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, and setting the tone for the non-conference season. They put up their seventh 80-plus game on the season against LBSU, one more than the total of the previous three seasons combined. The Lions are averaging 22.5 more points than a year ago, putting in 78.2 points per game this season after averaging just 55.7 a year ago. The Lions are second in the WCC in scoring (as of Dec. 20) and 59th out of 334 schools nationally (Dec. 20). The Lions had just one game of 70 or more points a year ago, after 13 games this season they have 10.
• The Lions entered the season without a road win since 2007. They sleighed that dragon in a big way, breaking that streak with a 65-57 win at USC and then an even bigger statement with an 87-85 win at Notre Dame. It was the Lions' first win on the USC campus since the first game of the 1976-77 season, a span of 33 years. It is also the first overall road win since Dec. 8, 2007 against Boise State, snapping a streak of 24 games. It was also the first win against a Pac-10 team since the Lions beat the Trojans on Dec. 4, 1995, 86-83, at Gersten Pavilion. The win against Notre Dame was the first over a current member of the Big East since 1988 when the Lions beat Marquette, 102-98 on Jan. 6, 1988. It also snapped Notre Dame's home non-conference winning streak at 42 games, giving them their first setback since Dec. 3, 2005.
• The Lions finished the game against Notre Dame with a 40-33 edge in rebounding. On the season, the Lions have out rebounded nine of their 13 opponents and were second in the WCC as of Dec. 20 in rebound margin. They have a margin of +2.5, second in offensive rebounds per game at 13.5 and first in offensive rebound percentage with 38.6 percent (offensive rebounds compared to opponent's defensive rebounds). It was just the second time all season Notre Dame had been out rebounded and in Wyoming, the Lions finished with 53 rebounds, the most since grabbing 54 at UNLV, Jan. 3, 2001. The Lions had 27 offensive rebounds and out rebounded the Cowboys by 23. That is the largest margin since a plus-25 in a 74-65 win over Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 14, 2001 at the Guardian's Classic held at the University of Alabama.
• LMU enters the week tops in the WCC in turnover margin, posting a +0.92, just .2 behind Saint Mary's and Gonzaga. On the season, LMU has scored 223 points off turnovers through 13 games and are 6-1 when having more points off TOs. They had 139 through 13 games last year.
• The Lions had 16 steals in the win over North Dakota. They did one better against AAU, collecting 17. That total equals the most steals in a single game since they had 17 in an 83-79 overtime loss to Portland on Feb. 16, 2002. They have 105 through 13 games this season, an average of 8.1 per game, which is second in the WCC. At the same point last year, they had 63 steals. The Lions are also second in the WCC in blocks with 4.8 per game (62 total).
• 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.