Dec. 4, 2009

Complete Release in Printable/PDF Format

Interactive Release with Audio:

Don't blink, because one might miss the LMU men's basketball team as they skirt across the country in a tough in-an-out stretch of their 2009-10 non-conference schedule. After finishing a mini two-game homestand on Wednesday, the Lions will head to the Mountain Time Zone to take on the University of Wyoming on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 6:00 p.m. (PT) They will then turn around and head home for a single game against Montana on Dec. 10 (7:05 p.m. PT) and then, the next morning, head to Notre Dame for a game against the Fighting Irish on Dec. 12 (5 p.m. PT) All the games will be live on KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions, who do not feature a senior on the roster and who are starting four sophomores and a junior, have already equaled their win total from the injury plague 2008-09 season and are 3-5 after defeating Academy of Art, 91-72, Wednesday night. Sophomore Drew Viney, who sat last year after transferring from Oregon, has scored 129 points in the last six games and is leading three players with double figures with 18.6 per game, which is fifth in the WCC. He has been doing it from long range, hitting 20-for-37 from the three-point line, good for 54.1 percent. His three-point shooting percentage ranks 15th nationally. Junior Larry Davis did not play the last three games due to swelling in his Achilles Heal and is not expected to play Saturday. He is second on the team with 13.2 points through the first four games. Davis served his redshirt season after transferring from Seton Hall last year. Vernon Teel, who led the team last year in scoring, is averaging 12.4 points per game this season. Teel has been the spark plug for the Lions, ranking 16th in the nation and tops in the WCC in assists at 6.38 per contest. He is also second on the team in rebounds (5.0) and tops in steals (1.63). Sophomores Jarred DuBois and Kevin Young are tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 9.3 per game.

TOUGH STRETCH
The LMU men's non-conference schedule is quite loaded. Four of the five setbacks for the Lions this season have come by six points or less and the record of the five teams they have lost to is 22-9 (.710). LMU will play five of nine games from Nov. 15 through Dec. 12 against teams picked by Sports Illustrated in their annual college basketball preview edition to advance to this year's NCAA tournament. Montana (Nov. 15, Dec. 10) has been picked to win the Big Sky, Tulsa (Nov. 24) has been picked to represent Conference USA, UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 28) has been selected to win the Big West, and Notre Dame (Dec. 12) has been selected to represent the Big East. Also mixed in that stretch is a trip to Wyoming (Dec. 5) of the Mountain West Conference and USC (Nov. 21) of the Pac-10.

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. The Lions defeated San Diego 94-76 on Feb. 6, 2006 and then Pepperdine in overtime, 89-78, on Feb. 11. They put up their fourth 80-plus game on the season against AAU, two more than the previous two seasons combined. The Lions are averaging 21.5 more points than a year ago, putting in 77.2 points per game this season after averaging just 55.7 a year ago. The Lions are third in the WCC in scoring.
• The 87 points against Boise State and then then 91 points against AAU 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 the 94 they scored against USD in 2005-06. The Lions had just one game of 70 points a year ago, after eight games this season they have five.
• The Lions entered the month of December ranked 19th in the nation in three-point shooting and led the West Coast Conference. They enter the game against Wyoming hitting 41.7 percent (50-for-120).
• In the last two games, the Lions have forced 47 turnovers and have used that to scre 55 points. The Lions forced UCSB into 21 turnovers Saturday night, creating 19 points off those turnovers. Against AAU, they forced 26 and scored 36. On the season, LMU has scored 144 points off turnovers through eight games this season. They had 90 through eight games last year.
• The Lions had 16 steals in the win over North Dakota. They did one better against AAU on Wednesday, collecting 17 steals. It 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 71 through eight games this season, an average of 8.88 per game, which is tops in the WCC. At the same point last year, they had 37.
• Jarred DuBois scored a season-high 17 points to lead three Lions in double figures as the Lions earn their 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.
• LMU has showed it has a young, new roster with four different starting line-ups in eight games, playing the same starting line-up in consecutive games just twice. With the ACL injury to Edgar Garibay, Head Coach Max Good changed the line-up once again for the Academy of Art win, going with the same starters he used in game one of the season.
• 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.
• 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.
• Sophomore Kevin Young, who set the freshman record last year with 34 blocks, also has nine blocks this season, while sophomore Drew Viney has eight blocks after collecting four against AAU. The Lions have 33 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 16 of the season against Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 4, 2009. They had 55 all of last year.