Feb. 27, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

LMU earned their second home win in the last three games on Thursday against San Francisco, 61-57, and will end the regular season at home when they host Saint Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. The Lions will honor thier seniors - Marko Deric, Corey Counts, Chris Kanne and manager Andrew Bozanich - in a game that will have big West Coast Conference Tournament seeding implications. The game willb e televisied on FSN PrimeTicket. The game can also be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com.

WCC TOURNAMENT SEEDINGS
The game against Saint Mary's and LMU will have a major seeding impact on next week's WCC Basketball Championship in Las Vegas. While Gonzaga has locked up the number one seed a bye all the way to the semifinals, the rest of the seedings are up in the air. LMU and USF will be the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds and an LMU win on Saturday will give them the No. 7 seed. However, the game is even bigger for the Gaels as they are going for the No. 2 seed and the bye to the semifinals that comes with it. The tournament seedings and WCC postseason honors will be announced in a conference call on Monday morning.

QUICK HITTERS
Some more milestones where reached for the Lions and their youthful roster following the win over San Francisco on Thursday. Here is a look:
• The 2008-09 roster now features the all-time freshman leader in points, rebounds and steals. Jarred DuBois, with a team-high 17 points, moved his season total to 391, setting the all-time freshman record. He joins Kevin Young, who holds both the all-time rebounding (209) and steals (48) record.
• Kevin Young became the first freshman to have 200 rebounds in a season with his ninth double-digit rebound performance of the year, earning 12 against USF. He has had rebound games of 19, 13 and 12, ranking first, third and fifth in LMU freshman history. He also added a block and a steal to move his totals on the season to 33 and 48 respectively. He is ranked 8th all-time in single season blocks and needs two more steals to crack the top-20 in steals.
• Jarred DuBois also became the first freshman in school history to crack the top-20 for three-poiners in a season, hitting a pair against USF to give him 46.
• Team three-point leader Corey Counts, a former walk-on, hit three against the Dons, giving him 50 on the season to rank 17th. His career total is now 99, ranking 11th all-time. Counts also ranks 22nd in career assists with 178, earning four against USF.
• Senior Marko Deric will play in his 112th game on Saturday, his final home game. It will move him to 8th all-time in career games played at LMU. In addition, DuBois and Young are expected to start their 30th game as freshman, equalling teammate Tim Diederichs freshman mark of 30 he set last year.

HOME FINALE
The Australian forward Marko Deric is the only senior on the Lions' roster who came to the Lions on a scholarship and he along with fellow seniors Corey Counts and Chris Kanne will play their final home games against Saint Mary's Saturday. As mentioned, Deric enters the game against Saint Mary's with 111 games as a Lion, tied for 10th in LMU history). He has started 56 games and is averaging 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in his career. Take a good look at the 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 will only have two juniors in redshirt Larry Davis and current sophomore Vernon Teel.

ALL-ACADEMIC
The 2009 West Coast Conference Winter All-Academic teams were announced on Wednesday, Feb. 25, and Loyola Marymount basketball players Lisa Helmers and Chris Kanne were honored. Helmers is a two-time member of the All-Academic women's basketball team while Chris Kanne earns his first honor in his senior season. Kanne is a fifth-year senior in graduate school for Business Law. He has a 3.35 GPA. He is having the most productive season of his career and as a walk-on earned a scholarship this past summer. He has played in 25 of the Lions' 29 games this season, averaging 9.7 minutes per game. He has hit 14 three-pointers on the season. He has played in 57 games as a Lion.

IT COUNTS
Senior Corey Counts went from walk-on to a three-point specialist for the Lions. He started his senior season going 5-for-6 from long range against Iowa State and hasn't looked back. He had another five three-pointer game against New Mexico State, going 5-for-8, giving him three games in his career to hit five in a game, hitting the mark while going for 21 points against Gonzaga in the WCC opener a year ago. Counts is 50-for-143 (35.0 percent) from the three-point line in 2008-09, moving his career total to 99-for-273 (36.3 percent) in his career. On the season, he is ranked 6th the WCC in three-pointers made per game (1.65) (as of 2/22/09). His three-pointer against Santa Clara cracked the top-20 in LMU history for three-pointers made in a single season. His career three-point percentage entered the season ranked 11th. His 99 made three-pointers overall moves him to 11th all-time in LMU history past Per Stumer (1988-90). His 273 attempts is 10th, passing Craig Holt (1990-92).

YOUNG AND THE REBOUNDS
Kevin Young is putting together one of the more impressive freshman campaigns in LMU history. Here is a by the numbers look at what Young has done his rookie season:
• 209 rebounds this season, shattering the all-time freshman record in LMU history for rebounds in a season. Averages 7.2 per game, best average by a freshman in LMU history and ranked 5th in the WCC (as of 2/22/09).
• 90 offensive rebounds, 3.18 per game, ranked fourth in the WCC (as of 2/22/09).
• 48 steals is the all-time LMU freshman record and his 1.64 steals per game is ranked third in the WCC (as of 2/22/09).
• 33 blocks this season is 8th all-time, passing Art Claybion (1980-81) in the LMU record books for blocks in a single season by all players. His 1.14 average is ranked sixth in the WCC (as of 2/22/09).
• 4th double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the win over San Diego. It is the most double-doubles by a freshman at LMU.
• 19 rebounds against New Mexico State set a freshman record at LMU and it was the most rebounds in a game by a Lion since Ime Odouk had 22 on Jan. 7, 1994 against Buffalo. He added 16 points and 14 of his rebounds were offensive.

MAKING A POINT
Freshman Jarred DuBois has been quickly developing into the Lions' floor leader and as conference play progresses he doesn't look much like a freshman anymore. Here is a look at his numbers this season:
• 13.5 points per game is ranked 10th in the WCC (as of 2/22/09) and is third for a freshman in school history. His 14.5 points per WCC game is also 10th. • 391 total points, 17 of which came Thursday against USF, is the all-time school record for points by a freshman. In addition, his 81 total assists is ranked fifth by a freshman in school history. • 39 points in the win over the CS Bakersfield snapped Forrest McKenzie's freshman record of 29 points set against San Francisco on Jan. 16, 1982. It was the most points by any Lion since Wyking Jones had 39 against San Francisco on Jan. 20, 1994. He has also had games of 28 (Feb. 12 against SCU) and 25 (Jan. 17 at USD) to rank No. 3 and No. 6. • 0 was the number of points All-Big East performer Kyle McAlarney of Notre Dame had with DuBois guarding him. DuBois forced him into four turnovers.
• 84.7 percent (111-for-131) from the free throw line this season, ranked second in the West Coast Conference (as of 2/22/09). He is second in free throws made and attempted in the WCC and has 2.79 assists per game, good for 9th in the WCC (as of 2/22/09).

GETTING 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 29.5 minutes per game after going 40 minutes four times this season. 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. If it wasn't for fellow freshman Kevin Young, Armstead's pace on the glass would be challenging the freshman record. His 149 rebounds this season is currently ranked fourth on the LMU freshman charts.

THE TEEL DEAL
After starting the season with a bang, sophomore Vernon Teel had to go two months without playing a game due to a broken foot. He suffered the injury against Notre Dame on Nov. 21, and did not return until the Portland game on Jan. 22. SInce then, he has played 10 games in WCC play, ranking fifth in scoring (15.5 ppg), 13th in rebounds (4.7 rpg), 6th in assists (3.33 apg), 7th in steals (1.44 spg), and 6th in offensive rebounds (2.78 orpg) (as of 2/22/09). For the season he is averaging 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He started the season being named to the World Vision Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 19.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in the three games in Ames, Iowa. He finished with 58 points in the tournament, going for 23 points, six rebounds and three assists against UC Davis; 17 points, 13 rebounds and three assists against Iowa State; and putting in 18 points with nine rebounds and two assists in his debut against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Five newcomers on LMU's roster, including four true freshman, have been asked to carry the load for the Lions this season. And with injuries the freshman trio of Jarred DuBois, Kevin Young, and LaRon Armstead have been asked to play big minutes and they have become the heart of the Lions. DuBois, Young, Armstead along with sophomore transfer Vernon Teel have combined to play 3,416 of the 5,800 minutes played in 29 games this season, good for 58.8 percent. The group has also combined for 1,147 of the 1,613 points (71.1 percent) and 560 of the 943 rebounds (59.3 percent) this season. With the youth, the Lions have been rated as the 24th youngest roster in the country (according to Statsheet.com). All four players have logged a complete game this season and along with senior Corey Counts, the Lions have had five different players play all 40 minutes at some point this season. DuBois leads the group with 34.9 minutes per game, on pace to snap the record by a freshman set by Forrest McKenzie with 29.8 minutes in 1981 and to crack the all-time top-10 in minutes played per season.

DEPLETED ROSTER
Five players on LMU's roster, which includes six newcomers and just three seniors, are now out for the season. Junior transfer Larry Davis (Seton Hall) and sophomore Drew Viney (Oregon) are redshirting 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, required 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 and will miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his back. He will also apply for a medical redshirt. There is more. Leading scorer, rebounder and assist man through three games, Vernon Teel, broke his right foot against Notre Dame and had surgery Nov. 26 and missed two months of the season. With the injuries, the Lions have been 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 eighth active player and saw his first minutes of action at Arizona. The Lions added two more players to the roster in walk-ons Daniel Latimer and the newest addition, Wes Libuit, who joined the team on Jan. 18, and saw his first action of collegiate basketball against Santa Clara.