Jan. 15, 2010
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After going on a six-game win streak to close non-conference play, LMU men's basketball finds themselves feeling like its the start of the season all over again. Battling injuries and heartbreakers, the Lions will end a two-game homestand in West Coast Conference play when they host Santa Clara on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. Much like the start of the season in November, the Lions have dropped their first two conference games by an average of 3.5 points and now have 13 games on the season decided by single digits (5-8 in those games). The game against the Broncos is on FSN West and 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, already have surpassed their win total of the last two seasons combined and are 9-9 overall and 0-2 in the WCC after a 70-67 setback to the Dons on Thursday. The Lions roster is ranked 300 out of 343 NCAA Division-I teams in terms of experience but still managed to have their longest win streak since the 1995-96 season (six games), the most non-conference wins since that season (9) and had won three straight road games for the first time since they won their last road game of 1994-95 and first two road games of the 95-96 campaign. They hadn't won three straight road games in one season since 1991-92. The Lions enter the game against Santa Clara averaging 79.2 points per game, which ranks 26nd in the nation (as of Jan. 10) and is the most by a Lions' squad since they averaged 91.1 on the 91-92 team 18 years ago. Two of the Lions' wins this season 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).
SO CLOSE
As mentioned, the 2009-10 season is not one for the faint of heart. The Lions have had 13 of their 18 games decided by less than 10 points and they are 5-8 in those games, 0-2 in WCC play, heading into Saturday's game against Santa Clara. Seven of the Lions' nine setbacks have come by six points or less, and combined are at an average of four points per game. In all seven of those games, the Lions were tied or held a lead with under three minutes to play. The Lions entered the game against Santa Clara (as of Jan. 15) ranked first in steals (7.9), offensive rebounds (13.7), and offensive rebound percent (38.8); second in three-point field goal percent (39.6), rebounding offense (37.6), blocked shots (4.8), and turnover margin (-0.1); third in scoring offense (79.2), field goal percentage (46.9), field goal percentage defense (43.6), assists (14.9), and assist/turnover margin (1.1).
SEEING DOUBLES
The Lions have four players averaging double figures, led by sophomore Drew Viney, who leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points per contest and rebounds at 7.2 per contest. The first-year player who transferred from Oregon in 2008, has three double-doubles this season. He is ranked fourth in the WCC in scoring and fifth in rebounds. He missed the game against USF due to pain in his right tibia. He will have an MRI on Friday and is doubtful for Saturday against Santa Clara. Vernon Teel is second on the team at 14.7. Teel has been the spark plug for the Lions, earning a pair of WCC Player of the Week honors and December Player of the Month honors. He enters the game against Santa Clara ranked third in the nation (as of Jan. 10) and first in the WCC (as of Jan. 15) in assists at 6.5 per game. He has been flirting with a triple-doubles tthis and also averages 5.6 rebounds and 1.89 steals. Sophomore Jarred DuBois has risen his average to 12.5 on the season and leads the Lions with 38 three-pointers while hitting at a 40.9 percent clip. He enters the Santa Clara game ranked 17th in the WCC in scoring and fifth in three-pointers made with 2.1. Junior Larry Davis returned to the Lions' line-up against USF after missing a pair of games and led the Lions with 16 points. He had also missed six games leading up to the Notre Dame game, and returned with an instant impact. He made 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 fourth on the team with 11.1 points per contest.
2009-10 QUICK HITTERS
The injury bug has once again been a thorn to the Lions this season. LMU has struggled to find a consistent line-up because of it. They were forced to change their starting line-up for the sixth time on the season with the injury to Viney. This came after the Lions had finally found a consistent line-up after losing Edgar Garibay for the season and Larry Davis for eight game throughout the start of the year. The most consistent line-up was with Viney, Vernon Teel, Jarred DuBois, Kevin Young and Ashley Hamilton. They had going 5-1.
The Lions set the tone for their scoring right out of the gates in the first two games of the season, going for more than 80 points in consecutive games since the 2005-06 season. In the final game of the decade, they scored 104 against Seattle, cracking the century mark for the first time since Jan. 29, 1998. The Lions have now had a 100-point game in every decade since the 1940s, a decade in which they missed three seasons due to World War II. The Lions have 10 80-plus games on the season, five more than the total of the previous three seasons combined. The Lions are averaging 23.5 more points than a year ago, putting in 79.2 points per game this season, after averaging just 55.7 a year ago. The Lions are third in the WCC in scoring (as of Jan. 15) and 26nd out of 334 schools nationally (Jan. 10). The Lions had just one game of 70 or more points a year ago, after 18 games this season they have 14.
The Lions finished the game against Seattle attempting just seven three-pointers, hitting four of them (57.1 percent). But they dominated in the paint and finished the game shooting 59.3 percent (32-for-54) from the field. Since 1998, it matches the third highest shooting percentage since going 32-for-54 against Vanguard on Nov. 17, 2000. They shot 62.3 percent in a win over Texas A&M on Dec. 2, 2001 and 60.9 percent in a 74-71 win over Santa Clara on Jan. 27, 2007. On the season they are shooting 46.9 percent from the field, which is third in the WCC, and 39.6 percent from long distance, also third.
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. With the win at Cal State Bakersfield, the Lions have posted three consecutive road wins in a single season for the first time since 1990-91. 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 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 12 of their 17 opponents. 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 leads the WCC in offensive rebounds with 13.7 per game.
LMU enters the SCU game second in the WCC in turnover margin. On the season, LMU has scored 281 points off turnovers through 18 games and are 6-1 when having more points off TOs than their opponents. They had 182 through 18 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 142 through 18 games this season, an average of 7.89 per game, which is tops in the WCC. At the same point last year, they had 92 steals. The Lions are also second in the WCC in blocks with 4.78 per game (86 total). They had 55 all of last year.
INJURIES
The injury bug is hitting the Lions once again as freshmen Edgar Garibay and Quincy Lawson will miss the rest of the 2009-10 season due to injuries. Garibay will miss the season after tearing his left ACL in the game against UC Santa Barbara. He had started four games and was averaging 7.4 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds per contest. Lawson will have surgery to his left hip after injuring it during the opening weekend. Both will apply for medical redshirts following the conclusion of this season. The lastest is to sophomore Drew Viney, the team's leading scorer and rebounder. He missed the game against USF due to pain in his right tibia. He will have an MRI on Friday and is doubtful for the game against Santa Clara on Saturday. Freshman Given Kalipinde missed the last six games with an ankle sprain and returned against USF. Junior Larry Davis missed five games after having surgery on his Achilles Tendon in the off season. He returned to action against Notre Dame. He did not play against CSUB and Pepperdine due to soreness in that tendon but returned in the game against USF.
- GO LIONS -