Jan. 2, 2010

Game Notes in Printable PDF Format

Interactive Game Notes with Audio:

The LMU men's basketball team ended the 2009 calendar year winning five straight games and will close non-conference play to start 2010 when they travel to Cal State Bakersfield for the road leg of the home-and-home on Sunday, Jan. 3 at 3 p.m. The Lions defeated the Roadrunners at Gersten Pavilion on Dec. 19, 84-71, and thanks to their first 100-point game since 1998, they enter Sunday's contest averaging more points than any LMU team in 18 years. The game can be heard 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 equalled their win total of the last two seasons combined and are 8-7 after an 104-98 win over Seattle Wednesday night. The Lions have their longest win streak since the they won their first give games of the 2003-04 season and have won back-to-back road games for the first time since 2006-07. They will look to run that streak to three for the first time since they won their last road game of 1994-95 and first two road games of 1995-96. They haven't won three straight road games in one season since 1991-92. The Lions enter the game against Cal State Bakersfield averaging 80.2 point per game, the most by a Lions squad since they averaged 91.1 on the 1991-92 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) and they already have as many road wins (3) this season as they had wins overall a year ago. 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. The Lions entered the week (Dec. 28) of play ranked first in the WCC in blocked shots, steals, turnover margin and offensive rebounds, while ranking second in scoring offense, assists, assist/turnover ratio, and offensive rebound percentage. They were third in field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage.

FIVE DOUBLES
The Lions have five players averaging double figures, led by sophomore Drew Viney, who leads the team in scoring at 17.0 points per contest and rebounds at 7.3 per contest. The first-year player who transferred from Oregon in 2008, has three double-doubles this season. He entered the week (Dec. 28) ranked fourth in the WCC in scoring, third in rebounds, seventh in free throw percentage, seventh in three-point percentage, sixth in three-pointers made, and fourth in blocked shots. Vernon Teel is second on the team at 14.5. Teel has been the spark plug for the Lions, ranking 23rd in the nation (as of Dec. 20) and first in the WCC (as of Dec. 28) in assists. He also entered the week ranked 9th in the WCC in scoring, 13th in rebounds, seventh in steals, and fourth in minutes played at 33.5 per game. Sophomore Jarred DuBois has scored 20 or more points in three of the last four games and has risen his average to 12.2 on the season. He had 24 in the first meeting against CSUB, 24 against Sac. State, and 21 against Seattle. He entered the week ranked 18th in the WCC in scoring, tied with teammate Vernon Teel for 7th in steals, 12th in assists, 11th in three-point percentage and third in three-pointers per game. Sophomore Kevin Young had his fifth double-double of his career with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Wyoming and is now averaging 10.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 60.7 percent from the field (68-for-112), which is second in the WCC (as of Dec. 28). 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 fifth on the team with 10.6 points.

2009-10 QUICK HITTERS
• 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 season due to World War II. It is their ninth 80-plus game on the season, four more than the total of the previous three seasons combined. The Lions are averaging 24.5 more points than a year ago, putting in 80.2 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. 28) and 59th out of 334 schools nationally (Dec. 20). The Lions had just one game of 70 or more points a year ago, after 15 games this season they have 12.
• 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 this 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. The Lions' record is a 68.9 percent clip in a 75-67 win at Cal on Dec. 15, 1973.
• 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 Sacramento State, the Lions have posted back-to-back road wins for the first time since November of 2006. 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.

- GO LIONS -