Jan. 8, 2010

Game Notes in Printable PDF Format

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LMU men's basketball will look to continue one six-game streak and end another as play in the West Coast Conference for 2010 begins with a trip to rival Pepperdine on Saturday, Jan. 9. The Lions enter on a six-game win streak and hope to end an overall six-game skid to the Waves, who have won the last 11 games played in Malibu. This will be the 150th meeting between the two schools that sit 19 miles apart and is part of a doubleheader with the women, who start at 4 p.m. The men tip-off at 7 p.m. Both games 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 surpassed their win total of the last two seasons combined and are 9-7 after an 81-73 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday afternoon. The Lions have their longest win streak since the 1995-96 season, the most non-conference wins since that season and have 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 Pepperdine averaging 80.2 points per game, which ranks 31st in the nation (as of Jan. 4) 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). 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 (Jan. 4) of play ranked first in the WCC in steals (7.9), turnover margin (+0.1), offensive rebounds (13.9) and offensive rebound percentage (39.4); second in scoring offense (80.2), rebounding offense (37.8), blocked shots (4.9), and assist/turnover margin (1.1); and third in field goal percentage (47.3), three-point field goal percentage (38.7), field goal percentage defense (43.6), and assists (15.2).

FIVE DOUBLES
The Lions have five players averaging double figures, led by sophomore Drew Viney, who leads the team in scoring at 16.7 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 entered the week (as of Jan. 4) ranked fourth in the WCC in scoring and fifth in rebounds. Vernon Teel is second on the team at 14.6. Teel has been the spark plug for the Lions, ranking fourth in the nation (as of Jan. 3) and first in the WCC (as of Jan. 4) in assists at 6.5 per game. He has been flirting with a triple-double the last three games and also averages 6.1 rebounds and 1.81 steals. Sophomore Jarred DuBois has scored 20 or more points in three of the last five games and has risen his average to 12.3 on the season. He had 24 in the first meeting against CSUB, 24 against Sac. State, and 21 against Seattle. He enters the week ranked 17th in the WCC in scoring. Sophomore Kevin Young had his fifth double-double of his career with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Wyoming and is now averaging 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 58.0 percent from the field (69-for-119), which is tops in the WCC (as of Jan. 4). 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 and did not play in the second game against CSUB due to soreness in his Achillies Tendon.

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 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 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 Jan. 4) and 31st out of 334 schools nationally (Jan. 3). The Lions had just one game of 70 or more points a year ago, after 16 games this season they have 13.
• 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 47.3 percent from the field, which is third in the WCC, and 38.7 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 11 of their 16 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 13.9 per game.