Nov. 16, 2010

After a quick two-game homestand to start the 2010-11 season, LMU will begin a six-game, three-week road swing that starts with the 2010 Naismith Memorial Basketball Tip-off. The Lions will start the tournament at Bradley on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. - PT). The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and through LMULions.com.

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INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions have started the season splitting their opening weekend homestand, falling to Morgan State in a heartbreaker on Friday, 81-79, and then rebounding to knockoff La Sierra, 100-62. Junior Drew Viney has showed why he is a Preseason All-WCC pick, scoring 27 points with six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals against MEAC favorite and back-to-back NCAA tournament participant Morgan State. He enters Bradley leading the Lions with 20.5 points per game. In fact, the Lions 1-2-3 scorers from a year ago are at it again as senior Vernon Teel is once again second with 12 points per contest, and junior Jarred DuBois third with 11 per game. Although early, the Lions have been the aggressor, as shown by making double the free throws than their two opponents attempted and holding a huge rebounding advantage. The Lions went 21-for-26 (80.0%) from the free throw line against Morgan State and finished the game against La Sierra 32-for-42 (76.7 percent) from the free throw line, the most made and attempted since a 34-for-48 effort on Feb. 11, 2006 against Pepperdine. All told, 11 different Lions shot and made a free throw. The Lions are 54-for-70 (77.1%) while their opponents went 18-for-28 (64.3%). They also had a huge edge on the boards in the first two-games, outrebounding Morgan State by 10 and La Sierra by 24. The Lions outrebound La Sierra 52-26. The 52 team rebounds is the most since 54 against UNLV on Jan. 3, 2001. Freshman Godwin Okonji led the Lions with 10 rebounds, adding five points.

GAME #3-5
Game No. 3 of the season will see the Lions travel to Bradley on Wednesday, Nov. 17 and is part of the 2010 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament. Five games at host institutions are being played as part of the tournament, which will culminate at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., Saturday, Nov. 20 - Monday, Nov. 22. The 2010 Tip-Off games will be played at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, and will play host to over eight teams from across the nation including teams such as Bradley University, LMU, New Mexico State University, Rider University, Texas Christian University, University of Massachusetts and University of Southern California. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will be working with the Basketball Hall of Fame for the first time and will send a MAAC representative to the tournament each year. The inaugural team from the MAAC will be Rider University, who the Lions face on Sunday at 12 noon (9 a.m. PT). LMU will take on Dowling College at 12 noon (9 a.m. PT) on Saturday. The prestige of this tournament has gone back to 1979 when The Hall of Fame hosted storied teams like Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina.

IN TOURNAMENTS
The Lions have played in a non-conference tournament every year since 2001. Prior to 2001, the Lions had only played in one since 1991. Since 2001, the Lions have played in The Grizzly Classic hosted by Montana (2009), the World Vision Classic hosted by Iowa State (2008), the BTI Invitational hosted by New Mexico (2007), the Great Alaska Shootout (2002 & 2006), the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic (2005), the Gosner Foods Classic hosted by Utah State (2004), the Mohegan Sun Classic hosted by Central Connecticut State (2003), the Big R Classic hosted by Montana State (2002) and the Guardian's Classic at the University of Alabama (2001). The Lions won the Mohegan Sun Classic in 2003. Since 2001, the Lions are 10-16 in regular season non-conference tournaments.

OFF AND RUNNING
The Lions opened the season with two games at home and will end up playing five games in nine days to start the year. The stretch of games will take place over three different time zones and will end 2,900 miles from home when they play a pair of games in Springfield, Mass., at the MassMutual Center - home of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

THE MATCH-UP
The Lions will be facing Bradley for the third time in school history, falling to the Braves the previous two meetings. The two teams first met in the 1948-49 season (date unknown) in Peoria, Ill., with LMU falling 60-50. They didn't meet again until Nov. 30, 1990 at the Freedom Bowl Classic in Irvine, Calif. The Braves won 99-97.

Bradley is of the Missouri Valley Conference and this will be the ninth meeting for the Lions against a current member of the conference, which also includes Northern Iowa, Witchita State (LMU is 0-1), Illinois State, Creighton (0-1), Indiana State (1-1), Missouri State (1-0), Drake (0-1), Southern Illinois and Evansville. The Lions are 2-6 against the conference, defeating Indiana State 54-51 in 1950 and Missouri State (when it was Southwest Missouri State) in 1974, 68-67. All nine meetings against the Valley will have come away from home.

Like the Lions, Bradley enters the 2010-11 season with experience, returning four starters from a team that went 16-15 overall and 9-9 in the MVC (t-5th). With nine returning starters, Bradley returns the top-scoring trio in the MVC (Warren, Maniscalco, Brown), all of which averaged better than 13 points per game and combined for 41.0 points in `09-'10.

They won their season opener at home over Texas A&M Kingsville and will play Northern Illionis the night before facing LMU. Bradley is coached by the dean of the MVC coaches, Jim Less, who is in his ninth season with the Braves and has a record of 143-120 entering Tuesday night.