Dec. 20, 2010

The LMU men's basketball team will head to the road for their final two non-conference match-ups before West Coast Conference acton begins, starting with a return game with South Dakota at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, SD, on Wednesday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. (PT) The Lions took the first match-up just 11 days prior, 72-67, at Gersten Pavilion on Dec. 11. The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and through LMULions.com.

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• RESOURCES: GameDay Central • Interactive Yearbook/Media Almanac • Game Notes in PDF • Interactive Game Notes

INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions enter Saturday with a 6-6 record, having their three-game win streak snapped at home on Saturday, 74-63, to Florida State. The Lions have won four of their last six and they have done it on defense. Getting back to what Head Coach Max Good said was "bootcamp defense" in practice, the Lions kept the first two opponents of their recent four-game homestand to under 50 points, doing it in back-to-back games for the first time since LMU won its first conference championship in 1960-61. In that season, LMU held San Diego State and San Diego to 47 and 44 points, respectively on Feb. 21 and Feb. 24, 1961. LMU is allowing just 66.1 points per game on the season, ranking second in the WCC. Fueling that defense, the Lions are allowing opponents to shoot just 41.8 percent on the season while posting a rebounding margin of +8.3, both ranking second in the WCC. LMU is also ranked first in the conference in blocks (4.7 bpg) and steals (8.2 spg). As of Dec. 20, the Lions rank 14th out of 336 institutions in the nation in rebound margin.

MORE DEFENSE
LMU held Sacramento State to just 49 points thanks in large part to forcing the Hornets to shoot just 29.1 percent from the field, a season low for the Lions' defense. It is the lowest percentage since holding Pacific to 25.0 percent (18-for-72) on Dec. 12, 1998 in a 71-62 win at Gersten Pavilion. Against the Hornets, the Lions also finished with 11 blocks, the most since they had 11 at UC Riverside on Nov. 27, 2004. Freshman Godwin Okonji had six of them, the most since Sherman Gay had six on Jan. 17, 2003, and one shy of Silvester Kainga's school record of seven on Dec. 2, 1998 against Cal State Fullerton. With all that defense on Tuesday, the Lions also went on to have 21 assists on 23 field goals, a season-high. Senior Vernon Teel and freshman Anthony Ireland each had six assists in the game.

REVERSAL
In the Lions first game of their current homestand, a 67-48 win over Cal Poly on Dec. 4, the Lions' defense posted a season-low 48 points, holding Cal Poly to 36.2 percent from the field on just 47 shots. Helping propel their offense was also a season-low six turnovers. The lack of turnovers helped make the most of their opportunities. In their first meeting against Cal Poly, the Lions scored 48 points on 50 attempts while turning the ball over 16 times. In the second meeting, they scored 67 points on 50 attempts.

BACKCOURT
The Lions backcourt of senior Vernon Teel and freshman Anthony Ireland combined to go for 41 points, 20 rebounds, 14 assists with just three turnovers in the win over South Dakota on Dec. 11. The duo combined to hit 15-for-31 from the field and 9-for-14 from the charity stripe (the team went 29-for-70 and 11-for-21). Teel was two assists shy of the program's first triple-double, going for 20 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks, a steal and just one turnover. He was named the NetScouts Basketball WCC Player of the Week, notching his ninth career double-double. As for Ireland, in his 11th career game at the college leve, he went for a career best 21 points, adding seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, all eqauling career highs. Teel is averaging 13.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.09 assists, 2.27 steals, and 0.64 blocks, all in the top-15 in the WCC. Ireland moved his average to 8.8 ppg, while adding 4.1 rebounds, 2.67 assists and 1.08 steals per game.

MAKING THE MOST OF IT
With the injuries, the Lions had to change their starting line-up for the fifth time only eight games into the season against UCSB, and with it came fifth-year senior Larry Davis' chance to start for the first time since Jan. 16, 2010. And he made the most of it. He equalled a career-high with 27 points in 37 minutes at UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 1, hitting 8-for-13 from the field and 6-for-7 from the three-point line. It is the most three-pointers made in a single game since Jarred DuBois went 6-for-10 from long range as a freshman against Santa Clara on Feb. 14, 2009. He went on to add 13 points and seven rebounds in the win over Sacramento State and he is now averaging 8.3 points per contest, hitting 14-for-34 from long range with 13 steals. He is ranked 9th in the WCC in three-point percentage (41.2) and 12th in steals (1.1 spg).

ON THE BOARDS
In 2009-10, the Lions had a rebound margin of -0.6 and out-rebounded opponents in just 13 of the 34 games. Although early, that trend has reversed in a big way. The Lions have outrebounded 10 of their 12 opponents this season, incluing a +16 margin in the win over Cal Poly on Saturday. This season also includes a 52-26 rebounding edge against La Sierra, the most team rebounds since 54 against UNLV on Jan. 3, 2001. The Lions are the second in the WCC and ranked 14th nationally (as of Dec. 20). The Lions are +8.3 heading into game No. 13 as seven of the eight teams in the WCC have a positive rebound margin. Drew Viney leads the Lions with 7.6 rebounds per game while Vernon Teel is second at 6.8 and freshman Godwin Okonji is third at 5.8.

INJURIES
The past two seasons, injuries have plagued the Lions in non-confernece and they have reared their ugly head once again. The latest injury is a broken hand to Ashley Hamilton suffered against Sacramento State. He had surgery and will be out four to six weeks. The ACL injury from last season of Edgar Garibay has carried over to this season as he missed the last four games due to soreness in his knee. He played for the first time in four weeks against Florida State, scoring four points in 10 minutes. Ayodeji Egbeyemi and Drew Viney also missed games this season but returned to the line-up during the four-game homestand. Junior Jarred DuBois has suffered through an injury to his right foot since the start of the 2009-10 season, and it has been compounded by ankle injuries throughout his career. The injury has returned and he first missed the game against Long Beach State and is out indefinately.