Feb. 22, 2010

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- LMU junior Vernon Teel has been named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week thanks to his performance in leading the Lions to a weekend sweep over two of the three top teams in the WCC last weekend. It is the third time he has earned the honor this season, earning it Dec. 13 and again on Jan. 4.

Teel led LMU to a pair of wins against two of the top teams in the WCC standings, including a 74-66 win over No. 13/9 Gonzaga on Thursday and a 77-68 overtime win over Portland. Teel averaged 16 points, 4.5 assists and 7.0 rebounds in the wins.

In addition, the entered the weekend a 65 percent free throw shooter, but in the two wins he went 14-for-18 from the charity stripe (77.8 percent) Against Portland, he went for 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals; scoring eight of the Lions' 15 points in overtime. He played 42 of the 45 minutes, and finished 10-for-12 from the free throw line, 6-for-9 from the field, including hitting both of his three pointers.

In the Lions' first win over a ranked opponent at Gersten Pavilion and first in 20 years, Teel delivered the assist with no time on the shot clock and up only four on the Zags with less than 30 seconds left in the contest. He finished with five assists against the Zags.

Vernon Teel continues to show signs of having the best season of his career, earning WCC Co-Player of the Month for December, and earning National Jesuit Player of the Week honors on Jan. 5. His 169 assists on the season heading into the game against San Diego are the most by a Lion since Tony Walker had 218 in 1991-92. Overall, it ranks tied for 9th for assists in a season, equalling Enoch Simmons 169 in 1988-89.

Against USF on Feb. 13, he had one of his best line scores of his career, going for 28 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals on 10-for-13 shooting at USF. He enters the week ranked 7th in the WCC in scoring (15.0), 12th in rebounds (5.6), 10th in field goal percentage (48.4), tops in the WCC and 9th nationally in assists (6.04), tops in steals (1.9), and 6th in assist/turnover ratio (1.6). He has four double-doubles on the year, earning his fourth against Portland last Saturday, and is fourth in the WCC in minutes played at 34.8, including a career-high 42 against the Pilots.

LMU will play their final two games of the regular season on the road, starting with San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPNU.