Feb. 6, 2010

Box Score | Photo Gallery Coach Good Postgame Quotes via LMU Podcast Center
Game Audio Highlights via LMU Podcast Center

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Once again LMU jumped all over Pepperdine early. Once again they held a 13-point lead at the break. However, this time, they delivered the knock-out punch, avenging an early season set-back with a 77-61 win in front of 3,340 at Gersten Pavilion Saturday night in West Coast Conference action.

Drew Viney led all scorers with 22 points, going 9-for-14 from the field, with 16 of his points coming in the first half. Vernon Teel added 18 points, seven assists and four steals. Kevin Young added 15 points, as did Jarred DuBois, who returned to the line-up for the first time in four games after sitting due to dehydration. The win snaps a seven-game skid against the Waves.

"I thought our defense was very good tonight and we had 20 assists and just seven turnovers, that was huge," said Head Coach Max Good. "That was a nice team win."

LMU (12-12, 3-5) finished the game shooting 50 percent, hitting 56.5 percent in the second half. The Lions finished with 20 assists on 28 field goals and held Pepperdine (7-17, 3-5) to just 35.3 percent shooting and outscored them 20-2 on points off turnovers.

LMU had just seven turnovers to 14 for the Waves. Mychel Thompson led the Waves with 18 points, while leading scorer Keion Bell had just 13. Taylor Darby added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Waves, who held a 37-31 rebounding edge.

In addition to DuBois, who finished playing 33 minutes in his first game since Jan. 16, Ashley Hamilton was back in the line-up for the first time since Jan. 21. He finished with four points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.

"I thought Thursday was our best practice in a long time because we had people there. We have been playing prevent defense and haven't been very physical because we didn't want to get anyone hurt. This was the most complete team we have had since the Notre Dame-Long Beach State games, and we were able to get much more physical on defense" said Good. "Getting Jarred back, obviously, was a huge component because he takes care of the ball, can hit from long range and then down the stretch he is big because he can hit free throws."

The Lions avenged an earlier loss to the Waves in which they lost a 13-point halftime lead and scored just one field goal in the first eight minutes of the second half on Jan. 9. On that date, Pepperdine hit 14-of-23 from three-point range. Tonight, the Lion defense clamped down, limiting the Waves to just 7-of-17 while connecting on a half-dozen threes themselves.

In this game, LMU once again held a 13-point halftime lead, 37-24, but this time they outscored Pepperdine 20-6 in the first six minutes of the second half, including a 14-0 run in just under four minutes, to take a 27-point lead, 57-30 with 13:06 to play.

During the run, Teel had six points, DuBois five, and Young four to account for the scoring. The Waves managed to cut it to 11 with 5:47 to play on a Thompson jumper, but would get no closer. . The Lions continue a key stretch in West Coast Conference action when they head on the road to take on Santa Clara on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.