March 4, 2010

Game Notes in Printable PDF Format

Interactive Game Notes with Audio:

LMU men's basketball finished in a tie for fourth in the West Coast Conference and will head into the 2010 Zappos.com WCC Men's Basketball Championships with the fifth seed. They will take on long-time rival Pepperdine in the first round of the tournament on Friday, March 5 at 6 p.m. It is the longest running series in LMU history, and this will be the first time since 2005 the teams have played each other three times in a season. The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com, and fans can also watch live on WCCSports.com. For complete tournament informaton, visit the touranment central.

INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions, who do not feature a senior on the roster and are starting a freshman, three sophomores and a junior, and have a roster that is ranked 300 out of 343 NCAA Division-I teams in terms of experience, continue to reach milestones as the season reaches its final weeks as they enter the game against Pepperdine in the WCC tournament at 16-14 overall and 7-7 in WCC play. They have won three straight, four of their last six. Here is what they have accomplished this season:
• The most wins (16) since going 18-11 in 1995-96.
• Second best turn-around in school history with 13 more wins than a year ago. Second-best turn-around in the nation this season as of Feb. 25. (Coastal Carolina is +14)
• More than triple number of WCC wins (7) than a year ago.
• Longest win streak since the 1995-96 season (6 games).
• The most non-conference wins since that season (9).
• Defeated their first ranked opponent (#9 Gonzaga) since 1990, and first ranked-win at Gersten Pavilion.
• Defeated a top-10 team for the second time in school history (the last being in 1960).
• Posted a three-game road winning streak (at Notre Dame, at Sac. State, at CSUB) 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.
• Finished with a 9-5 record at home, the most since earning 9 wins in 1998-99 and 1994-95.
• Most road wins (6) since winning six in that 1995-96 season. The last time they had more than six was with 7 in 1990-91.
• Had three players earn postseason All-WCC honors, just the 10th time since 1956 three or more Lions have claimed WCC honors (Viney, Teel and Hamilton).

WCC HONORS
For just the 10th time since LMU joined the West Coast Conference in 1955-56, the Lions have earned at least three postseason honors as voted on by the conference coaches, as the WCC announced that Drew Viney and Vernon Teel have earned first-team All-WCC honors while Ashley Hamilton has earned WCC All-Freshman honors. Viney and Teel become just the 11th LMU duo to take home first-team All-WCC honors, while Hamilton is the fourth Lion to earn freshman honors. Jarred DuBois was an WCC All-Freshman selection a year ago, while the Lions had a trio of players earn All-WCC first-team honors in 2005-06.

SEEING DOUBLES
The Lions enter the final stretch of conference play with four players averaging double figures, led by sophomore Drew Viney, who leads the team in scoring at 16.9 points per contest and rebounds at 7.0 per contest after going for a career-best 35 and eight against USD last Thursday. The first-year player who transferred from Oregon in 2008, has four double-doubles this season, including his 16 points and 10 rebounds in the Gonzaga win. He is ranked fifth in the WCC in scoring and fifth in rebounds and earned first-team All-WCC honors. Vernon Teel is second on the team at 14.7 points per game, and moved into 7th within the WCC in scoring after earning his fifth double-double of the season in the overtime win over Portland, going for 24 points and 11 rebounds. Teel has been the spark plug for the Lions, earning first-team All-WCC, three WCC Player of the Week honors and December Player of the Month honors. He leads the WCC in assists at 5.83 per game (which is ranked 15th in the NCAA as of Feb. 28) and in steals at 1.87 per game. Sophomore Jarred DuBois has scored double digits in 16 of the last 17 games he has played, putting in 12.6 on the season and is second for the Lions with 52 three-pointers, hitting at a 40.6 percent clip. Sophomore Kevin Young has vaulted his average over two points the past month and he is now averaging 10.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

OFFENSE FROM DEFENSE
In winning six of their last nine, the Lions have used defense to power their offense. In defeating two of the top three teams in the WCC in last two weeks, they flustered high-powered offenses. Gonzaga entered the game averaging 78.6 points, 49.5 percent shooting from the field, 13.4 turnovers and a +.20 turnover margin. LMU held them to 66 points, 34.4 percent shooting (second lowest on the season), and went +1 in turnover margin. Portland entered the game averaging 73.1 points, 47.3 percent shooting from the field, 13.0 turnovers per game and a +.44 turnover margin. The Lions held them to 68 points, 36.7 percent shooting (second lowest on the season), forced them into 21 turnovers (second most on the season) and went +5.0 in turnover margin. Here is a look at LMU's defense:
• Record of 11-2 and 5-1 in the WCC when they outscore opponents in points of turnovers.
• Record of 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the WCC when holding opponents to less than 40 percent shooting.
• Record of 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the WCC when holding opponents under 70 points.
• In the second half of WCC play, LMU has outscored Portland 25-17, Pepperdine 20-2, Santa Clara 20-10, and USF 19-6 in points off turnovers.
• Leads the league in steals with a 7.53 average, grabbing 226, including 13 against Portland.
• Second in the WCC in blocks with 4.27 per game, blocking 128 after just 55 a year ago.
• Second in the WCC in turnover margin at +0.40 and third in field goal percentage defense at 43.3.

INJURY UPDATE
The busiest man on the LMU roster has been head trainer Keith Ellison and they finally had a full compliment of players in the wins over Gonzaga and Portland. On the season, injuries have forced the Lions to feature 10 different starting line-ups. Only Kevin Young and Vernon Teel have played every game this season. They were finally able to go back to their most successful line-up of Drew Viney, Teel, Jarred DuBois, Young and Ashley Hamilton in the win over Gonzaga. The Lions are 8-2 when that group earns the start.

TURNAROUND
Second-year Head Coach Max Good has helped lead the Lions on a resurgence this season. The Lions have 13 more wins than last season, making it the second best turnaround in school history. The Lions enter the game against Pepperdine with 16 wins, including victories at Notre Dame, at USC, nationally ranked Gonzaga, previously ranked Portland, Long Beach State and a surprisingly tough Seattle squad who features a projected NBA lottery pick. The best turnaround came in 1987-88, the first year Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble were eligible after transferring from USC. Paul Westhead and the Lions went 28-4 and 14-0 to win the WCC that season. It was a 16-win turnaround from the 12-16 season the year prior. The Lions also had 11 game turnarounds in 1937-38 (18-7 after 7-9 year prior) and 1959-60 (19-8 after 8-15 year prior).

SO CLOSE
The 2009-10 season is not one for the faint of heart. The Lions have had 20 of their 30 games decided by less than 10 points and they are 10-10 in those games, 5-4 in WCC play, after defeating San Diego by three on Thursday. Seven of the Lions' 13 setbacks have come by six points or less, and combined are at an average of four points per game. In all seven of those games, the Lions were tied or held a lead with under three minutes to play.