March 1, 2011

WCC Announces Award Winners
2011 LMU Tournament Central

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - For the first time in more than 20 years, the LMU men's basketball program has claimed three players on the West Coast Conference Postseason Honors list two seasons in a row. Senior Vernon Teel and Junior Drew Viney have been named WCC All-Conference for the second straight year, while freshman Anthony Ireland earns the Lions their third straight freshman honor as the conference office announced the 2011 All-WCC selections on Tuesday.

Teel and Viney were named honorable mention All-WCC and become the first repeat award winners since Matthew Knight earned All-WCC honors three straight seasons (2005, '06. '07). Ireland is the third straight Lion to earn WCC All-Freshman honors, joining Ashley Hamilton from 2010 and Jarred DuBois from 2009. The three All-WCC selections matches the Lions three from a year ago, making it the first time since 1988-89/1989-90 the Lions have done that in back-to-back seasons.

It has been a season of ups and downs for Viney, missing five games on the year due to injury (two games with a calf injury prior to WCC play and three games in the middle of WCC play due to migraines). However, he is hitting stride in the final weeks of the season, helping him to work his way up the record books at LMU.

He closed the regular season with four straight games over 20 points, scoring 96 points with 27 rebounds, including his ninth double-double of his career against Santa Clara (30 points and 11 rebounds). In the last four games, he is averaging 24.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 bpg and 1.3 spg in the final games of the regular season. He has raised his scoring average nearly two points in that stretch on the season and he enters the 2011 WCC Basketball Championships ranked second in the WCC in scoring and 16.8 points per game.

He is also ranked 5th in rebounds (6.5 rpg), 12th in field goal percentage (46.5), 12th in three-point field goal percentage (36.2), 5th in blocked shots (1.0 bpg), 13th in three-point field goals per game (1.4), 4th in defensive rebounds (5.2) and 3rd in minutes played (33.5 mpg). He has found his long-distance form in WCC play, ranking second in the league by hitting 45.9 percent of his three-pointers (17-for-37).

In LMU history, he currently ranks 15th in career scoring average (16.8 ppg), 16th in made three-pointers (97), 17th in three-pointers attempted (242), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.401), 21st in free throw percentage (.791), 23rd in rebound average (6.8 rpg), t-10th in blocks (63), and 4th in block average (1.1).

As for Teel, he is approaching lofty numbers in his three-year career at LMU and is proving to be a stat-stuffer. With 13 points in the first meeting with Pepperdine, he reached 1,000 in his career, the 30th player in school history to reach the milestone. Thanks to 21 points and eight rebounds against USF, he ranks 21st all-time at LMU in scoring with 1,127 points and is in the top-30 in nine other categories.

Heading into the WCC Championships, he ranks 21st in career points average (14.3), sixth in free throws made (375), fifth in free throws attempted (550), eighth in assists (348), ninth in assist average (4.4), t-23rd in blocks (38), 24th in block average (0.5), t-12th in steals (133) and tied for 13th in double-doubles (11). He has five double-doubles on the year and entered the week 12th in the WCC in scoring (12.8 ppg), 10th in rebounds (5.7 rpg), 5th in assists (3.9 apg), 5th in steals (1.6 spg), and 8th in defensive rebounds (4.1 drpg).

In his first season from Waterbury, Conn., Ireland led the Lions' trio of talented freshman in the 2010-11 season, piling up the minutes to rank second on the team in minutes per game at 30.8.

It started with a bang for Ireland, becoming the first freshman to hit a three-pointer in his first game on his first attempt as he finished with five points, three rebounds and a steal against Morgan State. He earned his first start against Rider, and posted a career-best 21-point performance against South Dakota.

He is starting to work his way into the freshman record book, becoming just the eighth freshman in LMU history to crack 300 points, ranking 8th with 304 points. He also ranks third in assists with 92 and seventh in steals with 29. Entering the 2011 WCC Championships, he ranks 22nd in the WCC in scoring (10.1 ppg), 8th in assists (3.1), and 6th in assist/turnover ratio (1.7). He has shown to be steady at the point in averaging nearly two assists per turnover and ranking fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.0).

The Lions will open the 2011 WCC Basketball Championships on Friday, March 4 when they take on Portland in the first round at 6 p.m. The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and LMULions.com. It will also be broadcast on ESPN3.com, ESPN FullCourt and on BYUtv. For complete tournament information and links, visit LMU WCC Tournament Central.