Feb. 16, 2012
LMU men's basketball returns home for its final three games of the regular season, starting with the 2012 SEARS BracketBusters showdown on Friday, Feb. 17 against Valparaiso. It will complete a stretch of four games in nine days for the Lions, who are coming off a 75-60 win at No. 16 Saint Mary's on Wednesday. The game will be a main piece to LMU's 2012 Centennial Family Weekend. The ASLMU Pregame Tailgate Party will start things at 4 p.m., followed by tip-off at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. The game will also be live on KXLU 88.9 FM.
| LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY: GAME: LMU (17-10) vs. Valparaiso (19-9)
DATE/TIME:Feb. 17, 2012 // 6:00 p.m. (PST)
LOCATION: Gersten Pavilion // Los Angeles, CA
TV: ESPNU (Mark Neely & Miles Simon)
RADIO: KXLU 88.9 FM (Jeff Lampe)
WEBCAST: ESPN3.com
LIVE STATS:
RESOURCES: |
INSIDE THE LIONS
LMU improved to 17-10 overall and 10-4 in the West Coast Conference with its 75-60 win over No. 16 Saint Mary's on Wednesday. It was the Lions third win in five tries over a ranked opponent this season and gives the Lions its most wins in WCC play since the Elite Eight team in 1989-90 (who went 13-1).
The win at Saint Mary's improved the Lions to 7-1 on the road in WCC play and 9-3 overall away from home. Its the best conference road record since going 6-1 in that 1989-90 season, and the seven wins matches the raod win total of the 1987-88 team, who went 14-0 in league play. In addition, Lions finish the regular season at 9-3 on the road, its best road record since winning 11 games in that Elite Eight season. Included in that record was a six-game road winning streak, matching the 1990-'91 team for the most consecutive road wins (overall).
LMU entered the week ranked 17th in the NCAA Division I National Rankings in three-point field goal defense, and are now holding opponents to a league low 28.8 percent from long range overall and 26.6 percent in WCC games after limiting Saint Mary's to 21.4 percent. The Lions have held 14 teams under 30 percent for the game, including BYU's 2-for-25 (8 percent), Pepperdine's 2-for-15 effort on Thursday (13.3 percent) as well as Gonzaga and Portland to 15.4 percent (2-for-13). In non-conference they held UCLA to 13.3 percent and North Texas' to 15.8 percent.
The Lions lead the WCC in free throw percentage, hitting 73.0 percent. The Lions' top-six scorers hit better than 73 percent, including LaRon Armstead's 85.5 percent, which leads the WCC. As of games on Feb. 12, Armstead ranks 42nd in the NCAA Division I National Rankings. He went six-for-six, all in the final minute of the Lions win over Pepperdine. Anthony Ireland is 9th in the WCC at 77.4 percent. The Lions entered the week ranked 45th out of 338 teams in NCAA Division I.
The Lions had its top four scorers on the season all go for double figures in the win over Saint Mary's. Fifth-year senior Drew Viney leads the Lions with 16.3 points per contest in 17 games, leading the Lions with 17 Wednesday. Sophomore Anthony Ireland, who had his ninth 20-point game with 23 on Saturday, is second on the team with 15.4 points per games while ranking third in the WCC. Ashley Hamilton had 11 against Saint Mary's and in 15 games he is averaging 10.4 points. Junior Jarred DuBois, who had 15 against the Gaels, is averaging 10.6 points.
The Lions' 60-point second half in the comeback win over San Francisco on Feb. 4 was the most points in a single half since they scored 69 in the second half against USC on Nov. 30, 1993. The Lions hit 11 three-pointers in that win, and with another 10 against Portland Thursday, they have hit double-digit three-pointers six times this season, ranking fifth in the WCC with 6.7 three-pointers. The Lions hit seven against Saint Mary's and improve to 9-2 on the season when they hit at least seven. Heading into the season, the last time they hit 10 or more three-pointers in a game was 10 against USF on Jan. 14, 2010. The 11 made is the most since hitting 12 against Mercer on Nov. 24, 2007.
MORE NUMBERS: The Lions are 13-1 when leading at the half (8-1 in WCC), 11-1 (6-0) when outrebounding their opponent, 17-3 (10-1) when shooting better than 40 percent, 9-1 (5-0) when holding their opponent to less than 40 percent, and 13-0 (7-0) when scoring 70 or more points.
The Lions have played in three overtime games in a season for the first time since 2007-08, winning all three. It is the first time in program history the Lions have won three overtime games in a single season.
THE ROSTER
Injuries once again have forced change in the Lions starting five as the Lions have started nine different line-ups. Three of the Lions' top-seven - top scorers Jarred DuBois, Drew Viney and Ashley Hamilton - have combined to miss 27 games this season. The Lions have found some consistency, starting the same five the last nine games, improving to 7-2 after the win over SMC. They have now played nine games with their top-seven, improving to 7-2. In 2010-11, LMU's top-seven missed 66 games as the Lions featured 16 different starting line-ups... Junior Jarred DuBois missed two games (La Sierra, North Texas) due to soreness in his foot and then three more games (at Pep, Gonzaga, at BYU) after suffering a concussion against San Diego on Jan. 7... Junior Ashley Hamilton, who was the Lions' leading scorer after three games, suffered an injury to his right foot against Harvard and missed the next 12 games... Senior Drew Viney missed 10 of the Lions' first 12 games after a stress fracture in his foot the week prior to the start of the season in October. He returned to the line-up full-time against Vanguard on Dec. 27... Prior to the team's departure to San Francisco Dec. 31, redshirt sophomore Edgar Garibay asked for and was granted his release from the LMU men's basketball program.
GAME #28
This will be the first meeting between LMU and Valparaiso, who is from the Horizon League. The Crusaders currently lead the Horizon League at 12-4 overall, earning a 74-65 win at home over UIC Tuesday. They enter the game at 19-9 overall, going 8-7 on the road and 11-2 at home. The game been selected to be featured in one of the 13 nationally televised games on the ESPN Networks for the 10th Annual Sears BracketBusters. The game will air nationally on ESPNU. Sears BracketBusters will feature 13 nationally televised games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 selected from 142 eligible teams - the largest pool in the event's history. ESPNU will air five games; ESPN2 and ESPN3 each have two exclusive; and four flex options to be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 (determined approximately one week before the game). This year's television package consists of teams from 14 conferences, including five from the Missouri Valley; three from the Colonial Athletic Conference and Mid-American Conference; and two from Horizon League, Summit League, Western Athletic Conference and WCC. The game will be part of the 2012 Centennial Family Weekend, with a full slate of activities scheduled within LMU athletics. The game itself is the 2012 Centennial Game as the Lions will wear the Centennial Gold Uniforms. It will also feature the ASLMU Pregame Tailgate at 4 p.m.
GOOD STUFF
The Lions have found success in the big games under Head Coach Max Good. The Lions are 4-4 against ranked opponents the last three season under Good, including a 3-2 mark in 2011-12. The games against UCLA and Florida State were the eighth and ninth time under Head Coach Max Good the Lions played a team from the "BCS" conferences. The Lions are 3-6 in those meetings, defeating USC (67-59), Notre Dame (87-85) and now UCLA (69-58), all on the road. In addition, Good has led the Lions to more road wins than any head coach since Paul Westhead. At 9-3 this season, the Lions have the most road wins since the Westhead era.
- GO LIONS -
