Dec. 13, 2013
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VALPARAISO, Ind. -- The month-long, 15,000-mile road swing for LMU men's basketball will come to a close on Saturday, Dec. 14 when the Lions travel to Valparaiso for an 11:05 am (PT) tip-off. The game is a return from the BracketBusters match-up in 2012 and will be the second meeting between the Lions (6-3) and Crusaders (6-5). Listen live on KXLU 88.9 FM and through the LMU Sports Network on LMULions.com.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
| GAME: | LMU (6-3) at Valparaiso (6-5) |
| DATE/TIME: | Dec. 14, 2013 // 11:00 a.m. (PST) |
| LOCATION: | The ARC // Valparaiso, IN |
| WATCH: | None |
THE MATCH-UP
This will be the second meeting between the LMU and Valparaiso, who earned Horizon League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament last season. The two programs met in 2012 as part of the ESPN BracketBusters. The Lions claimed a 61-53 win at Gersten Pavilion as they went on to win a pair of postseason games that season. As a sophomore,
Anthony Ireland scored 19 points with eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Lions. As for Valpo, all eight players that appeared in that game have graduated from the program. They are led this season by LaVonte Dority at 16 points per game, hitting 21 three pointers (40.4 percent). They are coming off a 67-65 setback at home to Saint Louis on Dec. 7.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions fell on the road to Pittsburgh, 85-68, on Dec. 6 and have had the last week off from finals. They are 6-3 on the season, continuing their best start since the 2006-07 season. The Lions have played all but one game away from Gersten Pavilion so far this season, going 2-1 in true road games this season and 3-2 in neutral games.
The Lions' trip to Valparaiso concludes a month-long road trip for the Lions that will take then more than 15,500 miles before returning home on Dec. 17. It started with a 7,543-mile swing to the Virgin Islands and continued with the shortest leg of the road trip, a 144-mile round trip to UC Riverside. The trip to Pittsburgh took the team 4,298 miles before heading out this weekend for the 3,564-mile road trip to face Valparaiso on Dec. 14. All told, the Lions will travel 15,843 for their non-conference portion of the schedule.
ON THE ROAD
Miles traveled in non-conference:
LMU to San Diego: 250
LMU to Long Beach St.: 44
Virgin Islands Paradise Jam: 7,543
LMU to UC Riverside 144
LMU to Pittsburgh : 4,298
LMU to Valparaiso: 3,564
Grand Total:15,843
In three games at the Paradise Jam, senior Anthony Ireland finished averaging 23.0 points per contest, going for 20 points in all three games and then earning his 35th career 20-point game with exactly 20 at Pittsburgh. He finished the Paradise Jam as one of six players from the eight-team field to earn All-Tournament honors. His start against Pittsburgh was the 102nd of his career, making him just the fourth player in LMU history to reach the century mark (joining Mark Armstrong - 109, Mike Yoest - 103, and Jim Williamson - 101). With 171 points, 46 assists and 16 steals to start the season, Ireland moved ahead of Jim Haderlein for seventh all-time in LMU history with 1,747 career points. He also moved to fifth with 430 career assists and seventh with 163 career steals.
Freshman Gabe Levin went for his fourth double-double in his young career with 14 points and 14 rebounds at Pittsburgh. It is the second time this season he has gone back-to-back in doubles, going for 13 points and 14 rebounds in the win over UC Riverside. He is one of just five freshman to have multiple double-doubles in their debut season, and is now tied for the most in program history (Kevin Young - 4 - `08-09; Orlando Johnson - 3 - `07-08; Andy Osborn - 3 - `01-02; Luther Philyaw - 2 - `72-73). He has grabbed 14 rebounds in a single game four times already this season while also scoring double figures in all nine games to start the season. He is now averaging of 12.9 ppg and 9.6 rpg entering the game against Pitt. As of Dec. 11, Levin is tied for the first in the WCC in rebounding and is ranked 29th in the nation in total rebounds (86), 40th in rebounds per game, and ranked fourth for freshman in rebounds per contest.
Four Lions average double figures, led by senior Anthony Ireland at 19.0 ppg. The next three in double figures are all new to the Lions' line-up. Freshman Gabe Levin has scored double figures in his first nine games as a Lion. He is second on the team with 12.9 ppg, right ahead of fellow freshman Evan Payne, who is now averaging 12.8 ppg after scoring 16 against Pittsburgh. Sophomore transfer Ben Dickinson (Binghamton) is fourth at 10.8 ppg. He leads all starters shooting 56.7 percent on the season from the field, ranking 10th in the WCC. Through nine games, the Lions are averaging 78.4 points per game. The last time the Lions averaged over 75 points a game in a season was in 2009-10 at 75.8 ppg. They averaged 75.9 in 1998-99, 79.0 in 1993-94, and 91.1 in 1991-92. The all-time record is 122.4 ppg in that 1989-90 Elite Eight season.
NOTES THROUGHOUT THE SEASON:
The Lions had a season-high 20 offensive rebounds good for 23 second chance points in the win over UC Riverside. The Lions have had double-digit offensive rebounds in all nine games to start the season and lead the West Coast Conference with 14.6 per game after going for 16 offensive rebounds against Pittsburgh. The Lions grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to cut a 23-point deficit to five against NIU, and against Long Beach State the Lions had 19 offensive boards and held a 45-30 edge on the glass. They used five of their 19 offensive rebounds in the final minute to get the win. Trailing by five with 1:04 to play, Evan Payne cut the lead to 73-70 and was fouled. He would miss the free throw, but fellow freshman Gabe Levin grabbed the offensive rebound to give the Lions the possession. After a timeout with 46.5 left, Payne missed a three-pointer but Chase Flint grabbed the offensive rebound. Ireland then missed with 16 seconds left but he would grab his own miss to keep possession yet again. After a timeout with 11 seconds left, the Lions ran a play for Levin who went in for a dunk. It was altered at the basket and lipped out. But yet again the Lions found the rebound. This time it was Dickinson, whose outback cut the lead to 73-72 with seven seconds left. LMU, who had pressed most of the game, pressured Caffey along the sideline and forced him to step on the line for the turnover. Ireland would take the inbound and was fouled by Caffey at about the same spot with 4.9 left. Ireland, who is sixth in the WCC in free throw percentage, drained both.
The Lions had three 20-point scorers in the win over South Dakota St., the first time that has happened since the record-setting LMU-USIU game on Jan. 5, 1991. Dickinson had 22 points while Ireland and Levin had 20 points each. The last time it happened, the Lions set the NCAA record for points in a 186-140 win. Five Lions went for more than 20 points (Terrell Lowery - 34, Richard Petruska - 28, Chris Knight - 27, Rahim Harris - 24, Ross Richardson - 24). Against Northern Arizona, the Lions had a pair of players with double-doubles. Anthony Ireland had 18 points and 10 assists for his sixth career double-double while freshman Gabe Levin had his first with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lions finished the two games at the San Diego Classic shooting 52.1 percent, including 57.6 percent in the win on Saturday. It was the Lions' best shooting night from the field against an NCAA Division I opponent since hitting 59.3 percent against Seattle on Dec. 30, 2009. The Lions hit 57.7 percent against Pacifica in the opener last season. After shooting 37.7 percent against LBSU, the Lions hit 55.4 percent against Northern Arizona, including 65.6 percent in the second half. On the season, the Lions are hitting 44.8 percent from the field. The last time the Lions finished a season over 45 percent from the field as a team was in 2009-10, hitting 45.6 percent. They hit 46.4 percent in 1995-96, 47.7 in 1991-92 and 48.2 in 1990-91. The record is 51.9 percent in that very same 1989-90 season.
