Dec. 16, 2013
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LOS ANGELES -- For the first time in exaclty a month and just the second time on the season, LMU men's basketball will play at home, hosting Cal Poly at Gersten Pavilion on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 pm. The Lions (6-4) have played nine of their first 10 away from home and will start a four-game homestand with the Mustangs (4-5). The game will be broadcast online through LMU Sports Network at LMULions.com and can be heard at KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
This will be the 10th match-up all-time between Cal Poly and LMU, the sixth since 2002. Since that season, the teams have won every other game with Cal Poly earning a 63-60 buzzer-beating victory at Cal Poly on Feb. 23. The game was part of the ESPN BracketBuster series, and saw Cal Poly's Dylan Royer hit a three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left for the win. Cal Poly improved to 11-1 at home with that win. LMU holds a 5-4 edge in the series and the game is part of LMU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's second annual Hoodie Drive. S.A.A.C. and LMU Athletics will collect hoodies, sweatshirts, sweaters and jackets at all home games from Dec. 1 through Jan. 17 as part of the annual Hoodie Drive. All collected items will be donated to the Midnight Mission in Downtown Los Angeles.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions fell on the road to Valparaiso on Saturday, Dec. 14, 80-73, completing their six-game, month-long road trip. The Lions are 6-4 on the season have played all but one game away from Gersten Pavilion so far this season, going 2-2 in true road games this season and 3-2 in neutral games.
The Lions traveled 15,843 miles in their first 10 games this season, playing just one home game on Nov. 17 against Northern Arizona. They are coming off a six-game road swing that took them more than 15,500 miles before returning home to play Cal Poly. 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 last weekend for the 3,564-mile road trip to face Valparaiso on Dec. 14.
Freshman Gabe Levin went for his fourth double-double in his young career with 14 points and 14 rebounds at Pittsburgh and went for double-figures scoring yet again with 11 against Valparaiso. He is one of just five freshman to have multiple double-doubles in their debut season, and his four so far this season 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 three times already this season while also scoring double figures in all 10 games. He has tied Forrest McKenzie and Steve Haney for the most consecutive dougle-digit scoring games as a freshman in program history. He is now averaging of 12.7 ppg and 9.0 rpg entering the game against Cal Poly. As of Dec. 16, Levin is second in the WCC in rebounding and is ranked 45th in the nation in total rebounds (90), 54th in rebounds per game, 6th for freshman in rebounds per contest and 30th with his four double-doubles.
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 Valparaiso was the 103rd 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 189 points, 54 assists and 18 steals to start the season, Ireland moved ahead of Jim Haderlein for seventh all-time in LMU history with 1,765 career points. He also moved to fifth with 438 career assists and seventh with 165 career steals.
Four Lions average double figures, led by senior Anthony Ireland at 18.9 ppg, ranking second in the WCC as of Dec. 16. The next three in double figures are all new to the Lions' line-up. Freshmen Gabe Levin and Evan Payne have each scored 127 points in their first 10 games at LMU. Levin has scored double figures in his first 10 games as a Lion, tied for the most by a freshman in LMU history. Payne netted 22 against Northern Iowa, ranking tied for 21st by a freshman for a single game. Sophomore transfer Ben Dickinson (Binghamton) is fourth at 10.4 ppg. He leads all starters, shooting 57.3 percent on the season from the field, ranking 9th in the WCC. Through 10 games, the Lions are averaging 77.9 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 10 games to start the season and lead the West Coast Conference with 15.0 per game after grabbing 19 at Valparaiso and 16 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 putback 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.
A Grand Finale: Senior Anthony Ireland enters his final season all over the record books at LMU with the projection to do even more. He enters the season as a Preseason All-WCC selection and is:
Ireland has not missed a game in his three-year career, playing in all 110 of the games LMU has played the last three-plus years. He earned his 100th start against Vanderbilt and has now started 103 in his career. He has done this while losing a tooth during a game, not missing a second in the process against Alaska-Anchorage; playing the season needing knee surgery as a junior; needing stitches in his lower lip during a game as a sophomore. He is at it again in 2013-14. As of Dec. 16, Ireland is third in the West Coast Conference in scoring (18.9 ppg), third in assists (5.4 apg), 12th in free throw percentage (83.1%), fourth in steals (1.8 spg), and second in minutes played (34.7 mpg). As the Lions' lone scoring threat in 2012-13, he was the target of opposing defenses who played aggressive against him, sending him to the line 203 times, ranked 12th all-time in LMU history. Entering the game against Cal Poly, Ireland ranks sixth with 388 free throws made. Hank Gathers is fifth with 416. Mike Yoest is the all-time leader with 561 made free throws. Ireland was named LMU's first NABC All-District selection as a sophomore and was a Lou Henson Preseason All-American and honorable mention Jesuit All-American in 2011-12. He was named preseason All-American again this preseason. Entering Dec. 17, Ireland has played 2,862 of a possible 3,155 minutes (90.8 percent) since his sophomore season. He led the Lions in scoring in 30 of 34 games last season and has done it in 8 of the 10 games this season.
