Dec. 20, 2013
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LOS ANGELES -- The 2013-14 non-conference portion of the LMU men's basketball schedule will come to a close on Saturday, Dec. 21 with the third annual LMU Holiday Classic. The Lions will take on La Sierra (3-11) in a game with free admission. Tip-off is set for 6 pm, and Sodexo is offering $1 hotdogs. The Lions (7-4) are coming off a win over Cal Poly in just their second home game of the season. Watch live on the LMU Sports Network and listen on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
This will be the third meeting between LMU and La Sierra, an NAIA institution in Riverside that was established by the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in 1922. The Lions earned a 100-62 win in 2010 and an 87-45 win in 2011. The Golden Eagles are 3-11 on the season with setbacks at Cal State Northridge (97-79) and Santa Clara (97-61). Guard play guides the Golden Eagles, led by Daveon Woods with 18.1 ppg, hitting 42.1 percent from three (22-for-51). 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 returned home for the first time in a month to play just the second home game of the season on Tuesday and earned a 79-59 win over Cal Poly. The Lions improve to 7-4, equalling the best start through 11 games since 2006-07. The Lions are 2-0 at home, going 2-2 in true road games and 3-2 in neutral games.
Senior Anthony Ireland went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw on Tuesday, helping him score 20 points, his 36th 20-point game in his career. 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. He finished the Paradise Jam as one of six players from the eight-team field to earn All-Tournament honors. His start against Cal Poly was the 104th 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 209 points, 59 assists and 19 steals to start the season, Ireland moved ahead of Jim Haderlein for seventh all-time in LMU history with 1,785 career points. He also moved to fifth with 443 career assists and seventh with 166 career steals.
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 yet again with 11 points against Valparaiso. He missed the game against Cal Poly with a shoulder injury and will be evaluated day-to-day heading into conference play. 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. As of Dec. 19, 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.
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.
Four Lions average double figures, led by senior Anthony Ireland at 19.0 ppg, ranking second in the WCC as of Dec. 19. The next three in double figures are all new to the Lions' line-up. Freshmen Evan Payne scored 18 points with six assists, four rebounds and four steals against Cal Poly Tuesday, and is second on the team at 13.2 ppg. Fellow freshman Gabe Levin has scored double figures in his first 10 games as a Lion, tied for the most by a freshman in LMU history and is third on the team at 12.8 ppg. Sophomore transfer Ben Dickinson (Binghamton) came off the bench to score 14 points with seven rebounds Tuesday and is fourth at 10.7 ppg. He leads all starters, shooting 58.4 percent on the season from the field, ranking 8th in the WCC. Through 11 games, the Lions are averaging 78.0 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:
QUICK HITS AFTER CAL POLY... Offense came from their defense in the win over Cal Poly, scoring a season-high 23 points off 15 Mustang turnovers... The Lions held Cal Poly to 59 points, the lowest by an opponent all season for the Lions... The Lions have had more turnovers than their opponents just once in 11 games this season and are averaging 12.82 turnovers per game this season. The Lions have averaged under 13 turnovers a game just twice in program history. They averaged just 12.97 in 2009-10 and set the record in 1983-84 at 11.98 per game... The Lions were called for just nine fouls against the Mustangs. They entered the game averaging 23.1 per game on 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 11 games to start the season and lead the West Coast Conference with 14.5 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 at LBSU.
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.
