Dec. 27, 2013
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LOS ANGELES -- The new look, 10-team West Coast Conference will finally begin league play this last weekend of December, and LMU will start at home with the WCC Game of the Week showdown with BYU on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 1 pm. The game can be seen throughout the WCC regional networks, including Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Coverage begins at 12:30 pm with the Time Warner pregame show. Outside of the WCC regional footprint, fans can watch on TheW.tv and listen on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
For the second time in as many seasons, LMU will open conference play with BYU, this time hosting the Cougars at Gersten Pavilion. This is BYU's third season in the WCC and they have won both times at Gersten Pavilion, including the last WCC game of 2012-13, 73-70. Following the WCC Game of the Week, the Lions continue the opening weekend of WCC play by hosting San Diego on Monday, Dec. 30 at 7 pm. Fans who live in neighboring zip codes to LMU can get tickets for just $5 by visiting LMULions.com/tickets and entering promo code WCCOPENER. In addition, those affiliated with the Catholic Youth Organizations (C.Y.O.) can get two free tickets plus additional tickets for $5. Enter the promo code provided to the CYO for the discounts. 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 finish non-conference play, earning a 79-59 win over Cal Poly on Dec. 17 and then a 100-83 win over La Sierra on Dec. 21. The Lions improve to 8-4, equalling the best start through 12 games since 2006-07. The Lions are 3-0 at home, going 2-2 in true road games and 3-2 in neutral games.
For the second time on the season, the Lions had three players with at least 20 points, including 21 from senior Anthony Ireland, his 37th 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 La Sierra was the 105th 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 230 points, 63 assists and 19 steals to start the season, Ireland moved ahead of Jim Haderlein for seventh all-time in LMU history with 1,806 career points. He also moved to fourth with 447 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 games against Cal Poly and La Sierra 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 for the 3,564-mile road trip to face Valparaiso on Dec. 14.
Four Lions average double figures, led by senior Anthony Ireland at 19.2 ppg, ranking second in the WCC as of Dec. 26. The next three in double figures are all new to the Lions' line-up. Freshmen Evan Payne scored 24 points (tied for 11th for freshman) against La Sierra is second on the team at 14.1 ppg, which is currently second all-time for points in a season by a freshman. 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 12.7 ppg. Sophomore transfer Ben Dickinson (Binghamton) came off the bench to score 14 points with seven rebounds against Cal Poly and 11 against La Sierra, ranking fourth at 10.8 ppg. He leads all starters, shooting 58.8 percent on the season from the field, ranking 8th in the WCC. Through 12 games, the Lions are averaging 79.8 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.
Injuries: Senior Godwin Okonji was involved in a car accident while riding to practice with teammate Ayodeji Egbeyemi on Oct. 30 (See LMULions.com for more information) and he will likely apply for a medical redshirt at the end of the season and will not play. Egbeyemi has missed the last four games since suffering a hip injury in the game against UC Riverside (Dec. 2) and will undergo surgery, likely missing the rest of the season. Prior to that same game, freshman Nino Jackson suffered an ankle injury and is out indefinitely. Freshman Gabe Levin, who has second in double figures in his first 10 games - all starts - suffered a shoulder injury against Valparaiso and is day-to-day heading into WCC play.
NOTES THROUGHOUT THE SEASON:
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 12 games this season and are averaging 12.92 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 a season-low 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. They equalled that total with 20 against La Sierra, going for a season-high 25 second chance points. The Lions have had double-digit offensive rebounds in all 12 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 at LBSU.
Senior Alex Osborne had a career-game against La Sierra, becoming the first Lion since Dec. 28, 2009 to have a game with at least 15 points and 15 rebounds. He had 20 points and 17 rebounds, grabbing eight offensive rebounds in going 8-for-10 from the field. He added two assists, two steals and a block. His eight offensive rebounds is the most since Kevin Young had eight in going for 16 points and 19 rebounds against New Mexico State in the last 15-15 game.
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. They did it again against La Sierra. Against SDSU, Ben Dickinson had 22 points while Anthony Ireland and Gabe Levin had 20 points each. Against the Golden Eagles to end non-conference, Evan Payne had 24, Ireland had 21 and Osborne 20. Prior to this season, 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.
