Feb. 8, 2013
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LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The scheduling fates have dealt a tough hand for LMU men's basketball, as they will play their third game in six days and it happens the sixth-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, Wash., on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. And it is the second meeting against the West Coast Conference leaders in nine days. The game can be seen on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Root Sports, and Comcast SportsNet and can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions are 8-15 overall, 1-9 in the WCC after falling to No. 7 Gonzaga last Thursday, San Diego (69-68 in OT) on Monday, and Portland on Thursday (69-60). Anthony Ireland continues to pace the Lions at 19.8 points per game, ranking second in the WCC. He was the Lions only scorer in double figures with 19, hitting 5-for-10 from three against Gonzaga. He had 17 in 42 minutes on Monday and then had 21 points despite the flu against Portland. Ireland is on pace to post the highest scoring average since Terrell Lowery led the WCC with 26.0 ppg. In addition to scoring, he ranks in the top-15 in eight other statistical categories in the WCC, including rebounds (14th), assists (7th) and steals (5th). Ireland has been featured in some multimedia segments the past couple weeks, check them out:
- WCC This Week Segment via YouTube.com/WCCSports
- LMU Magazine inside look "Ice Man" via Magazine.LMU.edu
Senior Ashley Hamilton is having his best season as a Lion, scoring 15 points with eight rebounds in the first meeting against San Diego, giving him a thousand points and 500 rebounds in his career, the 14th player in program history to reach those milestones. He is averaging 13.8 ppg and 6.6 rpg in his final season, after going for his second double-double of the season and fifth of his career with 11 points and 12 rebounds on Monday. He ranks ranking 12th and 8th, respectively, within the WCC in scoring and rebounds.
All about shooting: The Lions have had five games when hitting better than 50 percent from three and hold a 4-1 record in those games. They did it in their WCC win over the Broncos, hitting 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from long range, going 6-for-8 in the second half. Since then it has been a struggle. During the six-game skid, the Lions have shot a combined 33.6 percent (120-333) from the field, including a 28.3 percent clip against USF on Jan. 19 and a 25 percent outing on Thursday against the Zags (the lowest since shooting 21.2 percent at Portland on Jan. 21, 2010). The Lions shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) against the Toreros, the highest since hitting 56.8 percent against CSUB on Dec. 29. Its been even more of a struggle from long range, as the Lions where ranked fourth in the WCC in three-point shooting following the Santa Clara game at 37.5 percent. In the six games since, the Lions have shot just 32-for-127 from three (25.1 percent ) and are now ranked eighth at 33.7 percent.
AT THE POINT
Junior Anthony Ireland entered the 2012-13 season on the Lou Henson Player of the Year watch list and was named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason All-American Team. He also was named Preseason All-WCC and as a junior is one of the most experienced players on the LMU roster, having played every single game the Lions have played since he arrived LMU, playing 89 games with 82 starts entering the Gonzaga game. He has 456 points, 90 assists and 37 steals to lead the Lions in 2012-13, giving him 1,344 points (ranked 16th all-time at LMU), 353 assists (tied for 8th all-time) and 126 steals (14th all-time) in his career. He became the 33rd Lion to score 1,000 in a career in the game against North Texas and earned his fourth career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds at SMU. He had his 24th game with at least 20 points, going for 21 against Portland. The Lions are 14-10 in games when he goes over 20 points. He was the only Lion to play every game last season and was second in the WCC in minutes played at 36.5 per game and he is averaging a league best 37.0 this season, going for a career-high 42 on Monday. The first-team All-WCC and NABC All-District selection was second in the WCC in scoring at 16.1 points per game and fourth with 4.9 assists per contest. He earned two WCC Player of the Week honors as a sophomore and was the second Lion since 1998 to earn a double-double with points and assists.
INSIDE THE GAME
This will be the 81st meeting between LMU and Gonzaga, and like most series in the WCC, Gonzaga has dominated as of late. The Zags lead 59-21 all-time and Spokane has been a nightmare for the Lions. Gonzaga is 33-6 in Spokane, winning 22 straight. The last Lions win came in 1991, 91-79. Overall, the Zags have won six straight in the series with the last LMU win coming on Feb. 18, 2010. The Zags are coming off an 82-56 win over Pepperdine on Thursday. They are 22-2 overall, 11-1 at home (only loss was to Illinois, who beat No. 1 Indiana on Thursday). They are 9-0 in WCC play. Gonzaga made 12 three-pointers and forced Pepperdine into 21 turnovers. Kevin Pangos scored 14 points while Kelly Olynyk added 13 as Gonzaga continues its balanced attack in the WCC.
THE FIRST MEETING
Offensive woes continued for LMU men's basketball, as they shot just 25 percent while No. 7 Gonzaga hit 54 percent on their way to stay unbeaten in West Coast Conference play thanks to a 88-43 win on Jan. 31... Gonzaga hit a season-high 13 three-pointers, five in the first half alone by Gary Bell, Jr., as they finished hitting a season-high 61.9 (13-for-21) percent from long distance and 54.5 percent from the field. The only blemish on the night for the Zags was 13-for-26 shooting from the fire throw line... "They are one of the most balanced teams I have seen," said Head Coach Max Good. "So many guys can come out and hurt you. And when they are hitting from the outside like that, they are very dangerous."... Bell had all 15 of his points in the first half, while Kelly Olynyk added 15 in a balanced attack for the Zags... LMU was led by Anthony Ireland's 19 points as he hit 6-for-14 from the field, 5-for-10 from long range. The rest of the team with 8-for-32...Ireland cut the lead to 22-16 with 9:52 to play in the first half as the Lions started hitting four of their first eight three-point attempts. However, the Zags closed the half on a 24-2 run as the Lions got just one field goal the rest of the half. The Lions then started the second half 2-for-10 from the field and the Zags pulled away.
SHORT BENCH
Chase Flint (who ranked seventh in the WCC in minutes played at 32.6 mpg and eighth in assists with 4.29 apg, while averaging 6.6 points per game) missed the game against Saint Mary's (Jan. 5) due to a stress reaction in his left shin, becoming the second Lion starter to miss games due to injury/illness. He was diagnosed to miss four to six weeks from that point. He was cleared on Wednesday before the Portland game but did not play. He will likely not play Saturday. Godwin Okonji missed two games earlier this season as he underwent an emergency Laparoscopic Appendectomy on the evening Dec. 12. Okonji was up and missed the Lions' games against Ole Miss and Saint Louis, but returned against Morgan State on Dec. 27, just 15 days after surgery. It has been a tough season for Okonji, whose father passed away in Africa at the start of the season in November. The Lions bench is already thin due to redshirts to sophomore C.J. Blackwell (will apply for a medical redshirt at the end of the year), transfer Ben Dickinson (due to NCAA transfer rules) and freshman Taj Adams (coaches' decision). That leaves just seven scholarship players available for the Lions as conference play continues. Blackwell missed his fourth game of the season against Saint Louis due to the same knee issues that saw him miss the first three games of the season. With the issues remaining, he will miss the remainder of the season and Blackwell will look to apply for a medical redshirt at the end of the season. The Lions are playing with eight scholarship players entering the game against Portland (they have 12 scholarship players on the roster in 2012-13).
FILLING IN
Due to the Lions' short bench, players have been asked to step-in for the Lions. Freshman Marin Mornar earned his first start on Monday against USD and went 27 minutes, scoring five points with four rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. He went 16 minutes against Portland, scoring three points with three blocks and two steals. Alex Osborne has made 14 starts since filling in for Godwin Okonji when he had his emergency surgery. He is averaging 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds. Bruce English earned his seventh start against the Zags and had his best game as a Lion against USF, going for career-best 12 points and eight rebounds. He is averaging 5.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg. Walk-on Taylor Walker has provided big minutes at the point for the Lions. The fifth-year senior who is in his second season with the Lions, equalled a career-high 21 minutes with seven points and four rebounds against Portland.
- GO LIONS -
