Dec. 20, 2014 BUY TICKETS | This is LMU Basketball | We Are LMU... | LMU on Facebook | LMU on Twitter
HONOLULU -- LMU men's basketball will bring to a close it's challenging non-conference schedule when they play three games at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Dec. 22-26. The Lions (3-6), who arrived to Honolulu with the rest of the eight-team field on Friday, will open with 11th-ranked Wichita State (8-1) on Monday, Dec. 22 at 8 pm (6 pm HT). The game can be seen on ESPNU and heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
The Lions have been hard at work in preparation for the tournament and during the morning shooting session, Head Coach Mike Dunlap invited ESPN analyst Dino Gaudino to speak to the team. LMU Sports Network was their as Gaudino, who will call the game on Saturday, talked about what it takes to be a good team, using the story of former colleague LTG (R) Robert Foley, a Medal of Honor recipient and former Army basketball captain. Gaudino was head coach of Army from 1993-97. He also coached at Loyola (MD) and Wake Forest. He has been with ESPN since 2011.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC
The 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic features Ohio University taking on George Washington in Game One on Monday, Dec. 22 at 11:30 am (PT)/9:30 am (HT). The morning session then concludes with DePaul taking on Colorado at 1:30 pm (PT)/11:30 am (HT). The Lions and Shockers then start the evening session at 8 pm (PT)/6 pm (HT), followed by host Hawaii taking on Nebraska at 10 pm (PT)/8 pm (HT).
AGAINST THE FIELD
LMU played in the 2005 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, which would eventually become a joint venture with ESPN in 2009 called the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. In the three games that season, the Lions fell to Hawaii in the opener 66-63, Western Michigan the following day on Dec. 22, 62-61, and then to South Florida, 54-50, on Dec. 23. The Lions will face Wichita State for the second time in program history. The previous meeting was on Dec. 2, 1983 in Wichita. The Shockers erased a 10-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Lions 40-28 in the second half to earn a 75-73 victory. The Shockers (8-1) are ranked 11th in the Associated Press (Dec. 15) with an RPI of No. 3, and will be the first ranked opponent of the season for the Lions.
AGAINST THE RANKED
The last ranked opponent for the Lions came in the 2013 West Coast Conference Championships when they faced the top-ranked team in the nation, Gonzaga, facing them in the WCC semifinals. It was the first time the Lions faced the No. 1 team in the nation since 1989. Fittingly, the last time the Lions had to face a No. 1 was actually in Las Vegas. In the historic 1989-90 season, LMU would open with preseason No. 1 UNLV on Nov. 15, 1989, falling 102-91. LMU has played a No. 1 (AP only) six times, five of them coming against conference foe San Francisco. The Lions are 4-7 in their last 11 games against ranked opponents, falling to ranked Gonzaga three times in 2012-13. The Lions went 3-2 in 2011-12 against ranked opponents, earning a win at #16 Saint Mary's on Feb. 15, 2012 (the last win over a ranked opponent). The Lions have won their last two match-ups against a non-conference foe ranked in the national polls, defeating No. 23 Saint Louis on Nov. 29, 2011 and No. 17 UCLA on Nov. 11, 2011. The last 10 against ranked opponents:
Mar. 9, 2013 - vs. #1 Gonzaga - L, 48-66
Feb. 9, 2013 - at #6 Gonzaga - L, 55-74
Jan. 31, 2013 - #7 Gonzaga - L, 43-88
Feb. 15, 2012 - at #16 Saint Mary's - W, 75-60
Jan. 26, 2012 - #20 Saint Mary's - L, 64-71
Jan. 14, 2012 - #21 Gonzaga - L, 58-62
Nov. 29, 2011 - #23 Saint Louis - W, 75-68
Nov. 11, 2011 - at #17 UCLA - W, 68-58
Mar. 7, 2010 - vs. #14 Gonzaga - L, 62-77
Feb. 18, 2010 - #9 Gonzaga - W, 74-66
Jan. 23, 2010 - at #10 Gonzaga - L, 69-85
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions' record sits at 3-6 overall after falling to Stanford, 67-58, on Wednesday. The Lions are in the midst of a six-game road swing, playing the last three in true road games. The Cardinal were the third Pac-12 opponent on the road this season. The Lions led by as many as 12 and held the lead for over 22 minutes against the Cardinal. However, senior Chasson Randle showed why he was a PAC-12 First-Team All-Conference selection, scoring 20 of his 31 points in the second half to lead the comeback. The Lions have seen their outside shooting on the rise. In the last four games the Lions have hit 28-of-70 from long range (40 percent), including 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from three against Stanford and 41.2 percent (7-for-17) at USC. The Lions have out-shot their last two opponents 46.3% to 43.3%, however, opponents have had 113 shot attempts to LMU's 97 due to turnovers. The Lions have committed 16.5 turnovers to opponent's 8.0 the last two games, leading to a 34-14 edge in points off turnovers.
THE LIONS REAL QUICK... Sophomore Evan Payne is third in the West Coast Conference (as of Dec. 19) at 21.7 points per contest, ranking 11th nationally. He has led the Lions in all nine games this season, and he had his 12th career 20-point game with a career-best 32 against NAU, giving him six 20-point games in the eight games played so far in 2014-15. He was the first player to score 22 or more in the first two games of the season since Jeff Fryer did it in November of 1989 with 23 against UNLV and 26 against Nevada. He also ranks 10th in free throw percentage and 8th in three-pointers made.. freshman Simon Krajcovic came off the bench to score a career-best 12 points and post the most assists by a freshman since 2002 with nine against UC Irvine on Nov. 29. He had no turnovers and did it in 18 minutes, adding four rebounds and two steals to go with 5-for-8 shooting. He was the only other Lion to lead the team in scoring, tying Payne with nine points at Arizona State. He is ranked 9th in the WCC in assists with 3.7 apg... The Lions have 39 blocks as a team, earning seven against USC and five against NAU. They are averaging 4.3 per game, tops in the WCC. Three Lions are in the top-10 within the WCC. Junior Marin Mornar equalled a career-high with five blocks against UC Riverside. He has 17 on the season and is averaging 1.9 per game, ranking second in the WCC. Patson Siame is ranked at fourth, averaging 1.0 per game, while Ayodeji Egbeyemi is 9th with 0.6 bpg... Mornar now has 63 blocks in his career, good for a tie at 12th all-time with Kevin Young (2008-10) and Tim Kennedy (1995-99). Senior Godwin Okonji had a block against NAU, and he now has 90 in his career, ranking 5th all-time... Siame is also ranked field goal percentage within the WCC, ranking 13th at 52.7 percent. He had his first double-digit rebounding performance with 10 against the Anteaters... The Lions 52.8 percent shooting in the opener was the best since hitting 55.4 percent against Northern Arizona on Nov. 17, 2013 and the 28.1 percent against ASU was the lowest since hitting 25 percent against seventh-ranked Gonzaga on Jan. 31, 2013... Okonji had his second career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Boise State. He has played in 104 career games, while fellow senior Ayodeji Egbeyemi played in his 100th game against Stanford... The Lions improved shooting from three is thanks to Payne and sophomore Matt Hayes. The duo have hit 18 and 16 three-pointers, respectively, hitting a 34 of the Lions' 50 three-pointers. Hayes, who missed two games due to shoulder injury, is 5th in the WCC with 2.3 three's per game and 13th with a 43.2 shooting percentage. Payne is 8th in the WCC with 2.0 three-pointers per game.
