Dec. 23, 2014 BUY TICKETS | This is LMU Basketball | We Are LMU... | LMU on Facebook | LMU on Twitter
HONOLULU -- LMU men's basketball continues play in the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 23 when they take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Game time is set for 8:30 pm PT/6:30 pm HT. The Huskers (6-4; RPI 113) fell to host Hawaii, 66-58, while the Lions fell to No. 11 Wichita State, 80-53. The game can be seen on ESPNU and heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
Due to technical difficulties, there was no broadcast on KXLU 88.9 FM for the LMU-Wichita State game. Every effort is being made to resolve the issues and have the game against Nebraska on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC
The 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic continues on Tuesday with the opening game featuring Ohio University taking on De Paul at 11:30 am PT/9:30 am HT, followed by Colorado facing George Washington at 1:30 pm PT/11:30 am HT. George Washington defeated Ohio 77-49, and Colorado knocked off DePaul, 82-68. The evening session will begin with the Shockers facing Hawaii at 6:00 pm PT/4:00 pm HT.
AGAINST THE FIELD
LMU played in the 1980 and the 2005 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classics, which would eventually become a joint venture with ESPN in 2009 called the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. In the 2005 tournament, 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 Nebraska for the second time in program history on Tuesday, and the game will pit long-time friends in LMU Head Coach Mike Dunlap and Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles. The only meeting between the Big Ten's Huskers and the Lions came in 1980 (when Nebraska was a member of the Big 8) at the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City on Dec. 12, 1980. Nebraska earned the 67-66 win. The Lions played Oklahoma State the following night, and fell 87-81.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions' record sits at 3-7 overall after falling to 11th ranked Wichita State on Monday. The Lions are in the midst of a six-game road swing, playing the previous three of the tour in true road games. The match-up with the Huskers will be the fourth opponent on the season against a member of the Big Five conferences, including Stanford, USC and Arizona State - all on the road. The match-up with Stanford was the last match-up before the Diamond Head Classic, and 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. Before going 0-for-5 from three against the Shockers, the Lions had seen their outside shooting on the rise. In the previous 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 three opponents 46.8% to 44.2%, however, opponents have had 169 shot attempts to LMU's 135 due to turnovers and offensive rebounds. LMU outshot Wichita State, 47.4 percent to 46.4 percent, but the Shockers went 26-for-56 from the field while the Lions went 18-for-38. The Shockers had a 17-8 edge in offensive rebounds, leading to a 22-8 edge in second chance points. And turnovers continue to haunt the Lions, who committed 16 to Wichita State's 9, leading to a 29-9 edge in points off turnovers. In the last three games, The Lions have committed 16.25 turnovers to opponent's 8.3 the last two games, leading to a 63-23 edge in points off turnovers.
THE LIONS REAL QUICK... Sophomore Evan Payne entered the week third in the West Coast Conference and 11th nationally (as of Dec. 19) in scoring and sits with 21.0 ppg after 15 on Monday. He has led the Lions in all 10 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 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 entering the week and is averaging with 3.5 apg after two on Monday... The Lions continue to lead the WCC in blocked shots and had five against Wichita State on Monday. They have 44 blocks as a team and are now averaging 4.4 per game. Three Lions ranked in the top-10 within the WCC. Junior Marin Mornar equalled a career-high with five blocks against UC Riverside. He had two more on Monday and has 19 on the season and is averaging 1.9 per game, ranking second in the WCC. Patson Siame ranked at fourth, is averaging 1.0 per game, while Ayodeji Egbeyemi is 9th with 0.7 bpg... Mornar now has 65 blocks in his career, good for 12th all-time , one behind Robin Kirksey (1991-95), Mike Yoest (1984-88) and Hank Gathers (1987-90) for 9th all-time. Senior Godwin Okonji had a block against the Shockers, and he now has 91 in his career, ranking 5th all-time and one behind Ime Oduok (1993-96)... 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 105 career games, while fellow senior Ayodeji Egbeyemi played in his 101st game... 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.
