Dec. 24, 2014 BUY TICKETS | This is LMU Basketball | We Are LMU... | LMU on Facebook | LMU on Twitter
HONOLULU -- LMU men's basketball will conclude play in 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with an early morning Christmas match-up against DePaul at the Stan Sherriff Center. Game time is set for 10:30 am PT/8:30 am Christmas morning. DePaul (6-6; RPI 242) fell to host Colorado, 82-68, and Ohio, 99-78, while the Lions fell to No. 11 Wichita State, 80-53, and then Nebraska, 50-42, in overtime. The game can be seen on ESPN3 and heard on KXLU 88.9 FM. It is the final non-conference match-up before West Coast Conference play begins against Pepperdine on Dec. 29.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC
The 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic concludes on Thursday, Dec. 25, with the Lions taking on DePaul in seventh place game at 8:30 am HT, followed by Ohio taking on Nebraska in the fifth place game at 11:00 am HT. The third place game features host Hawaii taking on Colorado at 1:30 pm HT. The title game features No. 11 Wichita State taking on George Washington at 3:30 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 Diamond Head Classic. In the 2005 tournament, the Lions fell to Hawaii in the opener 66-63, Western Michigan, 62-61, and then to South Florida, 54-50. The Lions will face DePaul for the seventh time in program history. The first meeting came on Jan. 25, 1965 and the second exactly a year later. The Lions traveled to Chicago both times, falling 84-60 and winning in the other, 82-77. The Blue Demons, a member of the Big East Conference, has won the last four meetings, including a 115-111 win over the Lions on Dec. 23, 1988 in the Old Spice Classic in Chicago, Ill., and a 122-108 win three weeks later on DePaul's home floor. The last meeting came on Jan. 2, 1993 with DePaul earning a 71-70 win. Tom Kleindschmidt led the Blue Demons with 23 points and Chris Hill had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Zan Mason led the Lions with 18 points and Robin Kirksey had 10 points, six rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions' record sits at 3-8 after falling to Nebraska in overtime, 50-42. The 50 points is the fewest allowed by the Lions since 49 by Seattle on Jan. 1, 2009. LMU's 42 points is the fewest since scoring 39 at Portland on Jan. 21, 2010. The score was tied at 35-35 after regulation. It is the lowest combined regulation score since the Lions defeated San Diego State 28-27 in the 1947-48 season. The 35 points is the lowest in regulation scored by the Lions since scoring 31 in a setback to UC Santa Barbara in the 1949-50 season and the 35 points allowed in regulation is the lowest since the Lions defeated San Diego 69-31 on Jan. 30, 1962. The Lions allowed Nebraska to score just 14 second half points, the lowest scoring half by an opponent since the Lions joined the West Coast Conference in 1957-58 (records can't be verified prior). The Lions scored 16 points in the first half, their lowest since scoring 14 in the second half of that game against Seattle in 2009. The Lions allowed Nebraska just four field goals in the second half, the lowest in at least 20 years (can't verify record prior).
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 19.7 ppg after scoring under 10 points for just the second time on the season against Nebraska. He played 22 minutes with muscle cramps in the overtime game. He has led the Lions in 10 of the 11 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... Senior Ayodeji Egbeyemi has had his two best games of the season in Hawaii, scoring 13 against Wichita State and then leading the Lions with a season-high 16 points against Nebraska. He is second on the team with 9.1 ppg... 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. Entering the week he is ranked 9th in the WCC in assists... 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 4.0 per game after going without a block for the first time on the season agaisnt the Huskers. 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 NAU on Nov. 17, 2013 and the 28.0 percent against Nebraska 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 106 career games, while fellow senior Ayodeji Egbeyemi played in his 102nd game... Against Nebraska, the Lions outrebounded the Huskers 40-22, including a 16-2 edge on the offensive glass. It balanced the turnover edge for NU, who forced the Lions into 20 turnovers to just 13 for them. In the last five games, the Lions have committed 85 turnovers to their opponent's 51, that is 17.0 to 10.2 per game. It has led to a 93-53 edge in points off turnovers. In the game against Nebraska, neither team could not make the best of their advantage, as the Lions held just a 4-0 edge in second chance points and both teams scored 10 points off turnovers.
