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LOS ANGELES -- LMU hits the road for the first time in West Coast Conference play, heading south to take on San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 8 pm. The series between the two has been one of the most even in LMU's history with both teams winning 45 games. The 91st meeting between the Toreros (8-8, 1-3) and the Lions (4-11, 0-3) can be seen on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Comcast SportsNet-CA, ROOT Sports NW/Rocky Mountain and out of region on TheW.tv. All games can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
LMU hits the road for the first time in West Coast Conference play, heading south to take on San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 8 pm. The series between the two has been one of the most even in LMU's history with both teams winning 45 games. The 91st meeting between the Toreros (8-8, 1-3) and the Lions (4-11, 0-3) can be seen on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Comcast SportsNet-CA, ROOT Sports NW/Rocky Mountain and out of region on TheW.tv. All games can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
The Lions' record sits at 4-11 after falling to Pacific (77-63) and Saint Mary's (72-63) to start the new year. The homestand completed a gureling stretch of six games in 13 days. The Lions started the stretch with three games at the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22-25. The Lions fell to No. 11 Wichita State (80-53) and in overtime to Nebraska (50-42), and then ended the trip with a 72-69 win over DePaul. The Lions opened conference play on Monday with a set-back to rival Pepperdine before hosting the weekend set against the Tigers and Gaels. Sophomore Evan Payne scored 27 and 24 points, respectively, going on 16-for-31 from the field and 17-for-18 from the charity stripe. It was Payne's 8th and 9th 20-point game this season, making it number 14 and 15 of his career. He entered the week ranked second in the WCC at 20.5 ppg, good for 10th nationally.
THE LIONS REAL QUICK... Sophomore Evan Payne entered the week second in the West Coast Conference and 10th nationally (as of Jan. 4) in scoring and sits with 20.5 ppg after averaging 25.5 last week. He has led the Lions in 14 of the 15 games this season, and had a career-best 32 against NAU. In going a perfect 17-for-18 from the free throw in two games, Payne is 88-for-107 on the season. His 88 made free throws is 6th nationally and second in the WCC. He ranks 8th nationally in attempts and 8th in the WCC in percentage at 82.2... Senior Ayodeji Egbeyemi had his three best games of the season in Hawaii, scoring 13 against Wichita State, leading the Lions with a then season-high 16 points against Nebraska and concluding with a career-equalling 20 points against DePaul. He hit 6-for-12 from the field, 8-for-9 from the charity stripe and is second on the team with 9.0 ppg. He is 9th in the WCC in free throw percentage at 82.1... The Lions continue to be tough around the rim, ranking third in the WCC in blocked shots. They have 56 blocks as a team and are now averaging 3.7 per game. Junior Marin Mornar equalled a career-high with five blocks against UC Riverside. He has 23 on the season, an average of 1.53 per game, ranking second in the WCC. Mornar now has 69 blocks in his career, good for 9th all-time. Wyking Jones (1991-95) is eighth with 72. Senior Godwin Okonji 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 110 career games, while fellow senior Egbeyemi played in 106 - both in the top-30 all-time at LMU (16th and 29th).
Heading into the game against Saint Mary's, the Lions had made rebounding a foundation while struggled with turnovers. In the four games prior to the Gaels, the Lions held a +10.1 rebound margin. Against Nebraska, the Lions outrebounded the Huskers 40-22, including a 16-2 edge on the offensive glass. In the win over DePaul, they had a 35-22 edge. To start WCC play, they held a 34-27 edge on Pepperdine and a 25-22 edge on Pacific. Saint Mary's, who leads the WCC with a +9.9 rebound margin, held the 37-28 edge. In those four games, the Lions had a +41 edge on the glass, helping them to a 16-2 edge in second chance points against the Waves and a 10-5 advantage against the Tigers. SMC had a 21-6 edge on Saturday. As for turnovers, they have been LMU's achilles heal. In the eight games prior to SMC, the Lions committed 131 turnovers to their opponent's 84 (16.4 to 10.4 per game). On Saturday, the Lions committed a season-low six turnovers. Including that season low, the Lions have committed 137 turnovers to their opponent's 93 in the last nine games, equating to a 157 to 108 edge in points off turnovers for LMU's opponents.
THE SERIES: This will be the 91st meeting between LMU and San Diego. The series is tied at 45-45 and they have split the last 12 meetings, including last year's series. The Lions claimed a 65-62 win at home on Dec. 30 and then nearly a year ago, fell to the Toreros, 74-67, on Jan. 9, 2014 in San Diego. How close has the series been in the last 12? The Lions have scored 797 points to 788 for the Toreros, an average of 66.41 to 65.67, a margin of 0.74. They are also similar in 2014-15. Like the Lions, San Diego has one player in double figures scoring, all-time leading scorer Johnny Dee at 18.1 ppg. Dee set the USD record with 1,808 points in a 59-56 setback to Santa Clara last Saturday, scoring 20 points. He is fourth in the WCC this season and leads the league with 3.1 three-pointers per game, hitting 50-for-116. The Toreros are 8-8 on the season and 1-3 in the WCC, falling to Portland (at the buzzer) and Gonzaga at home, then defeating USF (57-56) on Jan. 1 before falling to the Broncos.
Senior Leadership: The Lions, with 11 newcomers on the roster, lean heavily on an experienced trio of seniors. Both Godwin Okonji and Ayodeji Egbeyemi are coming off medical redshirt seasons and are in their fifth season in 2014-15. The two have played in 110 and 106 games, respectively, at LMU, ranking 16th and 29th all-time in program history. Both were expected to be mainstays in the starting line-up a year ago before their medical redshirts and enter the game against Pepperdine with a combined 157 starts among them. Joining them is senior Chase Flint. He, along with Egbeyemi, have already earned their Bachelor degrees and both are in master programs at LMU. Egbeyemi is the MBA program while Flint is in the Elementary Education program.
THE VOICE: Ayodeji Egbeyemi has become the Lions' captain and voice on the floor, and the three games in Hawaii saw him show that in numbers. He averaged 16.3 ppg, hitting 50 percent from the field and 87.5 percent from the free throw line. Egbeyemi has seven double-digit scoring games this season and enters Thursday averaging 9.0 ppg. He is shooting 82.1 percent from the charity stripe on the season. He is ranked 9th in the WCC. He is second on the team with 27.7 minutes per contest after going for 32.0 mpg in Hawaii. The only person logging more minutes than that during the three Diamond Head Classic games was fellow senior Godwin Okonji. He scored 13 points and five rebounds in the win over DePaul and now leads the Lions with 5.9 rebounds per contest, ranking 12th in the WCC. His 36 offensive rebounds is 4th in the WCC at 2.56 orpg. He also has three blocks, giving him 90 in his career. The total is fifth all-time in LMU history, two behind Ime Oduok's 92.
The other two returning players from the Lions' roster last year are having a big impact, as mentioned earlier. Sophomore Evan Payne has put up the points, running his career total to 804 in 47 games (17.1 ppg in his career). His 20.5 ppg trails only BYU's Tyler Haws (21.6 ppg) in the WCC. He is also 7th in the WCC in field goal percentage (48.0), second in free throw attempts (107), second in free throws made (88), 8th in free throw percentage (82.2), third in field goal attempts (204), third in field goals made (98), and second in total points (307). Fellow returner junior Marin Mornar has also been improving on his career numbers. He leads the Lions with 58.9 percent shooting from the field, scoring 7.5 points per game. He has a block in 12 of the Lions' 15 games and his 23 blocks is second in the WCC and 81st in the nation. He had 11 points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks against Pepperdine. He had 9 points and a block against SMC.
THE NEWCOMERS: With so many new faces, the Lions will rely on its youth to step-up throughout the season. And they have. Here is a look at some of the highlights from newcomers through six games... Patson Siame, in his first season after a year off to establish residency in 2013-14, is fourth in the WCC in blocks with 16, adding 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. He had 11 points, six rebounds and a block against Pepperdine and the 10 points and two blocks against Pacific. He then had a career-best three blocks with seven points against Saint Mary's... Freshman Simon Krajcovic did not play the first two games, but in game three came off the bench to lead the Lions with nine points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals against Arizona State. Against UCI, he had 12 points with nine assists, no turnovers, four rebounds and two steals in just 18 minutes. It was the most assists by a freshman since Wes Wardrop had nine his rookie season in 2002. Krajcovic leads the Lions with 2.8 assists per contest, dishing out 36 in 13 games... junior transfer David Humphries had his best game as a Lion with 10 points against the Gaels, hitting all four of his shots, including a pair of three-pointers.
