Dec. 17, 2015 LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Still a week away from Christmas, LMU men's basketball will wrap-up non-conference play as early as it ever has when they host Jacksonville State on Friday, Dec. 18 at 6 pm. The game is Military Appreciation Night as military personnel get two free tickets to the game. The Lions (6-4) will host a school from the state of Alabama for just the second time in school history. The Gamecocks (3-9) are from Jacksonville, Ala.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
• The Lions have played a school from the state of Alabama just four times in its history and Jacksonville State's trip to Gesten Pavilion will be just the second by a school from the state of Alabama... One of the Lions more famous games came against the University of Alabama, a 62-60 win in the NCAA West Regionals to advance to the Elite Eight on Mar. 23, 1990... The Gamecocks are 3-9 on the season, dropping their last four contests, including a 63-60 home setback to Alabama State on Dec. 13... Malcolm Drumwright leads the team with 15.1 ppg while Erik Durham has hit 27 three-pointers to average 13.4 ppg... The Gamecocks football team is in the FCS National Semifinals on Saturday.
GAMEDAY
• During the stretch of home games this holiday season, LMU Athletics and the LAX Community Relations Division have partnered to help support the Bob Hope USO. During every game throughout the holiday season, fans are asked to donate new, travel-sized personal care items for our military. Such items include toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, sunscreen, shaving cream and shampoo. Collection bins will be located in the lobby of Gersten Pavilion at all men's and women's basketball home games through Dec. 23. The Lions return home to finish non-conference play on Military Appreciation Night, Friday, Dec. 18 at 6 pm against Jacksonville State. Military Personnel get two free tickets to the game. Contact the LMU Ticket office for more information.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• As of Dec. 15, LMU leads the West Coast Conference in free throw shooting, ranking 14th in the nation at 76.3 percent... The Lions also lead the WCC in turnover margin at +4.20, ranking 25th in the nation.. and 58th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.32...They lead the league and rank 41st in the nation forcing 16.1 turnovers per game, while ranking second in the WCC in steals per game and 49th nationally at 8.1 per game... the 81 total steals is 37th nationally... The Lions are ranked third in the WCC in assists with 15.7 per game... LMU also leads the league in offensive rebounds at 13.1 per game... Junior Brandon Brown is 26th at 6.0 apg, ranking fifth in the WCC, while sitting 21st nationally in total assists with 60... Steven Haney leads the WCC and is 65th nationally with 2.8 three-pointers per game, 18th nationally in three-point attempts with 79 and 51st in total three-pointers made at 28.0...
INSIDE THE LIONS
• The Lions remained at perfect at home (4-0) with a 77-76 win over UC Riverside on Dec. 6 and then split a pair of games on the road. They fell at Boise State, 67-66, then recovered for an 82-70 win at Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 12. They enter Friday's game at 6-4 on the season... Steven Haney Jr. led the Lions in the win over the Titans, going for a career-best 26 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the three-point line. A quick look at the records, it is the most since Jeff Fryer's record 11 in the NCAA Tournament against Michigan. Haney is a native of Lansing, Mich., and leads the WCC with 2.8 three-pointers per game... The one-game home game will be a quick one as the Lions continue their stretch of games away from home, playing seven of nine games on the road. The single-game pit-stops were at home Dec. 6 against UC Riverside and Friday against Jacksonville State... The Lions are coming off finals week and will begin conference at Portland on Dec. 21 and then Gonzaga on Dec. 23... Heading into Dec. 18, the Lions' four setbacks have come to teams with a record of 26-14.
• The Lions feature a 15-man roster, and as the season began nine of them were not in an LMU uniform in 2014-15. With the new-look roster, the Lions will feature a full rotation, and nine games in their depth has been a factor. The Lions have played at least 10 players in every game this season except for last Saturday against CSUF, playing nine. The Lions have played all 12 scholarship players four of the 10 games. The Lions had five players score in double figures in the first road win of the season at SEMO and then they had six go for double digits in the 77-76 win over UC Riverside. In the win over the Titans, the Lions bench was huge. They finished with 33 points from the bench, including a season-best 20 from Marin Mornar and a career-best 12 points from Petr Herman... The Lions have also been distributing the ball of late as they get used to playing with each other. In the last seven games (5-2 record in that span), the Lions have averaged 17.7 assists per game. They are second in the WCC with a 1.32 assist-to-turnover ratio and are ranked third overall with 15.7 assists per contest. They had 21 against the Titans, the most against an NCAA Division I team this season.
• Ball handling has been a key for the Lions this season. The Lions finished with just 11 turnovers at Cal State Fullerton, the sixth game this season with less than a dozen. On the season, the Lions lead the WCC and rank 25th in the nation with a +4.42 turnover margin. The Lions force a league leading 15.7 turnovers while only turning the ball over 11.9 times per game, second in the WCC. The Lions' aggressive defense so far this season has equated to 171 points, scoring 22 against the Titans.
• The Lions finished the win at SEMO 10-for-31 from three, 8-for-26 against Oregon State, and then 9-for-22 against UC Riverside, giving them six straight games with eight or more three-pointers. That streak was snapped against Boise State, hitting 7-for-20. It is the longest streak of eight or more since the Lions went seven straight games in the 1997-98 season. It is the longest stretch of eight or more in program history. They bounced back thanks to Steven Haney's seven three-pointers, finishing with 10 as a team. The Lions are third in the WCC with 7.9 three-pointers per game.
