Dec. 8, 2015 LOS ANGELES, Calif. -LMU men's basketball and their stretch of seven out of nine games on the road takes them north as the Lions (5-3) will take on Boise State (5-4) on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 6 pm. Three games remain in non-conference play for the Lions, who will face the Broncos the seventh time since 1998. The game can be seen on the Mountain West Network and can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
This will be the seventh meeting in the series between LMU and Boise State, all coming since 1998. The first meeting was at Gersten Pavilion and saw the Broncos earn a 93-86 win. Boise State leads the series 4-2... The teams met last season in the second game of the LMU Classic, which opened the 2014-15 campaign. The Broncos pulled away down the stretch for a 77-69 victory. The game featured 10 lead changes and 10 ties, and in the end the experienced Broncos used a 12-0 late run to claim the win. Marin Mornar had 13 points. It was eight three-pointers that was the difference for Boise State. Nick Duncan scored all 15 of his points from the three-point line (5-for-9)... The Broncos are coming off an 81-781 win at Portland on Sunday. Boise State used a 12-2 run in the final 3:52 to claim the road win. The game was the last road game of December for the Broncos, who open a five-game home stand Wednesday against LMU. Boise State's next road game is January 5 at Utah State.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
As of Dec. 6, LMU enters the week ranked 8th nationally and the best in the WCC from the charity stripe at 77.9 percent... The Lions lead the WCC with a +4.88 turnover margin, ranking 19th nationally. The Lions force teams into 16.88 turnovers per game (best in the WCC) while ranking second with just 12.0 turnovers themselves. They are ranked 25th nationally and the best in the WCC in forcing turnovers... The Lions are the best in the WCC and 16th nationally in steals per game and rank 14th nationally in total steals with 75... The Lions had 13 offensive rebounds against UC Riverside, giving them 109 on the season, leading the WCC with 13.6 offensive rebounds a game. The Lions improved to 4-0 on the season when they have more second chance points than their opponent... LMU erased a 10-point deficit against UC Riverside and won for the first time this season (1-2) when trailing at halftime... Brandon Brown's 48 assists is ranked 21st nationally and his 6.0 apg is ranked 28th (5th in the WCC).
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions remained at perfect at home (4-0) and improved to 5-3 on the season with a 77-76 win over UC Riverside on Sunday. The Lions continue their stretch of games away from home, playing seven of nine games on the road. The single-game pit-stops at home are Dec. 6 against UC Riverside and Dec. 18 against Jacksonville State... Following the trip to Boise State, the Lions return a trip to Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 12. The Lions will then break for finals and then end the non-conference portion of their schedule at home on Dec. 18 against Jacksonville State... Heading into Dec. 9 against Boise St., the Lions' opponents in non-conference are a combined 38-37 on the season with the three setbacks coming to teams with a record of 17-7.
As the season began, the Lions feature a 15-man roster, and 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 eight games in their depth has been a factor. The Lions have played at least 10 players in every game this season, playing all 12 scholarship players four of the eight 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... The Lions have also been distribiting the ball of late as they get used to playing with each other. In the last five games (4-1 record in that span), the Lions have averaged 18.4 assists per game. They are second in the WCC with a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio and are ranked third overall with 15.8 assists per contest. They had 20 at Oregon State and 18 in the win over UC Riverside.
Ball handling has been a key for the Lions this season. The Lions finished with just 11 turnovers while creating 16 for Oregon State on 10 steals. On the season, the Lions lead the WCC and rank 19th in the nation with a +4.88 turnover margin. The Lions force a league leading 16.9 turnovers while only turning the ball over 12.0 times per game, second in the WCC. The Lions' aggressive defense so far this season has equated to 133 points.
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. 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. The Lions are third in the WCC with 8.0 three-pointers per game.
Sophomore Joshua Spiers erupted for a career-best 24 points, hitting 6-of-10 three-pointers, to lead the Lions in overtime against CSUN. His six three-pointers against CSUN on Nov. 25 is tied for the most in the last 20 years. Junior Matt Hayes hit six three-pointers a year ago against Santa Clara (Feb. 21, 2015), going for his career-best 20. Adoyah Miller also hit six three pointers in a double-overtime win against Boise State on Dec. 19, 2006. As a freshman, Spiers had 25 points and six three-pointers for the season.
Adom Jacko's 22 points and 10 rebound effort in the opener is the first double-double by an LMU player in his first game as a Lion against an NCAA Division I program in 35 years. Senior Marin Mornar had 13 and 11 against Pacifica on Nov. 9, 2012. In addition, the 22 points were the most by a Lions' player in his first game since Larry Davis had 22 against Boise State on Nov. 13, 2009. Brandon Worthy had a 24-point effort against Loyola Chicago on Nov. 22, 2002 for the best scoring game by a Lion his first collegiate game (freshman). Jacko is ninth in the WCC in scoring at 14.5 ppg and 10th in field goal percentage at 55.4.
LMU is hitting 77.9 percent from the free throw line, a good six percent better than the next best team in the WCC. They finished 14-for-18 against the Highlanders. However, you wouldn't have known it against Oregon State. The Lions managed just two free throw attempts, missing both attempts on the front-end of one-and-ones. Looking back 50 years, it appears this is the second time the Lions have gone with out a free throw made in program history. The other came on Nov 26, 1982 when the Lions went 0-for-1 against Idaho at the Fresno State Tournament.
Senior Marin Mornar was second in the WCC in blocks a year ago, finishing with 47 as a junior to rank 5th all-time for blocks in a season. He is back at it to start his senior season. He had three in the opener against the Titans and added five more since to move to third all-time with 101 blocks. The only four-year senior on the roster, he played in his 91st game against SEMO.
