Feb. 17, 2015 BUY TICKETS | This is LMU Basketball | We Are LMU... | LMU on Facebook | LMU on Twitter
LOS ANGELES -- LMU will play the final two-game homestand of the 2014-15 season, starting with the 150th all-time meeting against San Francisco on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 8 pm. Just a half a game separates the Lions (8-19, 4-11) and the Dons (10-16, 4-10) in the WCC standings. The game can be seen on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, and Comcast SportsNet+. The game will also be on TheW.tv out-of-region and it can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
GAMEDAY
The final home stand of the 2014-15 season will be a busy one for LMU men's basketball. It starts on Thursday against San Francisco. It is Partner Appreciation and Career Development Services night as the Lions thank its many partners for the 2014-15 season. It is also LMU Family of Schools and OTIS College Night at the Game. Hafltime will include the Muscle Milk Three-Point shootout contest, with the winner moving to shoot for a chance to meet Golden State Warriors All-Star Steph Curry. Then on Saturday, Feb. 21 the Lions will celebrate Senior Day. The Lions will honor seniors Ayodeji Egbeyemi, Chase Flint and Godwin Okonji, along with senior manager Quan Ngo. It is the 2015 Hall of Fame Game, as the Lions will honor the 2015 Induction class to the Lions' Hall of Fame. The class will be inducted earlier in the day at the Hall of Fame Brunch. Also at halftime as part of the Hall of Fame festivities, LMU will honor the 25th anniversary of the 1989-90 men's basketball team and their run to the NCAA Elite Eight. Singing the national anthem will be LMU alum Dean Smith (`84/'87). Smith was the regular national anthem singer during the record-setting season. Recent alums can celebrate the day with a special Return to the ROAR ticket. Special pricing is available for LMU alums. The Hall of Fame festivities will conclude with the LMU baseball game at Page Stadium against St. Joseph's. The game starts at 6 pm and Hall of Fame inductees Billy Traber and Scott Walter will throw out the first pitch. For more information or to buy tickets, visit LMULions.com/Tickets.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions' record sits at 8-19 and 4-11 in the WCC after dropping a pair of games in the Pacific Northwest road trip. Junior David Humphries led the Lions with 11 points in the setback at Gonzaga and then had eight points, eight rebounds, six assists, a block and a steal against Portland. Humphries has averaged 9.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 60 percent three-point shooting the last four games. Against the Pilots, sophomore Evan Payne scored 14 points in the final 56 seconds to help the Lions nearly erase that entire 14-point second half deficit, giving them a chance at the buzzer. Payne finished with 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, hitting all three of his three three-pointers in the final minute. It was his 16th career game with 20 or more points, ninth of the season; running his career total to 954 points in 58 games (16.4 ppg in his career).
Junior Marin Mornar had his third double-double of the season (all in WCC play) with 23 points and equalled a career-best with 11 rebounds against Pacific. He has set career-highs in five of the last 11 games thanks to his 27 points and nine rebounds against San Diego. He went for 16 and 8 rebounds at BYU (Jan. 10), 21 and 10 vs. Portland (Jan. 15), 22 and 11 at SCU (Jan. 22), 23 points and 11 rebounds at Pacific (Jan. 31), and then the game against USD last Thursday. In the 15 WCC games, he is 16th in scoring (12.9), 5th in rebounds (6.8), 6th in offensive rebounds (2.7 orpg), 8th in defensive rebounds (4.1 drpg), 8th in field goal percentage (51.1%), 12th in free throw percentage (80.0%) and 2nd in blocks (1.6 bpg).
Junior transfer David Humphries had his best game as a Lion with 14 points, five assists, two rebounds, a steal on 4-for-7 three-point shooting in 44 minutes against Pacific. He followed that with an all-around performance in the win over USD, playing in 39 minutes he had nine points, six assists, no turnovers, four rebounds, two steals and a block. He missed a double-double by one rebound against BYU, going for 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes against BYU. In the 15 WCC games, he ranks 4th in 3-point percentage (51.1%) and 10th in three-pointers per game (1.5). Overall in the 27 games, he is ranked 8th in the WCC at 42.3 percent from three (30-for-71).
Senior Godwin Okonji leads the WCC with 78 offensive rebounds (3.0 per game). He led the Lions with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals against Saint Mary's, and came back with 11 points and seven rebounds (five offensive) against Pacific. He is ranked 10th in the conference in rebounding overall at 5.8 rpg and 6th with 35 steals (1.3 spg). He has 147 rebounds this season, giving him 590 in his career. He is the 27th Lion to top 500 rebounds in a career, currently ranking 17th all-time at LMU. He has 99 steals in his career, cracking the top-30 all-time at LMU, ranking 25th.
Ayodeji Egbeyemi has become the Lions' captain and voice on the floor, and he continues to show why. Egbeyemi has 11 double-digit scoring games this season, including his career-best 22 against Portland. He is averaging 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.38 assists while shooting 39.4 percent from three and 79.5 from the free throw line. In the 12 WCC games he has played in, his 52.2 percentage from the three-point line (12-for-23) is ranked fourth. He played just 11 minutes at Saint Mary's due to a quad injury to his right leg. He did not play the last three games, but returned to the starting line-up on Thursday against Gonzaga. He had seven points in each game last week, playing 23 and 21 minutes. He remains a game-time decision this week.
Senior Chase Flint had a career-best 10 assists in the overtime win at Pacific and went for nine assists and no turnovers at USF. He is second in the WCC overall with a 2.72 assist-to-turnover ratio. He re-entered the starting line-up on Jan. 8 and has 76 of his 98 assists this season in WCC play. He has just 34 turnovers on the season. In the 14 conference games, he is ranked fourth in the WCC at 5.1 assists per game. His 3.63 assists per game overall is ranked 9th. He also has 33 assists this season, ranked ranked 9th at 1.2 steals per game. His nine assists and no turnovers matched freshman Simon Krajcovic's performance from Nov. 29. The freshman added 12 points in just 18 minutes agasint UC Irvine. He was averaging 2.12 assists per game and 0.76 steals per game before suffering knee injury at Pacific . He will not play this week.
THE SERIES
This will be the 150th meeting between LMU and San Francisco, and while the series edge is overwhelming in favor of the Dons, the recent history has not been for the faint of heart. Since 2001, this will be the 12th meeting between the two. Of the 11 previous meetings, seven have been decided by one possession, two have gone to overtime and four have been decided by a shot with under a two seconds remaining. USF holds a 7-4 edge in that time span with the Lions getting the first in the series this seaosn. Sophomore Evan Payne added to the recent drama of the series between LMU and San Francisco as he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored off the glass at the buzzer to lift the Lions to a 70-69 come-from-behind victory.
