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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Lions' two-game road swing of the Bay Area turns it's attention to the location of Super Bowl 50. LMU men's basketball (8-9, 1-5) heads to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos (7-12, 3-4) on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 8 pm. Both WCC rivals are coming off big wins, with the Lions starting the road trip with an 87-83 win over USF and the Broncos claiming a 62-60 win over Pepperdine. The game will be broadcast by Comcast SportsNet-Bay Area and can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
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THE MATCH-UP
This will be the 146th all-time meeting between LMU and Santa Clara. Tempo will once again be featured in this Bay Area match-up. However, unlike Thursday's tilt, this one will feature teams will similar motives this season. The two are right next to each other in the conference rankings in terms of scoring offense and scoring defense. The Lions average 70.6 ppg while the Broncos 65.6. On the defensive side, the Broncos hold teams to 69.8 ppg while the Lions 73.2 ppg. In addition, they both like to take care of the ball. Santa Clara had only three turnovers in the win over Pepperdine and average just 12.1 per game on the season. The Lions, who continue to lead the league with a turnover margin of +3.1, average 11.9 turnovers per game. They rank third and fourth, respectively, in the WCC. The Broncos swept the series a year ago, including a win in the opening round of the WCC tournament. The game will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet-Bay Area and will also be aired on ROOT Sports Northwest, ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain and out-of-market on TheW.tv.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
LMU continues to lead the league in turnover margin at +3.1, ranking second in the WCC in creating 15.1 turnovers a game by their opponent while turning the ball over just 11.9 times per game, third in the WCC. The Lions are also tops in the league in offensive rebounds at 12.5 per game, second in free throw shooting at 72.7 percent and second in the league in steals at 7.1.
Senior David Humphries posted a career-best 20 points on Thursday, hitting 6-for-11 from the field, going 6-for-10 from three. He is the third Lion on the season to hit at least six three-pointers in a game. Prior to this season, three Lions had done it in 20 years. 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 was tied for the most in the last 20 years. That lasted less than a month. Sophomore Steven Haney Jr. knocked down 7-for-12 in scoring a career-high 26 points in the win over Cal State Fullerton. Prior to this season, 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.
The Lions improved to 8-1 on the season when scoring more than 70 points with the 87-83 win on Thursday. LMU entered the game averaging just 58.6 points in the first five conference games. The 87 total points is a season-high, as was the Lions' 48 points in the second half against the Dons. The Lions shot 50 percent in the half (15-for-30) and finished the game hitting 12-for-27 from three. In non-conference, the Lions went six straight games with at least eight three-pointers, the best such stretch in program history. They improved to 6-2 on the season when hitting at least eight in a game.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions picked up their first win of conference, claiming an 87-83 road win over San Francisco on Thursday. They were a perfect 5-0 in non-conference with a 77-60 win over Jacksonville State to close non-conference play on Dec. 18 at Gersten Pavilion. They are 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the WCC.
War Memorial (now The Sobrato Center) hasn't been the kindest of places to play for WCC opponents in it's storied history, including the Dons picking up back-to-back national titles (1955, `56) under LMU alum Phil Wolpert. The Lions 87-83 win on Thursday gave Head Coach Mike Dunlap and his Lions back-to-back wins in San Francisco, just the fourth time in program history. They last did it in 2005 and 2006. Other "runs" in War Memorial came with a three-game streak in 1990-92, a pair of win in 1970 and 1971 and a four-game run in the Lions' first WCC title run, 1959 through the 1962 season.
A deep bench has been a key to the Lions this season. 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 feature a full rotation, and entering WCC play, the Lions depth has been a factor. In the win over USF, the Lions equalled a season-best 48 points from their bench, getting a team-high 20 from senior David Humphries and 11 from sophomore Joshua Spiers. The Australian duo hit nine of the Lions' 12 three-pointes. The Lions have featured seven different starting line-ups this season and have played at least 10 players in every game this season except for one (at CSUF, playing nine). The Lions have played all 12 scholarship players seven of the 17 games. Humphries has come off the bench to average 16 points the last two games. He is now 18-for-44 from three on the season (40.9 percent), ranking 12th in the WCC.
More on depth: All 10 players scored at least three points on Thursday. The Lions went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 38 seconds. Freshman Munis Tutu was huge, hitting all four of his attempts, playing the final 3:38 at the point after starter Brandon Brown picked up his fifth foul. Shamar Johnson knocked down the other two. It was just his 21st and 22nd attempt on the season while it was 24 and 25 for Tutu. Tutu finished with the four points adding six assists and just two turnovers in 13 minutes.
