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LOS ANGELES - The 2016 LMU Homecoming Game will be this Saturday, Jan. 23 as the Lions (9-10, 2-6) will take on San Diego (6-12, 1-6) at 3 pm. The day will start with the annual LMU Alumni Association Tailgate Party in Alumni Mall at 1 pm. The game will be broadcast by Time Warner Cable SportsNet and can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
LMU will host San Diego to wrap-up the first half of West Coast Conference action on Saturday. The all-time series is even at 45-45. The 91st meeting will be the 2016 LMU Homecoming Game and will feature the annual tailgate party at 1 pm. LMU will wear their Crimson Uniforms for the match-up and the teams will switch roles when they return the game in San Diego in one week. The Lions have won the last two meetings at Gersten Pavilion, including the last meeting on Feb. 5, 2015 (70-61).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
LMU continues to lead the league in turnover margin at +2.5, ranking second in the WCC in creating 14.6 turnovers a game by their opponent while turning the ball over just 12.1 times per game, third in the WCC. The Lions are also tops in the league in offensive rebounds at 12.4 per game (tied with USF), second in free throw shooting at 73.0 percent and second in the league in steals at 7.2. The Lions, who had 22 assists Thursday, are third in the league at 15.7 per game and third in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.3.
Junior Adom Jacko had his fifth double-double of the season with a career-best 26 points and 12 rebounds on Thursday against BYU. He finished the game hitting 11-for-12 from the field, good for a .916 shooting percentage. The effort ties the LMU program record for shooting in a game. Victor Lazzaretti with 11-for-12 against Pepperdine on Feb. 25, 1987 and Mike Yoest did it against Marquette on Jan. 6, 1988. Jacko is fifth in the WCC with his five double-doubles and moved to seventh in the conference with a shooting percentage of 54.6. He is also 10th in scoring at 14.8, ninth in rebounds at 6.6 and third in offensive rebounds at 2.8. Jacko's first double-double, a 22-point and 10-rebound effort in the season opener, was the first double-double by an LMU player in his first game as a Lion against an NCAA Division I program in 35 years.
Offensive rebounding was a big catalyst last Saturday in the win over Santa Clara. The Lions out-rebounded the Broncos 38-23 and held a 21-3 edge in second chance points. The Lions had 14 offensive rebounds and improved to 7-1 on the season when they have more second chance points than their opponent. Shamar Johnson had five offensive rebounds and is ranked 10th in the WCC with 2.0 orpg. Adom Jacko is 3rd with 2.8 orpg. On Thursday, BYU out-rebounded the Lions 42-32.
Free throw shooting was another factor as the Lions missed just three free throws in 32 attempts. They went 17-for-19 against the Dons, hitting all six in the final 30 seconds to win the game. Against Santa Clara, they went 12-for-13, going 7-for-8 in the final two minutes to keep the Broncos from staging a come-back. Freshman Munis Tutu went 8-for-8 on the week, hitting all four of his attempts in the final 20 seconds against USF. On Thursday, the Lions were just 7-for-12 from the free throw line while BYU was 14-for-20.
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 CSUF. Prior to this season, Matt Hayes hit six three-pointers a year ago against Santa Clara (Feb. 21, 2015) and Adoyah Miller hit six three pointers against Boise State on Dec. 19, 2006.
The Lions are 9-2 on the season when scoring more than 70 points with the 87-83 win on Thursday and then a 76-66 win over the Broncos to complete the Bay Area sweep. The 91-80 setback to BYU was just the second time the Lions didn't win a game when over 70 points... In the last three games, the Lions have averaged 81.0 ppg and the 87 total points against USF is a season-high.The Lions finished the game hitting 12-for-27 from three and followed that with a 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) effort from long range against the Broncos. They went double-digits again, hitting 11-for-22 against BYU, going 9-for-13 in the first half... The Lions scored 50 points in the first half against BYU, the first time the LIons have scored 50 or more points in the first half against a Division I team in nearly 24 years. They scored 54 first half points at Cal State Northridge in an eventual 102-95 loss on Feb. 18, 1992. The last time the Lions scored 50 in the first half of a WCC game was 50 against USF in an eventual 94-89 loss on Jan. 25, 1992.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions swept the two-game road swing in the Bay Area last week. The Lions have now won consecutive road games in conference for the first time since defeating BYU on Jan. 19, 2012 and at Santa Clara on Jan. 24, 2012. The Lions won five straight road games that season when the league had nine members and did not have a travel partner system. Under the travel partner system, it is the Lions' first Bay Area road sweep since defeating USF (Feb. 9, 1992) and SMC (Feb. 10, 1992). They are 9-10 overall and 2-6 in the WCC.
Junior Brandon Brown has led the Lions on the court this season and he made a huge impact with his 22 points and nine assists in the win over Santa Clara. The point guard has led the team in assists in every game this season, including eight points and a career-best 10 assists against BYU. He is fourth in the WCC in assists at 6.2 per game while also ranking 16th in scoring (13.1), 7th in free throw shooting (78.3 percent), 8th in steals (1.2), 7th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2), and 9th in minutes at 33.1.
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-pointers. 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 19 games.
More on depth: All 10 players scored at least three points against USF and nine of the 10 did so against BYU. Joshua Spiers led the bench push against BYU, scoring 11 points, hitting 4-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three. Against USF, The Lions went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 38 seconds against. 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. Against Santa Clara, Humphries had 14 of the Lions' 29 bench points. Tutu once again was perfect from the line (4-4) and Marin Mornar was efficient in his 22 minutes, going for nine points, seven rebounds and a block.
