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LOS ANGELES - The second half of West Coast Conference play will begin exactly how the first half ended. The Lions (10-10, 3-6) will travel to Provo, Utah on Thursday, Jan. 28 to take on the BYU Cougars (14-7, 5-3) for the second time in a week. The game will be on ESPNU and online on WatchESPN. It will also be on KXLU 88.9 FM.
LMULIONS.COM GAMEDAY:
THE MATCH-UP
The first match-up in the series a week ago was a classic, with each team shooting lights out in a half. The Lions had a 50-point first half against an NCAA Divison I opponent for the first time in two decades, shooting 67.9 percent from the field and 9-for-13 from three. BYU owned the second half, scoring 51 points while shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 8-for-12 from three. They each had a player reach lofty numbers, including the 10th triple-double by Kyle Collinsworth and Adom Jacko's program record-equaling 11-for-12 shooting effort from the field. He finished with his 5th double-double of the season, going for a career-best 26 points and 12 rebounds. The Cougars had a little more fire power thanks to 14 three-pointers, earning the 91-80 win. Lots of numbers to talk about. The team's combined for 50 assists, 28 by BYU - including 15 from Collinsworth... They also combined for 23 steals, with BYU earning 12 and outscoring the Lions 26-14 in points off turnovers. LMU had 16 turnovers and BYU 15... The Cougars out-rebounded the Lions 42-32... Both teams would split the weekend as the Lions defeated San Diego 67-63, and BYU fell to Pepperdine, 71-57... The Cougars are coming off a four-game road swing and will have seven of their final 10 WCC contests at the Marriott Center.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The West Coast Conference named LMU junior Adom Jacko as Player of the Week for Jan. 25. He averaged 24.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two games at Gersten Pavilion last week. Jacko has helped the Lions win three of their last four. The Lions are 10-10 on the season and 3-6 in the WCC as they begin the second half of conference play.
In addition, Jacko shot 70.3 percent from the field, hitting 19-for-27. He was also 11-for-14 from the free throw line and added four blocks, earning two in each game. On Thursday against the Cougars, he finished the game 11-for-12 from the field, equaling the all-time LMU record for shooting percentage in a game (91.6 percent - 10 or more attempts). Victor Lazzaretti with 11-for-12 against Pepperdine on Feb. 25, 1987 and Mike Yoest did it against Marquette on Jan. 6, 1988.
Against the Toreros, Jacko scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the Lions' comeback win. He was 8-for--15 from the field, adding an assist and two more blocks. He did it in just 24 minutes on the floor. Jacko is fifth in the WCC in double-doubles and moved to seventh in the conference with a shooting percentage of 54.5. He is also ninth in scoring at 15.3, ninth in rebounds at 6.6 and fifth in offensive rebounds at 2.7. 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.
LMU continues to lead the league in turnover margin at +2.9, ranking second in the WCC in creating 14.7 turnovers a game while turning the ball over just 11.8 times per game, third in the WCC. On Thursday, the Lions forced 17 USD turnovers while having just five themselves, a season low. They finished with 11 steals and outscored the Toreros 18-5 in points off turnovers. The Lions are second in the league in steals at 7.4. They had 22 steals in the two games last week... The Lions, who had 22 assists Thursday, are third in the league at 15.6 per game and second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.3. The assist total against BYU was the highest against a Division I team on the year.
ON THE GLASS: The Lions are also second in the league in offensive rebounds at 12.4 per game (tied with USF). It 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 against the Broncos. They had 11 against USD and held a 16-11 edge in second chance points, and improved to 8-1 on the season when they have more second chance points than their opponent. Shamar Johnson is ranked 12th in the WCC with 2.0 orpg. Adom Jacko is 5th with 2.7 orpg.
DEPTH: The Lions feature a 15-man roster, and as the season began nine of them were not in an LMU uniform in 2014-15. 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 eight different starting line-ups this season, the eighth coming against USD with Humphries earning his first start of the season. They 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 in eight of the 20 games, including Saturday against San Diego.
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. Munis Tutu ignited the Lions on both ends of the floor in the come-from-behind win over San Diego, scoring 10 points with four assists and a career-best four steals in 25 minutes. Against USF, the Lions went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 38 seconds against. 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.
FROM THREE: Senior David Humphries posted a career-best 20 points against USF, 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. In that Bay Area road trip, Humphries finished hitting 10-for-17 from the field, going 10-for-16 from three (62.5 precent), averaging 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals. He also went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He now ranks 7th in the WCC in three-point percentage, hitting 42.9 percent (24-for-56). Haney is fourth in the WCC in three-pointers made per game at 2.5, he has hit 50-for-147 on the season. He is now ranked 21st in LMU history for three-pointers made in a season and 20th in attempts.
OVER 70: The Lions are 9-2 on the season when scoring more than 70 points with the 87-83 win at USF and then a 76-66 win over SCU 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... The Lions had a 16-11 edge in second chance points, improving to 8-1 on the season when scoring more than their opponents on second chance opportunities... 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 since they scored 54 first half points at CSUN on Feb. 18, 1992. The last time the Lions scored 50 in the first half of a WCC game was 50 against USF on Jan. 25, 1992.
LEARNING ON THE ROAD: The Lions head back to the road this week after winning consecutive road games in conference (USF and SCU) 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). It will be a tough task as the Cougars are one of three teams in the WCC unbeaten at home at 8-0 (Saint Mary's is 14-0 and Pepperdine is 9-0)... 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 Jan. 21 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.
WITH THE ASSIST: 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 6.1 per game while also ranking 15th in scoring (13.1), 12th in free throw shooting (75.8 percent), 6th in steals (1.2), 6th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3), and 9th in minutes at 32.9.
CHARITY STRIPE: LMU is second in free throw shooting at 72.6 percent and In the most recent road trip to the Bay Area, 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. Against BYU, the Lions were just 7-for-12 from the free throw line while BYU was 14-for-20. They went 17-for-25 against USD (68 percent), the most free throws made and attempted in WCC play so far this season... The Lions managed just two free throw attempts at Oregon State, missing both attempts on the front-end of one-and-ones. The Beavers went 15-for-18. 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. Free throw difference has been a factor for the Lions. They are averaging 11.7 free throws made per game while opponents have made 17.0 a -5.3 difference.
JOURNEYMAN: 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 had three in the opener against the Titans and has 22 so far this season to move to second all-time with 115 blocks. The only four-year senior on the roster, he played in 104th game against San Diego. He is ranked 4th in the WCC in blocks at 1.2 per game.
