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LOS ANGELES - LMU men's basketball fell to fifth-ranked Gonzaga, 93-55, in West Coast Conference action on Thursday night. Gonzaga (16-0, 4-0) outscored LMU (8-8, 1-4) 25-3 on points off turnovers to remain the lone unbeaten team in NCAA Division-I basketball.
Buay Tuach led the Lions with 19 points and four rebounds, hitting 7-for-10 from the field. No other Lion had double figures as Shamar Johnson had nine points.
Gonzaga had six players in double figures, led by Przemek Karnowski with 17 points. The Bulldogs finished the game hitting 53.0 percent from the field and broke open the game from three, hitting 10-for-18. The Lions shot just 26.9 percent in the second half and finished the game hitting 34.5 percent.
The Lions hit 6-of-12 from three and kept the Bulldogs close in the first half. The Bulldogs hit a pair of late three-pointers to take a double-digit lead into the locker room. The Lions hit 40 percent form the field but had 10 first half turnovers that helped the Zags to the early lead.
In the second half, the Lions went cold, hitting just three field goals in the first 12 minutes. And turnovers once again hurt the Lions, who entered the game averaging just nine turnovers in WCC play. They would finish with 22 turnovers to Gonzaga's 11.
GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• Gonzaga outscored the Lions 50-24 in the paint. They finished with 13 steals.
• Freshman Mattias Markusson had seven points, a team-high five rebounds and three blocks.
FROM COACH DUNLAP
"We played sound in the first half and had turnover issues, which isn't like us," said Head Coach
Mike Dunlap. "We thought if we could put that in, we could have a chance. But we turned the ball over right away to start the half. Turnovers were the issue tonight."
"They are very good and you can't give a team that good extra chances. We were chasing the turnovers all night."
UP NEXT
The Lions head to snowy Portland on Saturday, Jan. 14 to face the Pilots at 7 pm.
GAMEDAY PHOTOS
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