LOS ANGELES - Following a 32-point victory to start the season, the Loyola Marymount men's basketball team now faces a UNLV on the road to kick off their season.
LMU travels to Las Vegas yearly for the West Coast Conference tournament in March, but has not faced the Running Rebels since 2005. UNLV has yet to play a game this season, but did beat Montana St. - Billings on a last second shot. UNLV without a 15 win changes and six ties to earn the exhibition win. Four players finished with 14 or more points for UNLV.
The Lions did not have an exhibition to start the year, but rather jumped right into it to open the 2018-19 season with an opening-night home win against Westcliff University, 75-43.
LMU led in almost every statistical category, outscoring the Warriors 40-10 in the paint, 24-9 off turnovers, and 17-2 on second-chance points. The Lions allowed just 15 first half points to the Irvine, Calif.-based visitors, and held Westcliff under 32 percent shooting for the game.
Minutes were spread fairly evenly for the Lions. James Batemon led the team with 11 points, with Cameron Allen and Jeffery McClendon scoring 10-apiece. In his first game, Jordan Bell went for 7 and 6 to finish with a game-high in rebounds.
Coach Speak
"What we know is that they are athletic," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "He has a lot of bigs who are long, they'll post you, and play over the top of you on the offensive boards. Obviously, they have a couple guys on the perimeter that can really score."
"When going to these games, especially this time of year, there are two or three constants on either side of the ball," said Dunlap. "For example, you can't go into UNLV and turn the ball over a lot and expect to win. It gets away from you. On the defensive end, you can't give up easy buckets then their field goal percentage goes through the room and you are in deep trouble. You have to take care of the basics, especially when you are starting a new season."
Gameday Essentials
GAME: LMU (1-0) at UNLV (0-0)
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2018
TIME: 7:05 p.m. (PST)
LOCATION: Las Vegas, NV
ARENA: Thomas & Mack Center
WATCH: AT&T Sportsnet
STREAM: Stadium
LISTEN: KXLU 88.9 FM
LIVE STATS: UNLV Sidearm Stats
TICKETS: Single Game Tickets
SOCIAL: @lmulions | @lmulionsMBB
