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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Loyola Marymount men's basketball team has an opportunity to rebound at home on Saturday as the Lions (12-3, 0-1 WCC) host Portland (7-8, 0-0 WCC) in the conference home opener.
 
The Lions are coming off a WCC Thursday match whereas the Pilots will be playing in their first conference game of the season. Portland got the better of LMU in the regular season last year, but the Lions won the final matchup during the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas last season to advance to the conference quarterfinals.
 
James Batemon continues to lead the conference with 28 steals at a clip of 1.87 per game, helping to keep opponents at a league-best 60.4 points per game, which ranks 12th-best in Division I.
 
The two teams are on opposite ends of the Spectrum in defending the three. LMU leads the WCC and is ninth in the nation allowing opponents to shoot 27.3 percent from long range. Conversely, Portland is at the bottom of the conference with teams hitting 35.8 percent of shots from behind the arc against the Pilots.
 
Portland's bright spot has been the 1.79 blocks per game from center Theo Akwuba, which is the second-most in the WCC only to Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke.
 
The game will stream live on TheW.tv at 3 p.m. Brian Quinn returns to campus as the game's Honorary Captain. Quinn is a former basketball and baseball player for the Lions, as well as Administrator, Athletic Director, Athletics Hall of Famer (2000), and WCC Hall of Honor Inductee (2018).