LOS ANGELES - LMU snapped a season-long four-game skid on Thursday night with a wire-to-wire home victory over Portland. The Lions (8-12, 2-4 WCC) remain on home for a second-straight game on Saturday, welcoming Saint Mary's (17-4, 4-2 WCC) to Hank's House for a 6 p.m. contest.
 
SMC are winners of two straight games to jump into a tie for second in the West Coast Conference standings. LMU's win over Portland allowed the Lions to move ahead of both Portland and San Diego and are a game out of fourth place.
 
The Lions earned the double-digit win on Thursday despite forcing just six turnovers from Portland. Sain Mary's is one of the best in the country at keeping the ball. The Gaels average only 10.1 turnovers per game which ranks fourth in the nation.
 
The other strength that Saint Mary's has benefitted from is the ability to knock down the three. SMC ranks first in the nation in three-point shooting percentage with a mark of 42.3 percent on the year. With two of the conference's top-five leading scorers in Jordan Ford (21.7 ppg) and Malik Fitts (16.1 ppg), the Gaels know how to put the ball in the basket.
 
LMU's offense has been more spread out, with nine different Lions hitting the double-digit mark this season and six different players scoring team-high points in a game this season. Keli Leaupepe and Parker Dortch joined Eli Scott and Ivan Alipiev as Lions to score 20 or more points in a game this season.
 
Scott, who ranks in the top-8 in the WCC in points (15.5 ppg), assists (4.9 apg), and rebounds (6.8 rpg), recorded his first-career assists and rebounds double-double, and 12th total double-double of his career. Senior Erik Johansson hit his 100 three-pointer on his career. 18 different Lions have hit 100 or more threes in their careers.
 
The game will stream on Watch Stadium. Live Stats will be run through Statbroadcast. Jesse Kass can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and TuneIN Radio.