PROVO, Utah – The Lions scored a season-low 38 points after totaling 19 points in each half. Despite the cold shooting, LMU (7-9, 1-1 WCC) was within three in the second half before BYU (12-4, 1-0 WCC) blew it open to take the WCC contest, 63-38.
 
Eli Scott opened the game with the first five points to give the Lions the early lead. LMU forced three turnovers in the first three minutes. Scott would go on to lead the team with 15 points.
 
After the Cougars jumped on top with a 9-2 run, LMU rattled off five consecutive points of their own, and eight of ten overall, to retake the lead, 15-11, with 7:39 on the first half clock. Jordan Bell scored the first five of the run and Jonathan Dos Anjos added the remaining three.
 
Scott ended a six-plus minute 13-2 BYU run with a putback layup with 1:12 to play in the first half. BYU started 0-7 from three then hit a pair in that run to take a 24-17 lead. That layup was the final points of the first half, as the Cougars were held scoreless for the final 3:55 of the half to make it a 24-19 game at intermission.
 
LMU cut it to as close as three points in the second half, but a 16-3 BYU run over a 6:30 stretch made it a double-digit game.
 
The bench battle finished in favor of the Lions, 14-13, led by seven points from Keli Leaupepe.
 
Dos Anjos grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
 
The Lions committed a season-high 21 turnovers, leading to 20 BYU points. Comparatively, in Thursday's WCC win over San Diego, LMU's turnover count was a season-best six.
 
LMU will have a full week to prepare for the nation's top-ranked team. Gonzaga comes to The Bluff for a 1 p.m. game on Jan. 11.