LOS ANGELES – The excitement of the postseason continues on Saturday night in Vegas. LMU men's basketball (13-8, 7-5 WCC) is coming off a gutty win on Friday night, defeating San Francisco with a shorthanded lineup and withstanding 21 lead changes. The reward will be a rematch against Saint Mary's (13-8, 4-6 WCC) in the quarterfinals. The 6:00 quarterfinal matchup will air on ESPNU and Watch ESPN from the Orleans Arena.
LMU hosted Saint Mary's on January 21 of this year. The Lions committed 27 turnovers in the first meeting, and still had a chance in the final possession to tie the game. The scheduled game at Saint Mary's was never played this season.
Similar to Friday night's WCC Tournament game,
Eli Scott led the Lions in points, rebounds, and assists for a double-double against the Gaels in that lone meeting. The senior scored 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and added three assists back in January. Following the 20 and 14 performance to opening the tournament against the Dons, Scott now ranks sixth all-time with 21 career double-doubles.
Scott's 14 rebounds are tied for fifth-best single performance in LMU's WCC Tournament history. Hank Gathers holds the program record with 18 rebounds in a WCC Tournament game in 1988. After shooting 9-for-11, Scott is sixth all-time in field goal percentage in a tournament game, with a minimum of five makes. Scott ranks third all-time for career rebounds at LMU in the WCC Tournament with 47, trailing only Hank Gathers (85) and Ashley Hamilton (69).
Mattias Markusson's 7-for-7 mark from the free throw line is tied for the best percentage, but is second-most made free throws without a miss in a WCC Tournament game.
Keli Leaupepe set the school record after going 13-for-13 from the line in an opening round win over San Diego last season.
LMU and SMC have met in the WCC Tournament three times prior, twice in the semifinals and once in the quarterfinals. The two programs split the two semifinal matchups with the Gaels winning in 1997 and LMU advancing to the finals in 2006.
