Nov. 15, 2009

Weekly Release in downloadable/printable PDF Format

The LMU men's basketball team opened the 2009-10 season splitting their two games at the 2009 Grizzly Classic hosted by the University of Montana. They have done it by averaging 85 points per contest and 11.0 steals, including 16 in the win over North Dakota. They will close the tournament on Sunday with host Montana at 2:05 p.m. (PT) The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM.

INSIDE THE LIONS
The 2009-10 Lions opened the new campaign missing something - seniors. The Lions roster is one of the youngest in the West Coast Conference as they feature eight freshman, seven sophomores and three juniors. The Lions also have something they didn't in 2008-09, numbers. LMU features a roster of 18 after going through most of last season with just nine active players. The Lions showed their depth in the Montana tournament, playing all 13 of those available to play in the first two games with every player getting on the stat sheet. Junior Larry Davis shook off the early spring Achilles heal injury by scoring 22 points in his first college game in nearly two years against Boise State. He leads the Lions in scoring at 16.5 points through the first two games. Junior Vernon Teel has been the Lions' floor leader, playing what Head Coach Max Good calls "his best two games of his LMU career." He is averaging 16.0 points per game while also averaging 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.5 steals while only averaging 2.0 turnovers.

QUICK HITTERS FROM MONTANA
• The Lions scored 87 and 83 points in their first two games, respectively, going for more than 80 points in consecutive games since the 2005-06 season. The Lions defeated San Diego 94-76 on Feb. 6, 2006 and then Pepperdine in overtime, 89-78, on Feb. 11. The Lions are averaging 85 points per game after averaging just 55.7 a year ago.
• The 23-point win over North Dakota (83-60) was the largest margin of victory since Nov. 24, 2004 when LMU travelled to Greeley, Colo., and defeated Northern Colorado 83-51.
• The Lions had 16 steals in the win over North Dakota, leading to 25 points. It was the most steals in a single game since they had 17 in an 83-79 overtime loss to Portland on Feb. 16, 2002.
• Larry Davis scored 22 points in his first game as a Lion against Boise State. It was the best debut by a Lion since Brandon Worthy scored 24 games in his first game as a true freshman on Nov. 22, 2002 against Loyola-Chicago.
• The Lions opened the 2008-09 season going 0-for-8 from the three-point line, snapping a stretch of 375 games with a three-point field goal. It was a different story to start 2009-10 as the Lions went 8-for-17 from behind the arch against Boise State and then 9-for-20 against North Dakota. The Lions are 17-for-37 (45.9 percent) through two games. After two games in 2008-09, the Lions had made eight three-pointers.
• LMU has scored 50 points off turnovers in two games in Montana. They have forced opponents into an average of 17.0 turnovers per game while only turning it over 12.5 per game themselves for a +4.5 turnover margin. The Lions are averaging 11.0 steals per game after leading the WCC in steals with 7.43 steals per conference game.