VS    

Seattle U (6-7) @ Loyola Marymount University Lions (7-7, 0-0 WCC)

Gersten Pavilion (LA, CA)

Wednesday December 30, 2009 7:30 pm

RADIO: 710 ESPN Seattle   INTERNET AUDIO: seattleufan.com

Series- SU- 22-7

Last Meeting- 2009- @ Seattle 49-39

Seattle prevailed in a defensive struggle 49-39 to ring in the New Year at Key Arena. Chris Gweth paced SU with 12 points and 8 rebounds while Austen Powers added 9 points and 11 boards. The woes continued for LMU as they staggered through a 3-28 campaign.

Scouting LMU:

Head Coach Max Good has led an amazing turn-around in his first full season at LMU. He took the reins officially in January of last year as the Lions slogged through a 3-28 season. Loyola Marymount has already doubled their win total from a year ago while pocketing a couple of eye opening triumphs. The Lions had not won a road game since 2007 before breaking though at USC 67-59. A couple of weeks later LMU toppled Big East power Notre Dame 87-85 on the road. They have ripped off 4 wins in a row including a narrow 82-78 win at future SU opponent Sacramento State. Five of their seven losses have been by 6 points or less and they were tied or leading with three minutes to go or less in each of those five. They are among the top-50 schools in the nation in scoring at 78.5 points per game. Good has cranked up the pace of play to a familiar level for Lion fans.

The Ones to Watch:

Drew Viney- 6’5 190 SO F- 17 ppg 7.5 rbd

The transfer from Oregon has ignited the LMU offense contributing 17 points a night. The long-range bomber can fill it up from three (41%) and use his athletic frame to slash to the basketball. He has made an immediate impact for the Lions and was the key to tremendous win at Notre Dame- 24 points 11 rebounds.

Vernon Teel- 6’4 190 JR G- 14 ppg  5.5 rbds 6 assts

Teel is the floor leader for LMU and only upper-classman in the starting lineup. He is 9^th in the nation in assists at 6 per contest. He has also been able to slice out a fair amount of offense for himself at 14 points per game. He is very efficient shooting 50% from the floor and from downtown.

Larry Davis- 6’4 185 RS-JR F- 12 ppg  3.5 rbds

Davis is in his first season on the floor for LMU after transferring from Seton Hall. He averaged 6 ppg in the rugged Big East two years ago and has done his part to change LMU’s fortunes this year. Davis missed 5 games earlier this season after Achilles surgery, but is back in the mix. He has started and come off the bench and forms a dangerous trio with Teel and preseason WCC performer Jarred DuBois.

Keys to the Game:

1-      Rebounding- Usually a category Seattle owns, but LMU is +3.3 on the season.

2-     Keep Chuck on the floor- Garcia has been mired in foul trouble the last two games- 23 minutes vs Denver and 20 vs Oakland.

3-      Finish Strong- Something SU has struggled to do in recent games.

SU is back to action after a long holiday break. Tune in 15 minutes before tip on 710 ESPN Seattle and the live blog will be cooking at seattleufan.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 11:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.