LMU Travels up to San Francisco to Play USF
By Josh Horton
Loyola Marymount Lions (10-4) at San Francisco Dons
Date: Thursday, January 2nd, 2014
Location: War Memorial Gym, San Francisco, Calf.
Time: 7:00 p.m. PST
TV: theW.tv
Radio: San Francisco: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/usf.portal?mode=link&eventId=132325&broadcastType=audio
LMU: KXLU 88.9 or http://www.live365.com/stations/kxlu1?site=pro
LiveStats: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/usf.portal#
Last Season: San Francisco won both matchups by a combined 11 points.
PROJECTED STARTERS
San Francisco
Matt Glover, 8.9 PPG, 3.7 APG
Tim Derksen, 9.5 PPG
Avry Holmes, 10.3 PPG
Mark Tollefsen, 12.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG
Cole Dickerson, 13.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG
LMU
Anthony Ireland, 18.1 PPG, 5.7 APG, 1.7 SPG
Evan Payne, 15.1 PPG
C.J. Blackwell, 3.6 PPG
Gabe Levin, 12.6 PPG 8.7 RPG
Alex Osborne, 6.4 PPG
The LMU Lions, who are fresh off wins against BYU and San Diego, take on San Francisco in hopes of getting off to their best start in conference play since the 2005-2006 season.
San Francisco, who won against Portland in overtime in its WCC opener, was routed by Gonzaga on Monday.
Keys to the Game
LMU
The Freshmen: The Lions have been red hot in conference play, and Evan Payne and Gabe Levin have played a large part in that.
Levin has averaged 12 points and 7.5 rebounds and provide the Lions with consistent low post scoring and rebounding. Payne exploded for 27 points in LMU’s win against BYU on Saturday, which he followed up with a 16 points performance against San Diego. Payne led the Lions in scoring both games.
Anthony Ireland is this team’s leader, but Payne and Levin has made them a contender in the WCC this season. Look for Payne and Levin not only to play a big part in this game, but the rest of the season as well.
San Francisco
Kruize Pinkins: In the Dons loss to Gonzaga, Pinkins did not make one shot out of the 10 he attempted. The junior forward is USF’s best post option off the bench, and needs to play better than this in order to give the Dons the punch they need to get over the hump versus the Lions.
Prediction
The Lions are red hot right noq, and as long as Payne and Levin play the way they have it will continue. Although the Dons have played much better than many expected without senior point guard Cody Doolin – who left the team in November – they will struggle against the Lions. LMU 85, San Francisco 71.