West Coast Convo
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Lions Face Pepperdine in Final Conference Game

By Sam Falcone

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Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Pepperdine Waves forward Stacy Davis (5) drives to the basket against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second half at Wells-Fargo Arena. Sun Devils defeated the Waves 81-74 Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

And just like that, the regular season is coming to a close. With one game remaining before the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, the Loyola Marymount Lions are looking to snap their five-game losing streak when they take the short trip to Malibu to battle the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday, February 28 at 3:00 pm PT.

It hasn’t been a fun couple of weeks for LMU, as they haven’t won a game since they took on San Diego back on February 5th. In their last matchup against Santa Clara, the Lions got some impressive performances from their starting lineup, as three players scored in double figures. Matt Hayes knocked down 20 points, going 6-13 from three point land, David Humphries scored 16, and Godwin Okonji notched 15.

However, Evan Payne’s absence made quite a difference in this game. Though Loyola Marymount got some great outings from their lineup, they allowed four Broncos players to score in double figures as well, with Jared Brownridge getting 28 points.

If LMU wants to end the regular season on a positive note, they’re going to need to play much stronger defense and get plenty more stops when they walk into Firestone Fieldhouse. If not, Pepperdine standouts Stacy Davis and Jett Raines are going to have a field day against the Lions.

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The Waves, though, aren’t exactly dominating the WCC as of late either. They’ve lost four of their last five matchups, with the lone victory coming against Santa Clara. That being said, Stacy Davis has been an absolute stud recently, scoring in double figures in four of the Waves’ last five games, notching 23 in the narrow loss to San Francisco.

But if Pepperdine wants to move that conference record to 10-8, the rest of their lineup is going to need to support Davis much better. He was the only one to score in double figures against USF.

This matchup is going to play a monumental role for both teams heading into the WCC Tournament. Aside from the fact that it will affect the tournament seeding, both of these teams are looking to gain some momentum from their previous losses. The confidence booster that comes from this victory could be a potential X factor heading into Las Vegas.

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