The end of the WCC basketball season sure has snuck up on us.
After a two-game road trip this past weekend the men’s basketball team will host Gonzaga tonight and then play just three more games before heading to Las Vegas, Nev. for the WCC Tournament the first weekend in March. With just four games left in the regular season, LMU has a tough road ahead, as three of them are against the top-three teams in the WCC standings.
In all likelihood, the Lions will conclude the season with one more win and three losses, which would give them a 5-9 conference record and probably earn them the No. 5 seed in the tourney. Despite the fact that the Lions could have given themselves a solid chance at the fourth spot with a win at USF on Saturday, the silver lining remains that a fifth spot in the tournament allows LMU to open men’s play in Vegas with a date against the worst team in the conference, which will probably be Santa Clara or San Diego, teams that thus far the Lions are 3-0 against.
I am not going to lie; fourth place in the standings would have been ideal for a streaky team like the Lions, but, on the other hand, playing a team they are confident against is not the end of the world. A dominating win in round one would do wonders for the team’s confidence after an extremely disappointing loss in Vegas last year.
I was lucky enough to attend Saturday’s game in San Francisco, however, and some things concerned me. Consistency has been a problem for the Lions all season, and just when I thought some of our core players were beginning to find a groove and consistently put up solid offensive numbers, things changed.
Sophomore Drew Viney, who had scored 20 or more points in four of his last five games, went just 5-16 from the field with ten points. Anyone who has seen Viney play can definitely chalk up a performance like that to an off game, but it worries me that the Lions can’t rally together for a win when Viney struggles from the field.
Sophomore Kevin Young had also hit a groove with his offensive performances as of late, but then went 3-8 from the field in San Francisco for a total of seven points. When Viney isn’t shooting well, the Lions need scoring options other than junior Vernon Teel and sophomore Jarred DuBois; Young should be the man they can turn to. Young is shooting 55 percent from the floor this season, and I would like to see him take more than eight shots per contest, especially in a game where the team’s leading scorer is struggling.
Redshirt freshman Ashley Hamilton is back from his knee injury, and is really the Lions’ best scoring threat inside. While he did go 3-5 from the field for six points off the bench, he also fouled out of the game after only 17 minutes on the court. Hamilton fouled out of Thursday’s game as well, after playing just 21 minutes. An inside scoring option is important for the Lions, and Hamilton needs to remain in the game for that to exist.
On a positive note, however, Teel had his best offensive game of the season, scoring 28 points off 10-13 shooting. If he continues to have performances like that, and especially if he does so on a typical night where Viney puts up 20 points, the Lions will be tough to stop.
The real test for the Lions now will be to not let their confidence fade for the remainder of the season. Although LMU plays Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and Portland, the top-three teams in the conference, over the next week and a half, the Lions need to remember to focus on the basics and not get caught up in the hype of playing a tough stretch of schedule.
Despite being let down by the Lions on Saturday, I still think tonight’s game is winnable. On the other hand, I also think that Gonzaga could walk in and completely blow us out; it just depends on which LMU team shows up. When all cylinders are clicking, the Lions can compete with any team in the conference, something they showed in Spokane when they played the Zags to a 42-42 tie in the first half.
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