More disappointment as non-conference season winds down

Anthony Ireland had 10 points, all in the first half, for LMU on Wednesday | Julia Pine

LMU dropped its contest to South Dakota last night by a final score of 82-70; a very disappointing game for the Lions who were coming off of a 3-1 stretch in which the team's only loss came to a very strong Florida State team. The Lions lost to a South Dakota team they beat less than ten days ago, despite receiving a poor game form leading scorer Drew Viney.

Tonight's game started off much like the last one against the Coyotes did, with Viney struggling to find his shot and the Lions offense coming almost entirely from guards Vernon Teel and Anthony Ireland, both of whom finished the first half with ten points each. Unfortunately, neither could find the basket much at all in the second half, as Ireland failed to score a point and Teel contributed only four. Teel did finish the game with another double-double, putting in 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lions offense in the second half came almost exclusively from Viney, who finally found his shot after a couple of off games. Viney finished the night 7-16 from the floor with 16 points and seven rebounds. Fifteen of Viney's 16 points were scored in the second half.

Larry Davis rounded out the Lions' in double figures with 12 points of his own.

The problem for LMU, once again, was their defensive intensity in the second half. After holding the Coyotes to just 33 percent shooting in the first half of play the Lions then got lit up in the second half, letting South Dakota shoot 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from three point range.

The Lions, who led by as many as eight points late in the first half, again watched a lead disappear into a loss.

At this point, LMU's ability to adjust during a game needs to be examined. There have been too many games lost that were seemingly winnable at halftime, and it just seems like the other teams are making better adjustments. Whether this is something that should be looked at by the coaching staff, players, or in my opinion both, doesn't really matter, the thing is it needs to addressed quickly.

LMU is now 6-7 on the season, and will have one final chance to enter conference play with a .500 record when they travel to take on UC Irvine on Dec. 30.