The key for the Lions will be there offense. While LMU has been stellar defensively over the first two games of the year, the offense has been hit and miss, shooting 46 percent against UCLA and then just 35 percent against Middle Tennessee.
The absence of Drew Viney directly relates to the offense's inconsistency, but the Lions have also seen inconsistent efforts from their all-star guards Anthony Ireland and Jarred DuBois. After scoring 21 points against UCLA, Ireland contributed just five against the Blue Raiders on Sunday. I would imagine his season-ending totals will hover around 13ppg, but with Viney out of the lineup the Lions aren't going to win many games with Ireland scoring only five points.
DuBois is a scorer, but the Lions haven't exactly seen that this year. From what I saw in Sunday's loss, DuBois was just getting into some type of scoring mentality and rhythm when he fouled out of the game with three minutes to play. He can be a bit of a streaky shooter from long-range, so let's hope he has his touch come Saturday.
The loss to Middle Tennessee was disappointing, mostly because it was a game within the Lions reach for the majority of the 40 minutes of play, but the season is still young. The Lions are yet to play with their best player in Viney, so I think Lions fans have yet to see this team's potential, even in the win over No. 17 UCLA.
Saturday's game against the Crimson tips off at 6:30 p.m.
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