This blog was a place for me to continue my passion for covering LMU basketball post-graduation, and I thank everyone who has followed along. Currently, I'm not able to update it with the consistency needed, so it is on hiatus. For news, updates, scores, photos, and opinions, continue to follow The Bottom Line on twitter!

CBSSports gives Ireland well-deserved recognition

In an article published today on cbssports.com, Jeff Goodman refers to LMU point guard Anthony Ireland as a "lock for all-underrated team."

He played alongside high-profile guys and watched their recruitments explode. There was Nate Lubick and Naadir Tharpe on the summer circuit and Khem Birch, Markus Kennedy and Angel Nunez on his prep school team.

Now Anthony Ireland has made a name for himself.

Loyola Marymount's point guard has established himself as one of the elite floor leaders in the WCC and maybe even in the entire country. He's far from a household name beyond the west coast, but the 5-foot-9 junior, who hails from Connecticut and attended Winchendon (Mass.) prep school, earned first-team All-WCC honors last season.

Click here to continue reading the article.

Drew Viney sits down for an interview with his new Euroleague team

At least you can understand the important parts...

LMU's ESPN schedule announced

The LMU men's basketball team will make at least three regular season appearances on the ESPN family of networks during the 2012-13 season, it was announced this past week. As part of a longterm deal between the West Coast Conference and ESPN, more than 40 WCC men's basketball games will appear this coming season on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.

The following Lions games will be televised:

Wednesday, Dec. 19 - Mississippi at LMU, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thursday, Jan. 31 - Gonzaga at LMU, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, March 2 - BYU at LMU, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)

In addition, the WCC Championship quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will all be televised live.

Drew Viney inks professional deal

Polish champs Asseco Prokom made official on Friday the addition of forward Drew Viney for the next two seasons. This will be Viney's Euroleague, as well as professional, debut. Click here to learn more about the league.

Conference scheduled revealed

The WCC released the 2013 conference basketball schedule today. LMU's portion is as follows.

LMU announces non-conference schedule

The LMU Athletics Department today announced the non-conference schedule for its men's basketball team. The Lions host Portland State, a requirement from the 2011 BracketBuster game, as well as head to Saint Louis as part of a home-and-home exchange that began last year in Gersten Pavilion. View the schedule below.

LMU's first loss of the season

LMU's recruit for the 2013 class Kahlil Dukes has committed to USC, ESPN reports. Dukes said he chose USC based on location and strength of the Pac-12 conference. In addition to LMU, Dukes also had offers from Drexel and UTEP.

Read more here.

Lions offer 5'11" guard

According to ESPN, LMU has offered Class of 2013 guard Kahlil Dukes of Hartford, CT. Dukes is a scoring guard, who put up 51 points in a game last season for his school, Capital Prep. If he decides to join the Lions, let's hope he works out as well as the last undersized guard from Connecticut we picked up...

Viney tries to secure training camp spot

Former Lion Drew Viney, despite struggling through a tough shooting night Wednesday, continues to impress with his play during the NBA's Summer League. Playing in his third game with the Miami Heat, Viney contributed ten points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. Viney shot 3-10 from the field.

Viney remains second on his team in scoring, trailing only Norris Cole, who was a key bench player for the NBA Champion Heat this past season. If he continues to play as he has this week, with confidence and energy on both ends of the court, Viney will surely land a spot on a team's training camp roster.

Viney did step to the free throw line with 9.6 seconds remaining on the clock, his team down two, but was only able to connect on one of his two free throws. After shooting 79 percent from the line in his collegiate career with the Lions, Viney went 2-4 from the line Wednesday. The Heat are now 2-1, with two more Summer League games to play, the next of which will be Friday at 5 p.m. against the San Antonio Spurs.

Viney earns start, impresses again

Drew Viney played in his second Summer League game with the Miami Heat Monday evening, earning the start after an impressive 12 points and six rebounds in his debut Sunday. Viney picked up where he left off, and contributed 12 points, five assists and four rebounds in his team's throttling of the Lakers. Viney did his damage Monday in just 23 minutes of play, not needing to play the final quarter due to his team's 40-plus point lead.

Viney was much more efficient from the floor Monday, going 5-7 from the field and 2-4 from long range. He also looked solid on the defensive end of the court, and picked up a steal for the second-straight game.

Viney and the 2-0 Heat will be back on the floor Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. when they take on the Golden State Warriors.

Lions add Croatian forward

LMU's Athletics Department announced today that the men's basketball team has added 6'9" forward Marin Mornar of Consortium College Prep in Detroit, Mich. Mornar, originally from Croatia, averaged 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.6 clocks in his one season at Consurtium.

"He is very long and has great range with a ton of potential," said Head Coach Max Good in the press release. "He can shoot the ball well and is a very tough player ... The key for Marin will be his strength game. How quickly he gets stronger will determine his success."

In addition, the Lions removed redshirt junior Quincy Lawson from their roster, as I reported last week.

Strong debut for Viney

Former Lion Drew Viney made his debut for the Miami Heat's Summer League team Sunday afternoon, contributing 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in almost 28 minutes of play. Both his minutes and rebounds were second-most on the team. Viney finished the game 4-11 from the field after beginning 2-3.

His team will take on the Lakers Monday at 5:30 p.m. PT. The game, which will be the second of his team's five games, can be seen live on NBATV or on NBA.com.

Drew Viney makes Miami Heat Summer League roster

A big congratulations to former-Lion Drew Viney, who made the NBA Champion Miami Heat's Summer League roster, comprised of 16 athletes. The team began practicing in Miami on July 9, and will continue to work there through this Friday before heading to Las Vegas. The team's first of five games will occur on Sunday, July 15 vs. the Toronto Raptors. Summer league play will conclude on Saturday, July 21. All games will appear on NBA TV and be streamed live on NBA.com.

LMU to host Long Beach State

The Beach have announced their 2012-13 men's basketball schedule, and LMU will host Long Beach State in a non-conference game on Nov. 29. Last season, Long Beach made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they were defeated by New Mexico.

Roster changes continue

I've heard from multiple sources that redshirt junior Quincy Lawson will not be returning to the Lions. Lawson, who had inconsistent playing time in his two seasons in an LMU jersey, averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds this past year. He appeared in 20 games, starting 12 of them.

It is important to note, however, that Lawson does still appear on the official men's basketball team roster, which has in fact been updated for the 2012-13 season.

Mississippi, Saint Louis added to schedule

In addition to the previously announced Nov. 11 game at SMU, CBSSports announced that the Lions would be hosting Mississippi Dec. 19 at Gersten Pavilion as well as traveling to Saint Louis on Dec. 22. The Lions hosted a ranked Saint Louis team last season, beating it 75-68.

WCC Tournament format changes

The West Coast Conference announced that beginning in 2014, the format of both the men's and women's basketball tournaments would be changing, in large part due to the addition of the University of Pacific to the conference. The new bracket, which again will not be put in place this coming season, is above. Click the image to view in full.

LMU to take on SMU

According to Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports, the Lions will travel to Southern Methodist University on Nov. 11 for a non-conference game. SMU is coached by Larry Brown, the only coach to ever have won both an NBA and NCAA title. Brown will be in his first year with the team.

Official Ben Dickinson announcement

I'm a little late on this, but here is the school's official press release on the signing of transfer Ben Dickinson, who, as reported below, will be joining the Lions.

http://www.lmulions.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/050712aaa.html

LMU announces Chase Flint signing

The LMU athletics department officially announced the addition of Chase Flint to the men's basketball team today in a press release, which can be read here. Flint transfers to the Lions from junior college, and will be available to play immediately.

New York Times reports Binghamton transfer likely headed to Lions

UPDATE (4:36 p.m.): I just heard from Dickinson, and he is indeed transferring to LMU. "When I visited, I loved the school and felt really comfortable with coaches and players," he said.


Original Post (11:00 a.m.): The New York Times reported today that Ben Dickinson, who led Binghamton in both scoring and rebounding during his freshman season last year, is expected to transfer to LMU. Dickinson's departure from the program is not surprising, considering the Binghamton program today announced the firing of its head coach.


Dickinson averaged 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds last season, while starting 27 of his team's 30 games. The 6'8" forward, who is originally from Virginia, was an America East Conference all-rookie last season. If he is indeed joining the Lion, he would sit out one year due to NCAA rules.

DuBois headed to Utah

As reported by the Los Angeles Loyolan, Jarred DuBois will use his final year of eligibility to play for the University of Utah. Because of his upcoming graduation from LMU this coming weekend, Jarred will be able to begin playing for Utah immediately. In his three seasons playing for the Lions, Jarred averaged just over ten points per game, while also contributing heavily on the defensive end of the court.

Lions lose recruit

According to Alex Kline, who runs the website http://www.therecruitscoop.com/, Tobe Okafor has
decommitted from LMU and is now being recruited by Drexel, Hofstra, Iona, Auburn, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Syracuse and Tennessee. The Lions received a commitment from the 6'11" center back in October.

Stover earns MVP honors

The 2012 recruit who will potentially have the most immediate impact next season will be Windward High School forward Nick Stover. Most recently, he won the MVP award at the Collision XIV all-star game.

ESPNLA writes, "Los Angeles Windward forward Nick Stover, a Loyola Marymount signee, earned most valuable player honors at the Collision XIV all-star game at El Camino College on Saturday night, leading the CIF Southern Section boys' team to a 113-106 victory against the City Section." He had 19 points in his team's victory.

Ireland earns Jesuit All-American honors

The awards keep coming in for LMU sophomore point guard Anthony Ireland, who today was given honorable mention honors to the 2011-12 National All-Jesuit Men's Basketball Team. Congrats, AI!

Team picks up Utah guard

Salt Lake Metro is reporting that the Lions have received a commitment from Eastern Utah guard Chase Flint, who will be transferring to LMU for the upcoming season. Flint averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for his JC team last season.

Chase will likely take the roster spot of Jarred DuBois, who was granted his release from the Lions a couple of days ago.

Jarred DuBois leaving the Lions

Update: This is confirmed. Jarred has been granted his release.

It's sounding like the rumors are true, and Jarred DuBois may be leaving the Lions. Definitely sad news, as Jarred played his heart out for the Lions over the past four years, battling a number of injuries but also making a number of big-time shots, none bigger than this game-winner against Notre Dame two years ago.

Jarred, who will graduate this semester from LMU, still has one year of college basketball eligibility, and will be able to play immediately next season with another program if he is enrolled as a graduate student. His minutes were dramatically cut this year, coming off the bench consistently for the first time in his career, and I would imagine he would prefer to start somewhere. With the emergence of Anthony Ireland as the team's starting poing guard, starting would likely have not been likely with the Lions, although with LaRon Armstead graduating you never know what Good may have done with the SG position.

Jarred averaged 10.1 points per game off the bench this past season.

I want to wish the best to JD. One thing Lions fans would have never questioned was his effort and dedication to the sport and the program, and it will definitely be sad to see him go.

Lions will head to Alaska in November

The LMU Athletics Department announced yesterday that the men's basketball team will make its third trip to the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout next season for the 35th playing of the annual college basketball tournament. 35 schools will be participating, including Belmont, Northeastern, Oral Roberts, Texas State and UC Riverside.

First-round matchups have been announced, and the Lions will face Oral Roberts on Thanksgiving. The tournament will run from Nov. 20-24.

Read LMU's full press release here.

West Coast Conference adds 10th member

The West Coast Conference announced today that the University of the Pacific would be joining the league, beginning with the 2013-14 academic year. Click here to read the conference's full release.

LMU adds 6'11" center

According to multiple sources, LMU received a verbal commitment from 6'11" Patson Siame of Zambia. Siame just received a spot on the Nike Hoop Summit's World Select Team, a premier annual basketball game featuring some of the world's leading basketball players aged 19 and younger. Sounds like another nice pickup from Associate Head Coach Myke Scholl, and I will post more info on Siame in the coming days.

Problems grow for San Francisco

I mentioned yesterday that starter Perris Blackwell was intending to leave the Dons, but it was reported today by the Silicon Valley Mercury News that in total six players would be transferring from San Francisco. Joining Blackwell in jumping ship are four reserves, as well as starter Michael Williams, who averaged 29 minutes and 11 points a game.

Blackwell was the team's second-leading scorer.

Read more in the Mercury News article here. The Dons finished the year in fifth place in the WCC, knocking out LMU in the WCC Tournament to advance to the semifinals.

The Dons also lose three seniors to graduation, including star Angelo Caloiaro and Rashad Green. They will return just six players to next year's squad. The team will lose their top four scorers from this past season.

Great quote from Drew in today's Loyolan. He's right. With the help of Head Coach Max Good, the guy's who graduated both last year and this year changed the future of this program.

Season ends with loss at Utah State

Drew Viney's LMU career came to an end tonight in the loss.

The Lions attempted a comeback late in the second half, cutting a 16-point deficit to four with just about three minutes to play, but they could get no closer, falling 77-69. A tremendous season comes to an end with 21 wins, the most since the 1989-90 season.

The Lions say goodbye to seniors Drew Viney, LaRon Armstead and Tim Diederichs. Viney had a tough game, beginning it 0-5 from the field and never quite finding his stroke, finishing with just nine points and shooting just 3-11 from the field.

AI didn't have his outside shooting touch either, but found his way to the rim during LMU's attempted comeback to finish the game with a team-high 23 points.

The loss is a disappointing one, because like the WCC Tournament loss to San Francisco in Vegas, it was definitely a winnable game the Lions, who were sloppy with the ball and struggled to find its rhythm on offense. LMU turned the ball over 19 times, and shot just 41 percent from the field and 50 percent from the free throw line.

WCC teams victim of transfers

Anthony Ireland fights for a loose ball with San Francisco's Perris Blackwell, who is expected to leave the USF program.

Both San Francisco and Portland took blows today, losing key players who have decided to transfer away from their respective programs. The Dons took the biggest hit, as their second-leading scorer Perris Blackwell will be leaving the program.

According to ESPN, Blackwell, who averaged 12.7 points and 6.1 rebounds this season, has been granted his release by the University. 

Then, sophomore Tim Douglas of the Pilots, also announced his transfer. He averaged 8.5 points per game this season.

Ireland's double-double gives Lions OT win

LMU put together a nice victory tonight, holding on to defeat Weber State in overtime to advance to the Collegeinsider.com Tournament quarterfinals. The Lions were led by their leader, sophomore point guard Anthony Ireland, who finished the game with 20 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. The Lions' other All-Conference player, Drew Viney, also showed up, scoring a team-high 23 points while pulling in six boards.

The Lions withstood the attack of Damian Lillard, who finished the regular season as the nation's second leading scorer. Lillard's three-pointer late in the second half forced the game into overtime, but despite his game-high 27 points the Lions were able to pull out the victory and improve its season record to 21-12.

LMU had five players score in double figures.

With the win, the Lions advance into a Wednesday showdown with Utah State (19-15), who easily defeated Idaho yesterday. This will be the Lions' first road game in the CIT, and the contest will tip off at 6 p.m. PT.

Egbeyemi likely out for CIT

Some were wondering why sophomore Ayodeji Egbeyemi was not in uniform for yesterday's CIT win over Cal State Fullerton, but the guard revealed today via his Twitter account that he underwent surgery this morning. I have heard it was on his wrist, and it seems clear he will be out the remainder of the season. Hopefully there are no lingering affects, and Deji will be back and ready to go for the start of next season.

Lions top Titans in CIT opener

The Lions defeated the Cal State Fullerton Titans tonight, riding a strong offensive game to a 88-79 victory. Want to know the best things about winning the game?

1. Seniors like LaRon Armstead don't have to hang up their LMU jerseys quite yet. LaRon is a class act, and the longer this season continues the longer his career continues, and he deserves it. It was great to see him have a strong game, as he finished with 16 points and five rebounds. Drew Viney also showed up big, scoring 19 points and pulling down eight boards. Drew can be inconsistent, but boy are we going to miss him next season.

2. With the win, LMU was able to secure its first playoff victory since 1990, and complete a 20-win season. While all fans know there was some disappointment towards the end of the year, those are both solid accomplishments.

3. Fans got to be reminded that Anthony Ireland is a stud. Coming off of a groin injury, Ireland had a team-high 26 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. There's not much to say except, thank god he's only a sophomore.

With the win, the Lions (20-12) will now host Weber State* (25-6) in second-round action Sunday at 3 p.m. Weber State is coming off of an 72-69 victory over Utah Valley Tuesday night.

*Originally noted that LMU would host Idaho, who beat UCSB tonight. That was announced in Gersten Pavilion after the game, but turns out that was incorrect.

Anthony Ireland honored again

Anthony Ireland was named to the District 9 second-team All-District today by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Read more on the LMU Lions website here.

LMU to host Fullerton Wednesday

As expected, the Lions were left out of the NIT today, but did accept an invitation to play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament for the second time in three years. LMU's first game of the tournament will be Wednesday, when they host Cal State Fullerton. The tournament matches up teams by region, not seeding.

Fullerton finished its season 21-9, with a 12-4 mark in the Big West. The Titans will travel to Gersten Pavilion for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday, which can be seen live here. Fullerton is led by D.J. Seeley and Kwame Vaughn, who is very familiar to the WCC. Vaughn played two season with USF, after originally committing to LMU and then-Head Coach Rodney Tention out of high school.

For a full list of the 32 teams in the CIT and the matchups, click here. The only other team of note for Lions fans is UCSB, who is led by former Lion Orlando Johnson, who also left LMU after the Rodney Tention coaching change. Johnson, despite playing just three years at UCSB, is the Gauchos all-time leading scorer. I'm sure an LMU/UCSB matchup would be a lot of fun to watch, but clearly LMU has to take this thing one game at a time.

In other WCC news, the conference got three teams into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008, as Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and BYU are all in. BYU plays first, with a game against Iona on Wednesday.

Lions likely headed to CIT

We're less than five hours away from Selection Sunday, and while the Lions won't be participating in the Big Dance, it does seem likely that LMU fans should get ready to return to Gersten Pavilion this week for a likely CollegeInsider.com Tournament game. Barring an absolute miracle NIT bid, which would probably only happen if BYU got into the NCAA Tournament, and would still then be a longshot, it seems that the Lions have accepted a spot in the CIT. They will likely host a game Wednesday.

Last year, the WCC's own Santa Clara won the CIT, which also featured San Francisco.

The Lions last appeared in the CIT two seasons ago, when they lost 86-76 to Pacific in Gersten Pavilion. Drew Viney had 17 points in that game.

Everything will be shaken out tonight, starting with the NCAA Tournament selection show at 3 p.m. on CBS.

Saint Mary's ends impressive regular season with exclamation mark

Congratulation to Saint Mary's for their overtime victory over Gonzaga tonight to win the West Coast Conference championship. It was an incredible basketball game, but Matthew Dellevadova and the Gaels pulled it out in the end.

Props also have to be given to Gonzaga, who played its butt off, highlighted by a game-tying three by Elias Harris with four seconds remaining in overtime to force the game into the extra period. Gonzaga and Saint Mary's both hate and respect each other tremendously, you can tell by the way they play, and it sure does make for some exceptional basketball.

Both teams will be a threat when the Madness begins, as it's time to become a "WCC" fan for us Lion faithfuls. According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, BYU will likely make the Tournament as well.

LMU, on the other hand, will wait to hear its fate, but after falling to No. 118 in today's RPI rankings, NIT no longer seems likely for the Lions. CIT seems probable.

Vegas trip cut short

Third time was a charm for San Francisco, as it beat Loyola Marymount tonight to advance to the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament. The Lions had defeated the Dons in both regular season appearances.

USF cruises into quarterfinal matchup

A college basketball fan would be hard pressed to find two teams who have played each other more closely than LMU and the University of San Francisco have the past two seasons. In the 2010-11 season, the Lions lost two heartbreakers to the Dons by a combined three points. This season, LMU got its revenge, defeating San Francisco on the Hilltop on New Years Eve and then again at Gersten Pavilion in early February. Those two wins, however, were by a combined three points.

The two teams will take their competitive rivalry to The Orleans Arena tomorrow night, after the Dons easily handled the Portland Pilots tonight in a West Coast Conference Tournament game. The Dons were led by Rashad Green and Angelo Calolaro, who each scored 19 points in the 19-point victory. No one on San Francisco played more than 27 minutes in the victory, so fatigue should, unfortunately for LMU fans, not be a factor against the Lions Friday.

The game tips off at 6 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPNU. The winner will advance to the tournament's semifinals to face the No. 1 seeded Saint Mary's. Follow The Bottom Line live from vegas on Twitter at twitter.com/thebottomlinejp.

LMU to face San Francisco or Portland Friday

The first game of the men's bracket has wrapped up, and Portland was able to hold off a winless Santa Clara team 74-70 to advance into Thursday's game against San Francisco. The Pilots shot an impressive 56.8 percent and were led by Ryan Nicholas (pictured) who had 24 points. Portland and San Francisco will face off at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by San Diego and Pepperdine at 8 p.m.

LMU will face the winner of the 6 p.m. game on Friday at 6 p.m.

The loss ends an awful season for Santa Clara, whose off-the-court troubles led to a 0-16 regular conference season. Before the season even began, Santa Clara lost big man Marc Trasolini to injury, a huge blow to the team's offense. Then, a couple of games into the WCC season, Kevin Foster, one of the best scorers in the league, was arrested for apparent drunk driving, and was therefore suspended by the team for the remainder of the season. Props to need to be given to the team that remained, however, as despite not winning a game, the Broncos did not roll over, and played a number of close games against some of the league's best teams.

LMU highly represented in conference awards

Head Coach Max Good was honored today with his first West Coast Conference Coach of the Year award, the WCC announced. Good guided the Lions to a 19-win season that included three wins over nationally ranked teams. The award is the first for an LMU coach since 1996.

The Lions were also strongly represented in the WCC's All-Conference team, as both Anthony Ireland and Drew Viney were honored with a place on the 10-man team. Ireland was second in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per game in conference play, while Viney ranked sixth with his 15.4 ppg.

All awards were voted on by the nine team's head coaches. Matthew Dellavedova became the second straight Saint Mary's player to win Player of the Year.

Tournament bracket revealed

The West Coast Conference just released the bracket for next weekend's tournament, and the Lions will play the first of the two quarterfinal games on Friday. LMU will take on either San Francisco, Santa Clara or Portland at 6 p.m. Friday evening, and the game can be seen live on ESPNU. Full bracket is below (click to enlarge).

Seeding set for WCC Tournament

The Lions held off an 0-15 Santa Clara team tonight to finish the conference season 11-5, good enough to earn the fourth seed for the West Coast Conference tournament.

With the addition of BYU to the WCC, the conference will now host a "play in" game for the 8th and 9th seeds, which will take place Wednesday and feature 0-16 Santa Clara and 3-13 Portland. The winner of that game will face No. 5 San Francisco, who Saturday night lost to Saint Mary's 67-60 after upsetting Gonzaga earlier this week. LMU will face the winner of the San Francisco vs. Portland/Santa Clara game.

Saint Mary's clinched the No. 1 seed in the tournament with its win over San Francisco, ending Gonzaga's streak of 11 straight conference titles.

LMU will need three-straight wins in Vegas to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, and likely a run to the finals to earn a spot in the NIT. They were led by sophomore Anthony Ireland in Saturday night's win over Santa Clara, as the guard had 17 points, six assists and four rebounds. Drew Viney had a nice game of 14 points and nine rebounds in what was likely his final game in Gersten Pavilion. A pre-game ceremony honored the team's seniors, which included Viney, LaRon Armstead, Kelsey Chine and Daniel Latimer.

Gersten Pavilion to send out seniors tonight

The Lions will host Santa Clara tonight in their final West Coast Conference game of the season and it will be the final home game for a slew of senior Lions, including starters Drew Viney and LaRon Armstead.

Drew Viney is the most naturally talented offensive player I've seen in a Lions uniform in the six years I've been a fan. He only played three years in an LMU jersey, having started his collegiate career at the University of Oregon, but still ranks as one of the greatest players in program history. Drew recently became just the 13th Lion to score more than 1,000 career points while pulling down more than 500 rebounds.

Drew has an unbelievable and diverse offensive game. Able to play both inside and outside the paint, he has moves that are typically only seen at the professional level, from his fadeaway jumper to his pump-fake to his patience and footwork around the rim. He is the type of player capable of exploding for 30 points on any given night.

Unfortunately, Drew's time at LMU has been sprinkled with injury (an off-season foot surgery, a battle with migraines), so I don't think we as fans ever got to see him consistently play to his full potential. He had moments of absolute pure greatness, and moments where he shied away from the spotlight. That's why thinking about a Lion season without Drew is so disappointing and scary. He will undoubtedly leave an unfillable hole.

LaRon Armstead has always been a crowd favorite, and he deserved it. Every interaction I've had with him both during my time covering the team and since I just got the impression that he is one of the nicest guys. Furthermore, he has had, what would have been to many, a somewhat frustrating career as a Lion.

Many have blocked the 2008-09 season from their memories, but that was the year a freshman named LaRon Armstead poured his heart and soul into a team that ended up finishing just 3-28. Vernon Teel and Jarred DuBois seemed to be the face of the struggling program, but when Teel went down with a broken foot LaRon stepped up big, even playing back-to-back games of 40 minutes when the team, with an ever-shrinking roster, needed him to. I'll never forget the team's game at LMU, when LaRon went for 18 points again the No. 12 ranked team. Even Bruins fans were buzzing about the kid.

But then things got more difficult for LaRon, and his minutes diminished dramatically with the arrival of Drew Viney, Larry Davis and others to the team the following two years. I remember talking to Coach Good about him, and how he respected LaRon so much and felt bad that there didn't seem to be a consistent spot for him in the lineup.

That's why I'm so glad he got to have another coming out party this season, and reinserted himself into the starting lineup. Despite being the odd one out of the lineup for the better part of the past two seasons, LaRon continued to work hard and help the team when asked. He deserved this years starting spot more than anybody. He will graduate ranking in the top-25 of games played as a Lion.

Tim Diederichs will most likely appear in his final game as a Lion tonight. Tim is the longest tenured player on the team, and consistently worked hard to improve. Even when not appearing in games, Tim was an asset to the team with his positive attitude and motivation from the bench. Drew always liked playing with Tim for the simple reason that he focused on fundamentals, boxing out, setting screen, etc.

Walk-ons Kelsey Chine and Daniel Latimer will also be honored at tonight's Senior Night ceremony. Like Tim, Daniel has been an exceptionally positive figure on the bench. Also seems like an extremly nice guy every time I interacted with him. Kelsey approached Coach Good concerning a walk-on spot when he arrived at LMU. I remember Coach Good telling me how impressed he was with the kid, who played high school ball with Jarred. I wish them both the best.

Toreros stun Lions in Gersten

Well, that was unexpected.

After two of the biggest wins of the season, the 10-4 Lions hosted a 6-8 Torero team tonight in the second-to-last regular season game of the year. San Diego came out strong, and had LMU on its heels for the majority of the game, eventually upsetting the home team 60-57.

The Lions never led by more than two in the first half, and trailed by six at the half. The team's leading scorer Drew Viney had only five points in the contest on 2-7 from the field, and the Lions shot less than 25 percent from beyond the arc in the game. The team has been living and dying by the three recently, but hot-shooting masked it well the past few games. Not tonight, as no Lion made more than one three in the game.

Ashley Hamilton led the way with 15 points, despite scoring just one in the first half of play. The redshirt junior carried LMU on his back to start the second period, scoring the team's first 11 points of the half. Anthony Ireland was the only other Lion to score in double-figures, contributing 14 on 7-15 from the field. The sophomore, however, did not have a three-pointer or free throw in the game.

While LMU had a decent shot at making a run for third place in the conference standings, tonight's disappointing loss pretty much solidifies a fourth place conference finish. While it's great that the Lions already earned themselves a first-round bye, the team that showed up tonight would have no chance of beating San Francisco in a quarterfinal match in Vegas. Let's hope this was the team's one off night, and they come back prepared Saturday night when they take on Santa Clara. The game is Senior Night, and it will likely be the last time starters LaRon Armstead and Drew Viney play in Gersten. I hope the team can send them out with a win.

Saturday's game tips off at 8 p.m., and can be seen live on Fox Sports West.

A few things I noticed:

• AI looked exhausted tonight, even in the first half. He has played an extrordinary amount of minutes this season, so I hope that isn't catching up to him. He still had some stellar moments, but his outside shot wasn't there and he just seemed gassed. 
• Drew only took seven shots, which anyone who reads my column will know I hate, but from watching the game he wasn't really turning down open looks. You have to give some credit to the San Diego defense. However, Drew has been playing so well of late that a five-point game is just disappointing. I hope this was his one off-night and he can now come back strong the next four games.
• The game against Santa Clara is now just all about momentum. Heading into Vegas with two disappointing losses would be less than ideal, so let's hope the team gets some positive energy back Saturday and shows up in Vegas like the road warriors we've seen all season.
• Heading into the WCC Tournament with a long winning streak, however, would also have been dangerous, as a letdown would almost be eminent. However, tonight's loss does seriously hurt our chances at an NIT bid.

Final conference homestand kicks off tonight

The Lions will begin their final homestand of the 2011-12 season tonight, as they welcome San Diego to Gersten Pavilion. The Toreros are 3-2 in their last five games, securing WCC victories over Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Portland and losing to San Francisco and Cal State Bakersfield. They are 6-8 in West Coast Conference play.

The two teams met in January in San Diego, when the Lions picked up their second WCC win with a 79-68 victory behind a strong offensive performance from Drew Viney.

The game is an important one for the Lions, who are looking to make a final push in the conference standings before the regular season concludes Saturday night. LMU currently sits one game behind both BYU and Gonzaga, who are facing off against each other tonight in Spokane, Wash.

The Toreros are led by one of the conference's best offensive freshman Johnny Dee, who last time lit the Lions up for 24 points while shooting 6-12 from three. Dee is an exceptionally quick shooter, and the Lions will surely look to do a better job locking him down.

The game tips off at 7 p.m., and can be seen live on lmulions.com.

Other games of interest for Lions fans will be the BYU/Gonzaga showdown on ESPN2 and Saint Mary's vs. Portland matchup on ESPNU. LMU fans should be rooting for Gonzaga and Saint Mary's victories, as explained in my column below.

Wild, Wild West Coast Conference

I received two texts this past weekend, both asking the same question, about two separate West Coast Conference men's basketball games. They both read, "Who do we want to win, again, in this game?"

That is because the WCC men's basketball standings are closer than they have been in years, and with six of the nine tournament seeds still up for grabs with just one week left before the conference tournament begins in Las Vegas, it is hard to know exactly how to root for your team, especially if you're a Lions fan.

The Lions have secured a fourth seed, and therefore a first-round bye, at the tourney, but there is still a decent shot they can snatch the third seed away from either Gonzaga or (more likely) BYU. While that would allow LMU of playing the second seed, not the first, in the semifinals, what may be more important is it would give the team a much easier quarterfinal matchup; basically, avoiding a very hot San Francisco team.

Here is the easiest, and most probable, way for the Lions to steal the third-place spot. All of the following things would need to happen.

• LMU would need to win its final two conference games against Santa Clara and San Diego. Both are at home and against teams the Lions have previously beat. Odds are definitely in LMU's favor here.
• Saint Mary's would need to win its final two games. The No. 1 team in the conference is set to face Portland and San Francisco. Portland should be easy, but the Dons could definitely test the struggling, limping Gaels, especially since the game is on the hilltop in SF. The odds, however, do have to be in Saint Mary's favor here. And therefore, also the Lions' favor.
• Gonzaga needs to win its final two games. This is the trickiest part, as Gonzaga will most likely beat San Diego Saturday, but will first face BYU in one of the biggest games of the season Thursday. Luckily for the Lions, the game is in Spokane, a place where the Zags have not lost yet this conference season. 

Why this works for the Lions: If the above happens, the best BYU could do this weekend is go 1-1 (having lost its game to the Zags Thursday). That would leave BYU and LMU tied in the standings. Because the two teams split their head-to-head matchups, LMU would beat BYU in the tiebreaker based on the fact that it had the "bigger" conference win, defeating the No. 1 Gaels over BYU's biggest conference win, defeating the No. 2 Bulldogs. 

There are a lot of scenarios still possible, but the above seems both the most likely and easiest when it comes to figure out who to root for this weekend. It is important, however, to mention that if Saint Mary's and Gonzaga TIE for first-place in conference, I am pretty sure BYU would then beat out LMU in the tiebreaker for third place, as it would have matched LMU's biggest win and tops LMU in the next tiebreaking category (RPI).

Either way, Thursday and Saturday should be a lot of fun. Can't remember who to root for or just want to follow along with the action? Follow The Bottom Line on Twitter at @thebottomlinejp.

Ireland recognized as conference Player of the Week

Congratulations to Anthony Ireland, who just earned WCC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. Ireland led the Lions to two victories this past week, one of the road over No. 16 Saint Mary's and one at home in a Sears BracketBuster game over Valparaiso. He averaged 17.5 points and 6.0 assists in the two games.

WCC Standings Update

Tough day for the top teams in the WCC, as Saint Mary's lost its non-conference BracketBuster game to Murray St. and Gonzaga was upset for the third year in a row by San Francisco. BYU, however, did secure a win over Santa Clara. The standings for the Top-4 (who have all secured themselves first-round byes at the Tournament) now stand as follows:

St. Mary's     12-2

Gonzaga       11-3

BYU            11-3

LMU            10-4

LMU leads wire-to-wire in BracketBuster win

The Lions jumped out to an 8-0 advantage over Valparaiso Friday night and never looked back, eventually winning the Sears BracketBuster game 61-53.

It felt like LMU was in control of the game the entire night, and showed no letdown after the huge win over No. 16 Saint Mary's Wednesday. Sophomore point guard Anthony Ireland led the way with 19 points, while Ashley Hamilton continued his strong play from the second-half of the Gaels game to pitch in 12. LMU is now 18-10 on the season, and will host Santa Clara and San Diego later this week to close out the regular season.

Gersten Pavilion was packed for the game, which aired live on ESPNU, with more than 4,000 people in attendance. There was also a different mood in the building, as it almost seemed like, for the first time in years, that fans expected the Lions to win the game; a testament to how well the team is playing.

Despite scoring only nine points, Drew Viney was 4-7 from the field and definitely seems to have found his stroke. Center Godwin Okonji is also playing his best basketball of the season, and despite getting into foul trouble played a solid defensive game, pulled down five boards and had two steals. LMU outrebounded their opponent by 14.

In addition to leading the team in scoring, Ireland also led the team in rebounds with eight and assists with five.

LMU will now have a couple well-deserved days of rest before hosting the San Diego Toreros Thursday at 7 p.m. LMU defeated San Diego 79-68 on Jan. 7 behind a 20-point game from Viney. LMU has secured a top-4 spot in the WCC standings, but will look to challenge BYU for third by beating San Diego and then Santa Clara Saturday.

The best news for Lions fans? Drew Viney is playing his best basketball of the season, right when the Lions need it the most. Want some proof? Just watch this video below.

LMU returns home to host first BracketBuster game

After a rough couple of games, Ashley Hamilton came up big for the Lions in the second half of their win over Saint Mary's.

After what was easily its biggest win of the 2011-12 season, the LMU basketball team will now return home to host a Sears BracketBuster game tonight against Valparaiso. The game tips off at 6 p.m., and can be seen live on ESPNU or ESPN3.com.

The game is an interesting one for the Lions, who will be looking to continue to boost their RPI after the win over Saint Mary's. The team's RPI is currently 92, still dramatically higher than that of the other top-four teams in the West Coast Conference after tough non-conference losses to Morgan State, North Texas and Columbia. A win over Valparaiso will be another semi-signature win for LMU, and will definitely give the team a bit more national attention.

The Lions currently sit in fourth place in the WCC standings at 10-4, half a game behind third-place BYU.

The Crusaders are 19-9 on the season, and 12-4 in conference play. They are currently winners of five of their last six games, which is the same as LMU's recent hot streak. Valparaiso is led by Ryan Broekhoff, who averages 15 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

However, Valparaiso is admittedly not entirely focused on tonight's game, as they host an important conference game against Loyola (MD) in just a couple of days. The Crusaders are in the midst of fighting for a conference championship, and a mis-season trip to Los Angeles isn't their top priority. So much so, that center Kevin Van Wijk didn't make the trip, after waking up sore after the team's last game.

The game is more of a momentum game for the Lions, who can't expect to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if they don't win the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas. However, after such a great win over Saint Mary's, the team would like nothing more then to win a nationally televised game and keep it's hot play alive before closing out the regular season against San Diego and Santa Clara, games that the Lions should easily win.

Road warriors strike again

LMU upset No. 16 Saint Mary's tonight with a 75-60 victory. The Lions finish their conference road season with an astonishing 7-1 record and hand the Gaels their first home loss of the year. It was also the Lions first win over the Gaels in six years.

LMU practically led wire-to-wire, with guard Anthony Ireland and forward Drew Viney getting the team out to a hot start, scoring the team's first 13 points. Ireland finished the game with 16 points, seven assists and three rebounds, despite playing with some foul trouble. Viney finished with a team-high 17.

Jarred DuBois contributed 15 points of his own off the bench, and Ashley Hamilton added 11. With the win the Lions boast a a 10-4 West Coast Conference record. LMU has also gotten the best of three ranked opponents this season.

The Lions will finish out their WCC schedule by hosting San Diego and Santa Clara next week, but will first appear on national television Friday to host Valparaiso in a BracketBuster game. The 6 p.m. game can be seen live on ESPNU.

Updated Conference Standings

Road trip concludes with WCC's best

The Lions will play their final road contest of the 2011-12 regular season tomorrow when they travel to Moraga, Calif. to take on the No. 16 Saint Mary's Gaels. The Gaels sit atop the West Coast Conference standings with an 11-1 record, having lost last Thursday to Gonzaga in Spokane. With a win, Saint Mary's guarantees itself a top-two conference finish.

LMU is also coming off of a loss in Spokane, and now sit at 9-4 on the season, half a game behind BYU for the third spot. The matchup against Saint Mary's will be the Lions' fifth against a ranked opponent this season, having previously beaten ranked UCLA and Saint Louis teams. This is also the Lions second contest against the Gaels this year, having lost to them in Gersten Pavilion 71-64 on Jan. 26. LMU has not beaten Saint Mary's since 2006. Saint Mary's is currently 16-0 at home this season.

LMU will look to continue an already-impressive season Wednesday with a win over the Gaels. The team's nine WCC wins are already the most since the 1990-91 season, and after facing Saint Mary's the team will still host two conference games at home.

The game can be heard live on KXLU 88.9 at 7:30 p.m. or watched on tape delay on Prime Ticket at 10 p.m.

Battle for second place set for tomorrow

LMU will enter the hostile Kennel tomorrow evening to take on Gonzaga at 5 p.m. The Lions are coming off of a solid win over Portland while the Bulldogs are coming off of their biggest win of the season, a convincing victory over the previously undefeated Saint Mary's Gaels.

LMU and Gonzaga met on Jan. 14 in Gersten Pavilion, when the then-No. 21 Bulldogs left with a 62-58 victory. The Lions were led by Ashley Hamilton, who had a team-high 16 points, but were without Jarred DuBois, who sat with a concussion. Leading scorer Drew Viney struggled from the floor, shooting just 2-10 and finishing with an un-Drew-like six points.

Gonzaga was led by Elias Harris, who had a game-high 19 points. The forward had a solid game against Saint Mary's last night, so the Lions need to find an answer for him on the defensive end of the court.

The Lions held their own on the boards last game, pulling down only two less rebounds than the Bulldogs. LMU will have to do the same tomorrow if they want a shot at winning, but the key to the game may be how well the Lions can shoot. In the team's last two victories (wins over San Francisco and Portland) LMU is an impressive 21-39 from the three-point arc, and if they remain hot tomorrow they definitely have a chance to get the victory.

A win would put LMU in sole possession of second place in the WCC standings, half a game in front of Gonzaga.

Spokane, Wash., is not an easy place to win, however. Gonzaga is an astonishing 120-9 at home since 1999, so the Lions have a tough battle ahead of them.