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| 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. |
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.
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