MEN'S TOURNAMENT: LMU looks to knock off Gonzaga in semifinal matchup

LAS VEGAS – Gonzaga faces off against Loyola Marymount in its first West Coast Conference Tournament action tonight at 5:30 at the Orleans Arena here after the No. 5 seed Lions defeated No. 4 seed San Francisco 84-76 Saturday.

With byes in the first two rounds of the tournament, Gonzaga (25-5) awaited the outcome of a quarterfinal matchup between the providers of its only two conferences losses, as the Dons (12-18) defeated the Bulldogs 81-77 in an overtime thriller on Jan. 30 and the Lions handed the Bulldogs their second conference loss on Feb. 18 on a score of 74-66.

Vernon Teel and Drew Viney each scored 18 to lead the Lions past the Dons on Saturday, as Loyola outscored San Francisco by 12 in the second half after a halftime tie to claim a semifinal berth.

Upsetting the favored Dons, Loyola Head Coach Max Good is confident the Lions can maintain momentum against the No. 1 seed Bulldogs.

"Last time when we played Gonzaga we were able to knock them off and we played real well," he said. "We have an awkward mismatch against them so hopefully going into tomorrow everyone will have a little more focus and we'll try to knock them off tomorrow again."

The Lions' "awkward mismatch" centers on a smaller, athletic lineup featuring guards Teel and Viney, who are averaging 21.5 and 15 points per game, respectively, in two tournament games. Redshirt freshman Ashley Hamilton, 6-7, is averaging 18.5 points per game in the tournament.

In the two teams' last meeting, four Lions scored in double figures, as Hamilton led all scorers with 17 and Viney added 16 and 10 rebounds in a victory that was the Lions' first over a ranked team since the 1990 NCAA Tournament, when they defeated the University of Alabama in the West Regional semifinals.

Freshman Elias Harris had 13 and 10 rebounds in that game to lead the Zags, who struggled against the Lions defense shooting 34 percent from the field.

"We pretty much got throttled on our inside play and we thought we had a decided advantage in there," Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few said after that game. "I always thought they had a very, very talented crew," Few said of the Lions. "I mean, they've got a lot of pieces. For the most part, they consistently beat us to the basketball time and time again."

Gonzaga enters the WCC Tournament as heavy favorites, boasting conference player of the year Matt Bouldin, coach of the year Mark Few, and newcomer of the year Harris. Harris, Bouldin and Steven Gray were also named first team All-WCC.

Bouldin enters tonight averaging 16 points, 4.7 rebounds and four assists on the regular season, hoping to forget his 3-12 shooting night the last time the Zags and Lions met.

Gray's recent play has been a hopeful sign for Gonzaga, as after battling inconsistency much of the year, scored 26 against Santa Clara on 10-12 shooting and 15 against San Francisco on 6-11 shooting, both comfortable wins for Gonzaga.

Coach Few said before the tournament began that Loyola is playing "really good basketball," and is one of the "hungry teams desperate to make the NCAA Tournament."

Yet winning the conference tournament, for Gonzaga, means boosting an NCAA Tournament resume that could lead to a hometown seeding, as the Northwest Regional first round games will be held in Spokane.

"We already know we're in the postseason, so it's going to take some maturity and understanding that we need to play our best basketball at this time of the year."

Tonight's game will be televised on ESPN2 and will also be aired on 1510 KGA and
KEYF 101.1 FM radio.

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