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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 6, 2015 11:10:51 GMT -5
BYU Cougars – Part II
Next up are the Cougars who now sport a 17-8 record and are 7-5 in WCC play.
The Lions lost by 12 in Provo with 5 scorers in double figures led by Mornar with 16; Godwin 14, Humphries 12, Deji 11 and Hayes 11. Evan Payne did not play in that game.
Tyler Haws led the Cougars with 26 as he did last night in BYU’s loss to the Waves.
This is a different Lions team than BYU saw earlier and I’m expecting a very competitive game this weekend. Our length inside and our newly-found confidence in our offense will be keys to the game.
I wonder how Vegas will rate this game??
Go Lions!
Gametime: Saturday, Feb 7 at 1 pm in Gersten. TV: TWCSN (out of area TheW.tv)
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Post by golions1444 on Feb 6, 2015 11:56:30 GMT -5
I'm going to guess and say it will be Lions +5.5
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 6, 2015 19:26:12 GMT -5
Vegas has the Cougars as 8 point favorites. That looks like a good bet on the Lions to me!
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 7, 2015 12:54:26 GMT -5
Expect a large crowd with lots of Cougar supporters, like last year, Makes the win even sweeter!
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Post by husky on Feb 7, 2015 13:39:46 GMT -5
We will be doing well if we can emulate last years effort. It was before the brunt of the injuries hit and going in we were 9-4. That first half was as good as any I have seen from the Lions in 25 years. It was played during the holiday season but was still well attended, I had my entire family, kids, grand kids, siblings, and in laws plus a couple of friends there. Just us today but I a replay of the euphoria going around after that game would be nice; not that last Thursday's win was chopped liver.
A key is our obvious need to stay out of foul trouble. Thanks to Coach Dunlap's gutsy decision to leave Humphries and Godwin in with 4 fouls we survived and came through. If Patson is feeling stronger he could provide some insurance for Godwin but I'm not sure how we replace Humphries, he' s really stepped up of late. When we get in a hole, he has been there to pull us out. If we can limit Hawes to only his usual stats and not allow him to "go off" we have an excellent chance and the 8 points is indeed a wise wager.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 7, 2015 15:58:19 GMT -5
Deji not in uniform today Hayes jumper looks sharp in warm ups
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 7, 2015 19:21:25 GMT -5
That was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking in Gersten today. The Cougars came to play and delivered. The Lions were beat in all aspects of the game - shooting, FT shooting, rebounding and even hustle. After our quality win on Thursday, some of us (like me) probably got ahead of themselves with expectations for the season. Yes, we missed Deji but I don't think that would have been a deciding factor in any case. And, upon reflection, the Toreros were missing one of their key players, that pesky Anderson fellow. Positives today were the continued fine play of Humphries and Mornar. I think Humphries would have logged the full 40 minutes if the game were closer but he did sit a spell at the end. Evan is a key on offense but he still has a tendency to dribble himself into a pickle under the hoop. I hope he will learn soon the limits there. Siame plays with a serious mean streak and eventually will be dominant under the boards. For now, his game is still raw, including his defense, but there is promise. The only other bright spot today was Spears getting some quality minutes. I like his aggressiveness on offense, including some nice drives to the hoop. But, sharpshooters need to convert FTs and that was lacking today, perhaps nerves. On to Gonzaga next Thursday who might be looking past us after today's exhibit. Perhaps we'll catch them with their pants down? And sneakers untied? Etc.
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Post by aussielion on Feb 7, 2015 19:52:34 GMT -5
have to agree with King of the Jungle cant win them all (at the moment).
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Post by husky on Feb 7, 2015 23:06:13 GMT -5
We were certainly whipped in all facets except maybe blocks.They outhustled us badly on the boards and were more aggressive all afternoon.
They also made about 14 more free throws, which is a stat that benefited from some "official" assistance. They just seemed to notice every little Lion touch but just couldn't seem to spot a BYU transgression without witnessing a serious mugging. The difference was especially stark in the first half when BYU was only whistled twice, and then for super blatant fouls. But even reversing the poor officiating wouldn't have saved us today. The good news is: it's not uncommon in this conference to suck one game and turn around 180 the next, look no further than Pepperdine and San Diego, today.
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Post by slblions08 on Feb 9, 2015 0:32:33 GMT -5
That was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking in Gersten today. The Cougars came to play and delivered. The Lions were beat in all aspects of the game - shooting, FT shooting, rebounding and even hustle. After our quality win on Thursday, some of us (like me) probably got ahead of themselves with expectations for the season. Yes, we missed Deji but I don't think that would have been a deciding factor in any case. And, upon reflection, the Toreros were missing one of their key players, that pesky Anderson fellow. Positives today were the continued fine play of Humphries and Mornar. I think Humphries would have logged the full 40 minutes if the game were closer but he did sit a spell at the end. Evan is a key on offense but he still has a tendency to dribble himself into a pickle under the hoop. I hope he will learn soon the limits there. Siame plays with a serious mean streak and eventually will be dominant under the boards. For now, his game is still raw, including his defense, but there is promise. The only other bright spot today was Spears getting some quality minutes. I like his aggressiveness on offense, including some nice drives to the hoop. But, sharpshooters need to convert FTs and that was lacking today, perhaps nerves. On to Gonzaga next Thursday who might be looking past us after today's exhibit. Perhaps we'll catch them with their pants down? And sneakers untied? Etc. The team beat San Francisco on a lucky airball/follow-in by Payne at the buzzer. They needed overtime to beat Pacific a team that whipped them the first time. They survived San Diego missing their second best player. LMU could easily have lost those games. So far this season, when facing teams with any stars or talent, LMU has been pretty much overmatched. I was hoping to eat crow by seeing LMU put up a fight against BYU since I guess our guys are playing the best basketball they have played all season, but it was more of the same. That's the next area of development for Dunlap. Being competitive against good teams. That might only happen if we get some better players though. Dunlap has been on the task of preparing for the WCC for a full year now (since last Feb when he was basically coach in waiting) so it's good to see it start to kick in. I'd suspect us to be competitive against anybody not named Gonzaga, BYU or St. Mary's, which I guess isn't bad for year one of Dunlap's reign. I still count 3 winnable games left on the schedule. Finishing 6-12 and like 7th would be W/L improvement over last year, although the WCC is a much weaker conference this season. The goal from now on is to finish the season on a happy note so that someone like Payne doesn't transfer. The good news is that next year Payne, Mornar and Humphries could all stick around and Siame's body can adjust to actually playing after years of just sitting. That's 4 of a 5 starting 5 for next season that's good enough to be middle of the pack if he can recruit some depth.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 9, 2015 20:39:34 GMT -5
I agree slb that we need to improve the roster as much as possible, especially at PG. I do expect Simon and Matt to improve significantly next season with one year of DI play under their belt and the summer to work on their game. Spears showed some promise Saturday as a 6'7" SG. Herman should improve also - remember he is a freshman this season and it's the exceptional that a true freshman can make a significant impact. He has a DI body and a good perimeter shot, including from 3. This has been an up and down season for most teams in the WCC so, as ET said, we are not alone.
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