LMU Defeats Men's Hoops, 77-61Courtesy: Pepperdine Sports Information
Release: 02/06/2010
Pepperdine-LMU Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's basketball team's seven-game win streak against rival Loyola Marymount came to an end in a 77-61 loss on Saturday night in West Coast Conference action.
Pepperdine (7-17, 3-5) came into the game having won 23 of the last 25 meetings with LMU (12-12, 3-5), but the Lions posted their first win in the series since 2006.
The Pepperdine women won the first game of the doubleheader 72-62, so the PCH Challenge standings now have the Waves in front 7.5 to 4.5.
Junior forward Mychel Thompson (Portland, Ore./Stoneridge Prep) led the Waves with 18 points, while sophomore guard Keion Bell (Los Angeles, Calif./Pasadena HS) had 13 points. Sophomore forward Taylor Darby (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills HS) pulled down 10 rebounds and scored eight points.
LMU's starters accounted for 70 of the Lions' 77 points, and four of them scored in double-figures, led by Drew Viney's 22.
Pepperdine's cold shooting carried over from last week's San Diego game, as the Waves shot 26.9% from the field in the first half and the Lions took a 37-24 lead at halftime.
The Waves also trailed by 13 at halftime in the first meeting this season but rallied to win 79-75 back on January 9. But instead of Pepperdine going on a big run to start the second half, LMU extended its lead to 57-30 with 13 minutes remaining thanks to a 14-0 run.
Junior forward Jonathan Dupre' (Houston, Texas/Collin County CC) and freshman guard Caleb Willis (Stockbridge, Ga./Stockbridge HS) then hit back-to-back three-pointers to help Pepperdine begin the process of getting back into the game. Thanks to a 23-8 run by the Waves, which ended with another three-pointer by Dupre', the Lions' 27-point lead shrank to 12 at 65-53 with 6:50 remaining.
A three-pointer by Thompson got the Waves one point closer at 67-56 with 5:45 left in regulation, but that was the closest Pepperdine would get down the stretch.
The Waves hit 44.0% of their shots in the second half to finish at 35.3% for the game. LMU shot 50.0% for the contest.
Pepperdine, which has no seniors and has a roster where 12 of the 16 players are underclassmen, had been led in scoring by its sophomore class in the previous 24 games this season. The juniors, with 26 points total, led the classes for the first time this season.
The Waves are on the road again next week with contests at San Francisco (Thursday, Feb. 11, 7 p.m.) and Santa Clara (Saturday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m.). Fans can listen to Al Epstein's broadcasts at http://www.pepperdinesports.com/?SPSID=90183&SPID=10851&DB_OEM_ID=18500 with a subscription to Wave Casts.
Click on the above video player for a Pepperdine Pipeline feature on the Pepperdine-LMU rivalry.
Pepperdine Men's Basketball Notes (PDF)
February 3, 2010
THE FACTS - The Pepperdine men's basketball team begins the second half of West Coast Conference play at rival Loyola Marymount. The Waves came back from 17 points down to beat LMU at home last month, and are looking for their eighth straight win in the series on Saturday. The next seven games will be a challenging stretch, as five are on the road.
GAME #24 - Saturday (Feb. 6) at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif.: Pepperdine (7-16, 3-4) at Loyola Marymount (11-12, 2-5) at 7:30 p.m. It will be preceded by the women's game at 5 p.m.
ON THE WEB - Subscribers to "Wave Casts" can catch all Pepperdine men's basketball games on the internet at www.pepperdinesports.com. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, now in his 25th season with the Waves, is behind the microphone. Most home games will have live audio and video, while road games will be audio only. Go to the Pepperdine Athletics website and look for the Wave Casts link. Live statistics will be available for all home matches free of charge, and links are provided to the home team's website when the Waves are on the road.
PCH CHALLENGE - The newly created PCH Challenge is a season-long competition between local rivals Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. The Waves lead 6.0-3.5 heading into Saturday's two games. A home win is worth one point, while a road victory is valued at 1 1/2 points.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT - Pepperdine leads the all-time series, 90-60, including a 36-33 record in away games. The Waves swept the previous three seasons' home-and-home matchups and have now won seven straight in the series. The last LMU victory was at Gersten Pavilion in 2006. The Waves have won 23 of the last 25 meetings overall.
LAST TIME VS. LMU - Back on Jan. 9 at Firestone Fieldhouse ... The 150th meeting ever between Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount was a classic, as the Waves used a 23-4 run to start the second half to rally for a 79-75 victory in the WCC opener for both schools. It was Pepperdine's 12th straight win at home over LMU. Pepperdine fell behind 16-3 after 6 1/2 minutes, trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half and was down 38-25 at halftime. Mychel Thompson (22 points) and Lorne Jackson (17 points) were key figures in the second-half comeback. Jonathan Dupre' hit a three-pointer with two minutes left to put Pepperdine ahead to stay at 67-65. The Waves sank a season-high 14 three-pointers (going nine for 12 in the second half) and made 60.9% of their 23 attempts.
LAST GAME - Pepperdine's offense could never get going on Saturday (Jan. 30) and the result was a 66-44 victory for San Diego in Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves were held to 25.5% shooting for the game. Only Mychel Thompson was able to find the mark, as he made five of 11 shots and scored 14 points. Keion Bell made three shots and scored eight points, but no else had more than four points or more than one made field goal. USD led 29-23 at halftime and was still up only six at 34-28 with a little more than 17 minutes to play, but the Waves went nearly 15 minutes without a field goal as the Toreros pulled ahead 64-38.
ROSTER - There are no seniors on the 2009-10 squad, and 11 of the 15 players are underclassmen. The roster features four juniors, seven sophomores and four true freshmen. Pepperdine does return 11 letterwinners from last season (believed to be among the most in school history). Twelve players are on scholarship and three are walk-ons.
SOPHOMORE SCORERS - Last season, Pepperdine's eight-man freshman class scored more than half of the Waves' points (57.4%). So far, the now-sophomore class has contributed nearly two-thirds (66.1%) of Pepperdine's scoring. The sophomores have been the top-scoring class in every game this season.
THE TRIO - Lately, the Waves have been at their best when Keion Bell, Mychel Thompson and Lorne Jackson are all on. In Pepperdine's seven conference games, they have averaged a combined 46.9 points per game (that's more than two-thirds of all of the Waves' scoring).
KEION BELL - Sophomore guard Keion Bell (Los Angeles, Calif./Pasadena HS) has been one of the most exciting and prolific players on the West Coast in 2009-10. He is currently averaging 19.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He now ranks #2 in the WCC and #29 in the nation in scoring (he ranked as high as ninth nationally in early December). He is the fifth-highest-scoring sophomore in the country. At various points this season, he has been one of just a handful of players in the nation averaging at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Bell has scored more than 20 points in 12 games this season, including a career-high 37 at Gonzaga. He's been in double-figures in every game but three. At the pace he's on, he could become Pepperdine's 35th 1,000-point scorer by the end of his sophomore season (he's got 866). In the WCC rankings, he's also fourth in steals (1.6), sixth in assists, seventh in minutes (32.5) and 16th in rebounding.
BELL'S 37-POINT GAME - The 37-point performance by Keion Bell at Gonzaga on Jan. 21 was extremely memorable for many reasons: 34 of the 37 points came in the second half ... He set the McCarthey Athletic Center record for points by an opponent ... Along with his 34-point game vs. Monmouth, he has the two highest scoring games in the WCC this season ... His second-half slam dunk over Gonzaga 7-footer Robert Sacre made ESPN SportsCenter's Plays of the Day ... Bell made 14 of 21 shots, three of four three-pointers and six of eight free throws ... He scored 22 of Pepperdine's first 24 second-half points in an eight-minute span ... The last time a Pepperdine player scored more points was in January 2001 when Brandon Armstrong notched 40 against Loyola Marymount ... It tied as the 24th-best single-game performance in Pepperdine history, and by players other than scoring great Bird Averitt, it was the eighth best.
MYCHEL THOMPSON - Junior forward Mychel Thompson (Portland, Ore./Stoneridge Prep) was selected as team captain for 2009-10 after a landslide vote by his teammates. He is Pepperdine's only player that has been with the team for two full seasons. Thompson is averaging 12.3 points this season (second-best on the team) and 9.7 points for his career. He has broken into Pepperdine's career top 10 in three-pointers made this season (he's now #8 with 129, Tom Lewis is #7 at 132). Since a rough start to his season from beyond the arc (0-for-21), Thompson has made 38 of 84 (45%). He's been in double-figures in seven of the last eight games and is averaging 14.4 ppg in conference play. He scored a career-high-tying 25 points in a win vs. Utah. Thompson's 6-for-7 three-point performance vs. LMU nearly equaled the school record for single-game percentage (6-for-6, 1.000).
LORNE JACKSON - Sophomore guard Lorne Jackson (Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley HS) is averaging 12.9 points per game in conference play, and he has seen his overall scoring average increase to 9.0 ppg. He's scored in double-figures in five of seven conference games, including a career-high 21 vs. San Francisco. He's also averaging 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in WCC games.
2009-10 NOTABLES - The Waves were down 12 to Cal State San Bernardino with 8 1/2 minutes to play but came back to win by three ... The Waves were the team champion at the World Vision Challenge in Wyoming ... Pepperdine's win over Utah came against a 2009 NCAA Tournament team ... In the 150th meeting ever with LMU, the Waves came back from a 17-point first-half deficit to post a victory in the first game of WCC play ... Pepperdine beat Santa Clara at home for the 13th time in the last 14 meetings ... Pepperdine started 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2005 and 3-0 for the first time since 2002 (a year that the Waves started 11-0 en route to a 13-1 record and a tie for first in the WCC with Gonzaga) ... At 3-0, the Waves were three games over .500 in league play for the first time since 2004 ... Although it was a loss, the Waves' seven-point defeat at Gonzaga was an excellent effort and gave them their closest margin of defeat in Spokane in the last 10 years.
2009-10 HONORS - Keion Bell was named to the preseason All-WCC first team ... Bell (26.7 ppg) was named MVP of the World Vision Challenge at Wyoming and Dane Suttle Jr. (15.3 ppg) also made the all-tournament team ... Mychel Thompson was named WCC co-Player of the Week on Jan. 11 after scoring a game-high 22 points and making six of seven three-pointers in a win vs. LMU ... Lorne Jackson was named WCC co-Player of the Week on Jan. 18 after averaging 18.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in victories over Santa Clara and San Francisco ... Pepperdine has two WCC POTW honors in the same season for the first time since 2004-05, and had its first back-to-back winners since December 2002.
RETURNERS - Four of the five starters from last year's team return (Keion Bell, Taylor Darby, Corbin Moore and Mychel Thompson). Pepperdine's returning players account for 82.5% percent of last year's scoring (1629/1974), 88.3% of the rebounds (919/1041), 65.4% of the assists (223/341), 95.0% of the blocked shots (96/101) and 77.2% of the steals (166/215).
WCC PRESEASON POLL - According to the WCC's coaches, the Waves are predicted to finish seventh in the conference. Their poll went in the following order: Gonzaga, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Francisco and Santa Clara (tied), San Diego, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Several national publications and websites have differing opinions on the Waves, including fourth (The Sporting News), fifth (The Sports Network), sixth (Athlon and Lindy's) and seventh (Rivals.com, CBSSports.com and CollegeHoops.net).
TELEVISION - The Waves are slated to appear on television several times once again in 2009-10. Six games will be shown locally - Nov. 23 at UCLA on Fox Sports West, Jan. 14 vs. Santa Clara on ESPNU, Jan. 21 at Gonzaga on Prime Ticket (delayed), Jan. 30 vs. San Diego on Prime Ticket, Feb. 18 vs. Portland on Prime Ticket and Feb. 20 vs. Gonzaga on Fox Sports West.
YOUTUBE SENSATION - Keion Bell, a preseason All-WCC first team selection, got Pepperdine a ton of publicity in mid-October. At Blue & Orange Madness, Pepperdine's event to kick off the start of practice, the sophomore guard finished up the dunk contest by leaping over five teammates and slamming it home. A Pepperdine fan happened to record the dunk on his iPhone and uploaded it onto YouTube. It quickly spread around the internet and at last check had nearly 1.1 million hits. ESPN's SportsCenter picked up the video and made the dunk the #2 Play of the Day.
TOM ASBURY - Now in his second stint in charge of the Waves is coaching great Tom Asbury. He returned to Malibu prior to the 2008-09 campaign to become the Waves' head coach again after 14 seasons away. Asbury was previously at Pepperdine for nine years as an assistant coach (1980-88) and then the next six as the head coach (1989-94). He went on to serve as head coach at Kansas State from 1995-2000 and was an assistant coach at Alabama from 2004-07.
Pepperdine Men's Basketball Notes (PDF)
February 3, 2010
THE FACTS - The Pepperdine men's basketball team begins the second half of West Coast Conference play at rival Loyola Marymount. The Waves came back from 17 points down to beat LMU at home last month, and are looking for their eighth straight win in the series on Saturday. The next seven games will be a challenging stretch, as five are on the road.
GAME #24 - Saturday (Feb. 6) at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif.: Pepperdine (7-16, 3-4) at Loyola Marymount (11-12, 2-5) at 7:30 p.m. It will be preceded by the women's game at 5 p.m.ON THE WEB - Subscribers to "Wave Casts" can catch all Pepperdine men's basketball games on the internet at www.pepperdinesports.com. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, now in his 25th season with the Waves, is behind the microphone. Most home games will have live audio and video, while road games will be audio only. Go to the Pepperdine Athletics website and look for the Wave Casts link. Live statistics will be available for all home matches free of charge, and links are provided to the home team's website when the Waves are on the road.
PCH CHALLENGE - The newly created PCH Challenge is a season-long competition between local rivals Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. The Waves lead 6.0-3.5 heading into Saturday's two games. A home win is worth one point, while a road victory is valued at 1 1/2 points.LOYOLA MARYMOUNT - Pepperdine leads the all-time series, 90-60, including a 36-33 record in away games. The Waves swept the previous three seasons' home-and-home matchups and have now won seven straight in the series. The last LMU victory was at Gersten Pavilion in 2006. The Waves have won 23 of the last 25 meetings overall.
LAST TIME VS. LMU - Back on Jan. 9 at Firestone Fieldhouse ... The 150th meeting ever between Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount was a classic, as the Waves used a 23-4 run to start the second half to rally for a 79-75 victory in the WCC opener for both schools. It was Pepperdine's 12th straight win at home over LMU. Pepperdine fell behind 16-3 after 6 1/2 minutes, trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half and was down 38-25 at halftime. Mychel Thompson (22 points) and Lorne Jackson (17 points) were key figures in the second-half comeback. Jonathan Dupre' hit a three-pointer with two minutes left to put Pepperdine ahead to stay at 67-65. The Waves sank a season-high 14 three-pointers (going nine for 12 in the second half) and made 60.9% of their 23 attempts.LAST GAME - Pepperdine's offense could never get going on Saturday (Jan. 30) and the result was a 66-44 victory for San Diego in Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves were held to 25.5% shooting for the game. Only Mychel Thompson was able to find the mark, as he made five of 11 shots and scored 14 points. Keion Bell made three shots and scored eight points, but no else had more than four points or more than one made field goal. USD led 29-23 at halftime and was still up only six at 34-28 with a little more than 17 minutes to play, but the Waves went nearly 15 minutes without a field goal as the Toreros pulled ahead 64-38.
ROSTER - There are no seniors on the 2009-10 squad, and 11 of the 15 players are underclassmen. The roster features four juniors, seven sophomores and four true freshmen. Pepperdine does return 11 letterwinners from last season (believed to be among the most in school history). Twelve players are on scholarship and three are walk-ons.SOPHOMORE SCORERS - Last season, Pepperdine's eight-man freshman class scored more than half of the Waves' points (57.4%). So far, the now-sophomore class has contributed nearly two-thirds (66.1%) of Pepperdine's scoring. The sophomores have been the top-scoring class in every game this season.
THE TRIO - Lately, the Waves have been at their best when Keion Bell, Mychel Thompson and Lorne Jackson are all on. In Pepperdine's seven conference games, they have averaged a combined 46.9 points per game (that's more than two-thirds of all of the Waves' scoring).KEION BELL - Sophomore guard Keion Bell (Los Angeles, Calif./Pasadena HS) has been one of the most exciting and prolific players on the West Coast in 2009-10. He is currently averaging 19.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He now ranks #2 in the WCC and #29 in the nation in scoring (he ranked as high as ninth nationally in early December). He is the fifth-highest-scoring sophomore in the country. At various points this season, he has been one of just a handful of players in the nation averaging at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Bell has scored more than 20 points in 12 games this season, including a career-high 37 at Gonzaga. He's been in double-figures in every game but three. At the pace he's on, he could become Pepperdine's 35th 1,000-point scorer by the end of his sophomore season (he's got 866). In the WCC rankings, he's also fourth in steals (1.6), sixth in assists, seventh in minutes (32.5) and 16th in rebounding.
BELL'S 37-POINT GAME - The 37-point performance by Keion Bell at Gonzaga on Jan. 21 was extremely memorable for many reasons: 34 of the 37 points came in the second half ... He set the McCarthey Athletic Center record for points by an opponent ... Along with his 34-point game vs. Monmouth, he has the two highest scoring games in the WCC this season ... His second-half slam dunk over Gonzaga 7-footer Robert Sacre made ESPN SportsCenter's Plays of the Day ... Bell made 14 of 21 shots, three of four three-pointers and six of eight free throws ... He scored 22 of Pepperdine's first 24 second-half points in an eight-minute span ... The last time a Pepperdine player scored more points was in January 2001 when Brandon Armstrong notched 40 against Loyola Marymount ... It tied as the 24th-best single-game performance in Pepperdine history, and by players other than scoring great Bird Averitt, it was the eighth best.
MYCHEL THOMPSON - Junior forward Mychel Thompson (Portland, Ore./Stoneridge Prep) was selected as team captain for 2009-10 after a landslide vote by his teammates. He is Pepperdine's only player that has been with the team for two full seasons. Thompson is averaging 12.3 points this season (second-best on the team) and 9.7 points for his career. He has broken into Pepperdine's career top 10 in three-pointers made this season (he's now #8 with 129, Tom Lewis is #7 at 132). Since a rough start to his season from beyond the arc (0-for-21), Thompson has made 38 of 84 (45%). He's been in double-figures in seven of the last eight games and is averaging 14.4 ppg in conference play. He scored a career-high-tying 25 points in a win vs. Utah. Thompson's 6-for-7 three-point performance vs. LMU nearly equaled the school record for single-game percentage (6-for-6, 1.000).LORNE JACKSON - Sophomore guard Lorne Jackson (Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley HS) is averaging 12.9 points per game in conference play, and he has seen his overall scoring average increase to 9.0 ppg. He's scored in double-figures in five of seven conference games, including a career-high 21 vs. San Francisco. He's also averaging 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in WCC games.
2009-10 NOTABLES - The Waves were down 12 to Cal State San Bernardino with 8 1/2 minutes to play but came back to win by three ... The Waves were the team champion at the World Vision Challenge in Wyoming ... Pepperdine's win over Utah came against a 2009 NCAA Tournament team ... In the 150th meeting ever with LMU, the Waves came back from a 17-point first-half deficit to post a victory in the first game of WCC play ... Pepperdine beat Santa Clara at home for the 13th time in the last 14 meetings ... Pepperdine started 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2005 and 3-0 for the first time since 2002 (a year that the Waves started 11-0 en route to a 13-1 record and a tie for first in the WCC with Gonzaga) ... At 3-0, the Waves were three games over .500 in league play for the first time since 2004 ... Although it was a loss, the Waves' seven-point defeat at Gonzaga was an excellent effort and gave them their closest margin of defeat in Spokane in the last 10 years.
2009-10 HONORS - Keion Bell was named to the preseason All-WCC first team ... Bell (26.7 ppg) was named MVP of the World Vision Challenge at Wyoming and Dane Suttle Jr. (15.3 ppg) also made the all-tournament team ... Mychel Thompson was named WCC co-Player of the Week on Jan. 11 after scoring a game-high 22 points and making six of seven three-pointers in a win vs. LMU ... Lorne Jackson was named WCC co-Player of the Week on Jan. 18 after averaging 18.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in victories over Santa Clara and San Francisco ... Pepperdine has two WCC POTW honors in the same season for the first time since 2004-05, and had its first back-to-back winners since December 2002.
RETURNERS - Four of the five starters from last year's team return (Keion Bell, Taylor Darby, Corbin Moore and Mychel Thompson). Pepperdine's returning players account for 82.5% percent of last year's scoring (1629/1974), 88.3% of the rebounds (919/1041), 65.4% of the assists (223/341), 95.0% of the blocked shots (96/101) and 77.2% of the steals (166/215).
WCC PRESEASON POLL - According to the WCC's coaches, the Waves are predicted to finish seventh in the conference. Their poll went in the following order: Gonzaga, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Francisco and Santa Clara (tied), San Diego, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Several national publications and websites have differing opinions on the Waves, including fourth (The Sporting News), fifth (The Sports Network), sixth (Athlon and Lindy's) and seventh (Rivals.com, CBSSports.com and CollegeHoops.net).
TELEVISION - The Waves are slated to appear on television several times once again in 2009-10. Six games will be shown locally - Nov. 23 at UCLA on Fox Sports West, Jan. 14 vs. Santa Clara on ESPNU, Jan. 21 at Gonzaga on Prime Ticket (delayed), Jan. 30 vs. San Diego on Prime Ticket, Feb. 18 vs. Portland on Prime Ticket and Feb. 20 vs. Gonzaga on Fox Sports West.YOUTUBE SENSATION - Keion Bell, a preseason All-WCC first team selection, got Pepperdine a ton of publicity in mid-October. At Blue & Orange Madness, Pepperdine's event to kick off the start of practice, the sophomore guard finished up the dunk contest by leaping over five teammates and slamming it home. A Pepperdine fan happened to record the dunk on his iPhone and uploaded it onto YouTube. It quickly spread around the internet and at last check had nearly 1.1 million hits. ESPN's SportsCenter picked up the video and made the dunk the #2 Play of the Day.
TOM ASBURY - Now in his second stint in charge of the Waves is coaching great Tom Asbury. He returned to Malibu prior to the 2008-09 campaign to become the Waves' head coach again after 14 seasons away. Asbury was previously at Pepperdine for nine years as an assistant coach (1980-88) and then the next six as the head coach (1989-94). He went on to serve as head coach at Kansas State from 1995-2000 and was an assistant coach at Alabama from 2004-07. 
Asbury went 125-59 (.679) in his first head coaching job at Pepperdine and took the Waves to the postseason five times in six years with three NCAA Tournament appearances (1991, '92, '94) and two in the NIT (1989, '93). Pepperdine won three regular-season WCC titles and the school's only three WCC Tournament championships came under Asbury. Prior to the start of the 2009-10 season, his seven-year record at Pepperdine was 134-82 (.620) and his 13-year record as a head coach was 219-170 (.563).
ASSISTANTS - Upon his return, Tom Asbury wanted to find assistants with a passion for Pepperdine and an understanding of its mission, so he turned to three former student-athletes. It's believed that Duke and Pepperdine have the only two college basketball staffs where the assistant coaches are all alums. Associate head coach Marty Wilson (1985-89) and assistant coaches Damin Lopez (1990-94) and Will Kimble (2001-03) played in three different eras, all successful. In the 13 seasons that made up their playing careers, Pepperdine went a combined 261-135 (.659), had 12 winning seasons, won six WCC regular-season titles and three WCC tournament titles, and made six NCAA Tournaments and four NITs.
HECTOR HAROLD - There are no seniors on the roster but Pepperdine had one scholarship to offer for 2010-11. During the early signing period, they inked Hector Harold, a 6-foot-6 small forward from the Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) School. He was given a rating of 88 out of 100 by ESPN.com's recruiting site and is considered one of the top seniors in New England. He is originally from Pasadena, Calif.
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - Tom Asbury believes in preparing his team for league play with a difficult non-conference slate of games, and so that's what the Waves did for the first 16 games of the season. The Waves played six games against non-conference teams that took part in the postseason last year: Portland State, UCLA and Utah made the NCAA Tournament, Miami (Fla.) was in the NIT, Wyoming was in the College Basketball Invitational and Pacific was in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Nine of the 16 non-conference games were at home.
LAST SEASON - Tom Asbury's return to Pepperdine brought much-needed stability to the program in his first season back. With only five players returning, Asbury and his new staff brought in 10 newcomers well after the regular letter-of-intent signing period. The young Waves posted a 9-23 overall record but got much better as the year went on, placing sixth in the WCC with a 5-9 record and winning a first-round game at the WCC Tournament. Keion Bell was named to the WCC All-Freshman team after averaging a team-best 12.9 ppg.PEPPERDINE HISTORY - This is the 72nd season of Pepperdine basketball, and the Waves opened 2009-10 with an all-time record of 1,111-910 (.550). Pepperdine has been to the NCAA Tournament 13 times (last in 2002), and has won 12 West Coast Conference regular-season titles (last in 2002) and three WCC Tournament crowns (last in 1994).
BEST IN THE WEST - Pepperdine has long been one of the top Division I programs on the West Coast. Over the 31-season period from the 1978-79 season through the 2008-09 campaign, of the 32 schools that currently play Division I basketball in California, Oregon or Washington, the Waves began the 2009-10 season ranking third overall in postseason appearances (16) and fifth in both wins (525) and winning percentage (.565) over the past 31 years.
WAVES IN THE PROS - This is the 34th consecutive season where at least one Pepperdine alum has been on an NBA roster. Currently in the NBA is Yakhouba Diawara, now in his fourth season overall and his second with the Miami Heat.
A total of 16 former Pepperdine players have gone on to play in the NBA, most notably Dennis Johnson (the 1979 NBA Finals MVP) and Doug Christie (a 15-year NBA veteran who was a mainstay on the All-Defensive Team). Some recent standouts have been playing in foreign countries, including Alex Acker (Italy), Tezale Archie (Netherlands), Brandon Armstrong (Venezuela), Gerald Brown (Poland), Jelani Gardner (Greece), Kelvin Gibbs (Germany), Chase Griffin (Germany), Dana Jones (Switzerland) and Glen McGowan (Dominican Republic). Robert "Hollywood" Turner, formerly a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, is now playing in Finland.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports - one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports - one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles. 
Pepperdine Team ReportGETTING INSIDEThe enthusiasm and confidence Pepperdine acquired from its 3-0 start in West Coast Conference play has disintegrated in four consecutive losses, the last a blowout home defeat to a struggling San Diego team.
And now the Waves begin a stretch of three consecutive road games on Feb. 6 against Loyola Marymount, and that might only perpetuate the woes, because the Waves are winless on their opponents’ home courts this season.
A lot of the Waves’ apparent slump has been a product of the schedule. The 3-0 conference start came against some of the weaker WCC teams and were all played at Pepperdine.
Then came consecutive games against the three best teams in the WCC—Gonzaga, Portland and St. Mary’s—the first two on the road.
It’s no surprise the Waves lost those three. The first real discouraging result was the Jan. 30 loss to San Diego. The Toreros had lost five in a row, and the Waves were playing at home, but Pepperdine crumbled badly, losing by 22 points while scoring only 44 points.
Pepperdine is a fragile team, having suffered through a lot of losing in recent seasons and through the nonconference portion of this season, and it remains to be seen whether the Waves can handle this slide with road games coming up.
The Waves are young, with a starting lineup that includes three sophomores and a freshman.
The loss to San Diego has a chance to linger on the Waves’ minds. They trailed by only two points late in the first half and were still in the game, down by eight with 12:22 remaining in the game.
At that point, the Waves’ offense vanished. Over the next eight minutes, Pepperdine went 0-for-6 from the floor and committed eight turnovers to play themselves out of the game.
Such a lapse in a game happens occasionally to young teams, but it is particularly disturbing when it happens at home. The Waves made only four of 20 shots in the second half, and that included baskets on their final two shots, well after the outcome had been decided.
The Waves also committed 17 turnovers, and Pepperdine’s star, Keion Bell, had a poor shooting game, so he was unable to rescue the team. When Bell struggles, so does the team.
NOTES, QUOTES
—The 44 points and 25.5 percent shooting in the loss to San Diego on Jan. 30 were season lows for Pepperdine.
• Pepperdine’s four-game losing streak as of Feb. 1 is its second longest losing streak of the season. It lost seven in a row earlier.
• The Waves drew a crowd of only 940 for its Saturday game against San Diego on Jan. 30.
On The Spot: Pepperdine has been on a gradual decline since its 3-0 conference start and that is not a good trend. In its first conference loss, Pepperdine played pretty well in a road loss to Gonzaga before being handled by Portland in the next game. St. Mary’s handled Pepperdine easily when the Waves returned home, and Pepperdine played its worst conference game so far this season in the 22-point loss to San Diego, which was tied for last coming into the game. Confidence is waning, and confidence was what the Waves had going for them two weeks earlier.
Quote To Note: “When we are scoring, things happen and we are that much stronger.”—Pepperdine G Keion Bell, who had only eight points in the Jan. 30 loss to San Diego.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Season Recap: Pepperdine had lost nine of 10 games coming into conference play, then showed some life by winning its first three conference games. But Pepperdine had regressed to its expected status, having lost four in a row as of Feb. 1. The Waves dropped to 7-16 and were headed the wrong direction. They begin a three-game trip on Feb. 4, and they were 0-7 in games on their opponents’ home courts.
Player Rotation: Usual Starters—G Keion Bell, F Mychel Thompson, F Jonathan DuPre, F Taylor Darby, G Lorne Jackson. Key Subs—F Dane Suttle Jr., G Joshua Lowery, F Gus Clardy.
Game Review:
Portland 80, Pepperdine 64
St. Mary’s 88, Pepperdine 71
San Diego 66, Pepperdine 44
Game Preview:at Loyola Marymount, Saturday, Feb. 6
at San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 11
at Santa Clara, Saturday, Feb. 13
vs. Portland, Thursday, Feb. 18
vs. Gonzaga, Saturday, Feb. 20
In Focus: Pepperdine overcame a 17-point, first-half deficit to beat Loyola Marymount in its conference opener. But that was at Pepperdine, and the Waves are winless on the road. Mychel Thompson had 22 points in the first meeting, and he was one of the few Pepperdine players who had a decent shooting game in the Jan. 30 loss to San Diego. As always, Pepperdine needs Keion Bell to do a little bit of everything to be successful.
Roster Report:• Keion Bell had a streak of three consecutive games of scoring 20 points or more halted by San Diego, which limited him to eight points.
• Mychel Thompson started the season 0-for-20 on 3-pointers over the first six games, but he has made at least two 3-pointers in each of the past eight games as of Feb. 1.
• Lorne Jackson matched a season high with six rebounds against San Diego on Jan. 30.
And now the Waves begin a stretch of three consecutive road games on Feb. 6 against Loyola Marymount, and that might only perpetuate the woes, because the Waves are winless on their opponents’ home courts this season.
A lot of the Waves’ apparent slump has been a product of the schedule. The 3-0 conference start came against some of the weaker WCC teams and were all played at Pepperdine.
Then came consecutive games against the three best teams in the WCC—Gonzaga, Portland and St. Mary’s—the first two on the road.
It’s no surprise the Waves lost those three. The first real discouraging result was the Jan. 30 loss to San Diego. The Toreros had lost five in a row, and the Waves were playing at home, but Pepperdine crumbled badly, losing by 22 points while scoring only 44 points.
Pepperdine is a fragile team, having suffered through a lot of losing in recent seasons and through the nonconference portion of this season, and it remains to be seen whether the Waves can handle this slide with road games coming up.The Waves are young, with a starting lineup that includes three sophomores and a freshman.
The loss to San Diego has a chance to linger on the Waves’ minds. They trailed by only two points late in the first half and were still in the game, down by eight with 12:22 remaining in the game.
At that point, the Waves’ offense vanished. Over the next eight minutes, Pepperdine went 0-for-6 from the floor and committed eight turnovers to play themselves out of the game.Such a lapse in a game happens occasionally to young teams, but it is particularly disturbing when it happens at home. The Waves made only four of 20 shots in the second half, and that included baskets on their final two shots, well after the outcome had been decided.
The Waves also committed 17 turnovers, and Pepperdine’s star, Keion Bell, had a poor shooting game, so he was unable to rescue the team. When Bell struggles, so does the team.
NOTES, QUOTES—The 44 points and 25.5 percent shooting in the loss to San Diego on Jan. 30 were season lows for Pepperdine.
• Pepperdine’s four-game losing streak as of Feb. 1 is its second longest losing streak of the season. It lost seven in a row earlier.
• The Waves drew a crowd of only 940 for its Saturday game against San Diego on Jan. 30.
On The Spot: Pepperdine has been on a gradual decline since its 3-0 conference start and that is not a good trend. In its first conference loss, Pepperdine played pretty well in a road loss to Gonzaga before being handled by Portland in the next game. St. Mary’s handled Pepperdine easily when the Waves returned home, and Pepperdine played its worst conference game so far this season in the 22-point loss to San Diego, which was tied for last coming into the game. Confidence is waning, and confidence was what the Waves had going for them two weeks earlier.Quote To Note: “When we are scoring, things happen and we are that much stronger.”—Pepperdine G Keion Bell, who had only eight points in the Jan. 30 loss to San Diego.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNELSeason Recap: Pepperdine had lost nine of 10 games coming into conference play, then showed some life by winning its first three conference games. But Pepperdine had regressed to its expected status, having lost four in a row as of Feb. 1. The Waves dropped to 7-16 and were headed the wrong direction. They begin a three-game trip on Feb. 4, and they were 0-7 in games on their opponents’ home courts.
Player Rotation: Usual Starters—G Keion Bell, F Mychel Thompson, F Jonathan DuPre, F Taylor Darby, G Lorne Jackson. Key Subs—F Dane Suttle Jr., G Joshua Lowery, F Gus Clardy.
Game Review:
Portland 80, Pepperdine 64
St. Mary’s 88, Pepperdine 71
San Diego 66, Pepperdine 44
Game Preview:at Loyola Marymount, Saturday, Feb. 6
at San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 11
at Santa Clara, Saturday, Feb. 13
vs. Portland, Thursday, Feb. 18
vs. Gonzaga, Saturday, Feb. 20
In Focus: Pepperdine overcame a 17-point, first-half deficit to beat Loyola Marymount in its conference opener. But that was at Pepperdine, and the Waves are winless on the road. Mychel Thompson had 22 points in the first meeting, and he was one of the few Pepperdine players who had a decent shooting game in the Jan. 30 loss to San Diego. As always, Pepperdine needs Keion Bell to do a little bit of everything to be successful.Roster Report:• Keion Bell had a streak of three consecutive games of scoring 20 points or more halted by San Diego, which limited him to eight points.
• Mychel Thompson started the season 0-for-20 on 3-pointers over the first six games, but he has made at least two 3-pointers in each of the past eight games as of Feb. 1.
• Lorne Jackson matched a season high with six rebounds against San Diego on Jan. 30.
College Hotline
With Jon Wilner
With Jon Wilner
To the ratings we go …
1. Gonzaga (17-4/6-1): NCAA seed likely to be determined in the next 10 days: vs. Portland, at Memphis, vs. St. Mary’s
2. St. Mary’s (19-3/6-1): I’m not calling an upset, but the ingredients are there for Santa Clara to rise up this weekend in Moraga: SMC is at home against the last-place team, which it already beat fairly easily … and the Broncos are amped up and capable of long stretches of quality play (as they showed against Gonzaga) and have a point guard that SMC cannot keep out of the lane.
3. Portland (14-7/5-2): Quietly taking care of business and … whadayaknow? … only a game out of first, thanks to USF.
4. USF (8-14/3-4): Gave Dons the edge over Pepperdine, despite the head-to-head result, because of the mega-upset of Gonzaga.
5. San Diego (9-14/2-5): And gave USD the edge over Pepperdine because of the Toreros’ 22-point head-to-head victory.
6. Pepperdine (7-16/3-4): The margin of defeat vs. USD makes me wonder (from afar) if there’s something wrong with the Waves that cannot be fixed in a few days … and five of their last seven are on the road.
7. Loyola Marymount (11-12/2-5): If the Lions don’t beat Pepperdine at home on Saturday, they might not win again. (And the same is true of the Waves if they lose at LMU.)
8. Santa Clara (9-15/1-6): Blowout loss to Portland was sooooo predictable given SCU’s inexperience and the emotional/disappointing loss to Gonzaga.
1. Gonzaga (17-4/6-1): NCAA seed likely to be determined in the next 10 days: vs. Portland, at Memphis, vs. St. Mary’s
2. St. Mary’s (19-3/6-1): I’m not calling an upset, but the ingredients are there for Santa Clara to rise up this weekend in Moraga: SMC is at home against the last-place team, which it already beat fairly easily … and the Broncos are amped up and capable of long stretches of quality play (as they showed against Gonzaga) and have a point guard that SMC cannot keep out of the lane.
3. Portland (14-7/5-2): Quietly taking care of business and … whadayaknow? … only a game out of first, thanks to USF.
4. USF (8-14/3-4): Gave Dons the edge over Pepperdine, despite the head-to-head result, because of the mega-upset of Gonzaga.
5. San Diego (9-14/2-5): And gave USD the edge over Pepperdine because of the Toreros’ 22-point head-to-head victory.
6. Pepperdine (7-16/3-4): The margin of defeat vs. USD makes me wonder (from afar) if there’s something wrong with the Waves that cannot be fixed in a few days … and five of their last seven are on the road.7. Loyola Marymount (11-12/2-5): If the Lions don’t beat Pepperdine at home on Saturday, they might not win again. (And the same is true of the Waves if they lose at LMU.)
8. Santa Clara (9-15/1-6): Blowout loss to Portland was sooooo predictable given SCU’s inexperience and the emotional/disappointing loss to Gonzaga.
2010 Media News Group
College careerIn the 1988–89 season, he became the second player in history to lead NCAA Division I in scoring and rebounding in the same season, averaging 32.7 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. LMU's coach at that time, Paul Westhead, had instituted an extraordinarily fast-paced game plan. On offense, the Lions took numerous three-point shots, and typically shot the ball within 10 seconds of gaining possession; their defense was a full court press designed to force their opponents into a frenzied up-and-down game. Loyola Marymount still holds the place in the NCAA record books for being involved in the five highest scoring games in Division I history.
LegacyAs a result of Gathers' death, the 1990 WCC tournament was suspended, and Loyola Marymount was given the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament (as a #11 seed) due to its regular season championship. During LMU's subsequent run to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion UNLV, Gathers' teammate Bo Kimble (a right-handed player) shot his first free throw of each game left-handed in memory of Gathers, who, while naturally right-handed, was a poor free-throw shooter and had, for a time, attempted to shoot left-handed. He made all three attempts (Kimble did not have any free-throw attempts in the Sweet 16 win over Alabama), from that point onward, and deep into his professional career, Kimble continued to honor his fallen friend by making his first free throws left-handed.
In 1992, Gathers' life was dramatized in a TV movie, as Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story. He was portrayed by Victor Love.
Gersten Pavilion, LMU's on-campus athletics facility, is known to Lions fans as "Hank's House", although that is not part of its official name. On 29 January 2005, members of Gathers' 1989–90 team, including Kimble, were inducted into the Loyola Marymount Hall of Fame during halftime of a 63–46 win over cross-town rival Pepperdine. Gathers' mother, Lucille Gathers Cheeseboro, also attended the ceremony.Gathers' nephew D.J. Rivera is the top scoring player in 2009 for the NCAA Division I America East Conference. He attends Binghamton University (SUNY). Due to his strong play this season the Binghamton Bearcats won the America East and for the first time earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.
NFL Draft Projections by College
ALL PLAYERSTyson Alualu DT
Jahvid Best RB
Nyan Boateng WR
Marcus Ezeff S
Brett Johnson S
Chet Teofilo OG
Michael Tepper OT
Syd'Quan Thompson CB
Verran Tucker R
