Loyola vs. Gaels: High Noon Comes to Gersten

High Noon comes to Loyola Marymount at 7:30 tonight when this town won’t be big enough for both Loyola and St. Mary’s.

There aren’t really bad guys in this plot, because it’s more a conflict of philosophies than right vs. wrong. Would Gary Cooper be Paul Westhead, the erudite ringleader of the hell-bent-for-leather Loyola scoring machine, or would he be St. Mary’s Lynn Nance, a ruddy Texan who favors Alamo-style defense?

These coaches abhor everything the other believes about the way to play the game. With their divergent styles, both have successfully resurrected stumbling programs. And the delicious part is that they are tied, along with Pepperdine, for first place in the West Coast Athletic Conference at 5-1.

Will scoring decide first place in the WCAC, or the ability to hold scoring down? Will it be Westhead’s no-holds-barred, full-throttle tactics or Nance’s traditional by-the-book approach?

After scoring 181 points Tuesday, Loyola leads the nation with an average of 113.5. St. Mary’s is allowing only 54.7 points--less than half Loyola’s average--and its opponents are shooting 39%. Both defensive marks are No. 2 nationally.

Loyola’s low output for the season is 79 points, and that’s the only game in which the Lions have been below 80. They’ve scored in triple figures 12 times, over 130 five times. St. Mary’s has yet to allow 70 points and has held opponents below 50 six times.

“It will be a test of wills,” Westhead said. “We’ll try our very best to have the game in the upper . . . whatever. They’ll try to hold it down. I have my doubts it will be in the 40s or 50s. That’s not bragging. I just think the way we push it, it’ll be tough to keep it that low.”

In two conference games against St. Mary’s last season, Loyola scored in the 90s. In Gersten Pavilion, the Lions won a runaway, 98-81, as the Gaels tried stalling tactics in the final minutes to prevent Loyola from topping 100. In the rematch at Moraga, the Gaels led from start to almost the finish until Loyola’s Mike Yoest hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 96-94 victory.

Just the Facts: Loyola has the WCAC’s leading scorers in Hank Gathers (his 33.4 also leads the nation) and Jeff Fryer (24.0). Enoch Simmons is fourth at 20.7. St. Mary’s has nobody among the conference leaders, with five players bunched between 12.7 and 9.8. Forward Robert Haugen is the leader.

St. Mary’s has impressive team stats, however. The Gaels are second in the country in scoring margin (21.8), 16th in rebounding margin (6.6) and 11th in field goal percentage (52.5).

The Gaels have attempted 149 three-pointers. Loyola has made 172 of 490. Fryer has made (75) and attempted (207), more three-pointers than the Gael team. Three Gaels are shooting better than 60% from the field, and only one starter is below 50%. Loyola’s Gathers, at 59.6%, is the only Lion starter above 50%. Loyola is shooting 47.7% while opponents are hitting 54.8%. However, the Lions have outgunned the opposition by 181 shots.

Gathers collected only seven rebounds in two games last week against Pepperdine, which concentrated on walling him off inside, but his eyes lit up Tuesday when U.S. International came to town. So did his rebound totals. Gathers gathered a school-record 29 caroms, 10 of them offensive, to go with 41 points against USIU.

“I knew in this kind of wide-open game there would be a lot of missed shots,” Gathers said. “When somebody shot, I was actually saying to myself in the paint, ‘Miss, miss.’ If it came off the rim I was going after it. Fate was on my side. I got a couple.”

Gathers’ total broke one of the oldest marks in the Loyola record books, Jim Haderlein’s 28 against San Francisco in 1970.

College Notes

For the second straight month, Hank Gathers was named WCAC Player of the Month. He averaged 32.6 points and 13.4 rebounds and shot 58% in January to lead Loyola to an 8-3 record . . . Loyola forward Per Stumer has quietly moved into the No. 2 rebounding slot in the WCAC at 8.1 per game, trailing only teammate Gathers, whose 13.3 average leads the nation . . . The oldest remaining mark in Loyola’s record book belongs to Garnette Brown, who made 16 straight free throws against Santa Clara in the 1956-57 season. It was tied by Greg Goorjian in a 1983 game against Pepperdine. Lions guard Enoch Simmons came close Sunday when he hit 14 straight in the second half against Pepperdine. His downfall? He was 0 for 2 in the first half . . . With games this weekend against Gonzaga and Portland, Santa Clara Coach Carroll Williams goes in two victories short of 300 for his career. Williams, the dean of the WCAC, is in his 19th year at Santa Clara.