Up-Tempo Lions a Test for the Trojans

Little has gone right for the Loyola Marymount basketball team since a season-opening victory at Brigham Young. The Lions have lost to Montana twice, suffered an overtime defeat to South Alabama, and were embarrassed during a 47-point loss to Washington.

But USC Coach Tim Floyd said his Trojans (4-2), winners of four in a row, should still expect a challenge when they face the Lions (2-5) tonight at Gersten Pavilion.

Loyola Marymount features a rising star in junior forward Matthew Knight, who has recorded double-doubles in four consecutive games and is averaging 19.3 points and 11.0 rebounds. Also, the Lions run an up-tempo, Arizona-style offense that first-year Coach Rodney Tention learned as a longtime assistant under Lute Olson, and they apply multiple defenses.

“They require you to spend some time on different things in order to prepare for the game,” Floyd said. “I think it will be a real challenge for us.”

USC needed a late rally to win its only previous road game, a 57-56 victory over Alaska Anchorage at the Great Alaska Shootout that wasn’t secure until the final seconds. The Trojans trailed by five points with 4 minutes 7 seconds remaining.

“We’re hopeful that the experience in Anchorage will help us,” Floyd said, “but that may not be enough because they’re a more talented team than Anchorage.”

Floyd called Loyola Marymount’s victory at Brigham Young “something that I think we would struggle doing.” The Trojans defeated the Cougars, 74-68, last Saturday at the Sports Arena after nearly letting an 18-point, second-half lead slip away.

A renewed emphasis on defense and rebounding has sparked USC during its winning streak. The Trojans have held three of their last four opponents under 40% shooting and won the rebounding battle against Eastern Washington, Alaska Anchorage and UC Riverside before being outrebounded by BYU, 41-32.

USC junior guard Lodrick Stewart said the key to success for the Trojans has shifted from worrying about what their opponents were doing to focusing on their own game.

“It’s just how we come out and play, how we jump out from the start of the game,” Stewart said. “Are we executing our plays and playing together? Are we eliminating them from second-chance shots? I think it’s all about us now. Now we know that we can win if we execute what the coach says to do.”