Loyola Marymount (13-8, 8-5) vs. No. 4 seed Saint Mary’s (13-8, 4-6)
West Coast Conference Tourney Semifinals, Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Loyola Marymount is ready to take on Saint Mary’s with the winner punching its ticket the WCC championship game. The only meeting between the teams this season came on Jan. 21, when the Gaels forced 27 Loyola Marymount turnovers and turned the ball over just 12 times on the way to the four-point victory.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Saint Mary’s’ Tommy Kuhse has averaged 12.6 points and five assists while Matthias Tass has put up 11 points and 5.2 rebounds. For the Lions, Eli Scott has averaged 18 points and 8.2 rebounds while Mattias Markusson has put up 9.5 points and six rebounds.
CREATING OFFENSE: Logan Johnson has directly created 44 percent of all Saint Mary’s field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 18 field goals and 10 assists in those games.
UNDEFEATED WHEN: The Gaels are 5-0 when they block at least five opposing shots and 8-8 when they fall shy of that mark. The Lions are 5-0 when they make seven or more 3-pointers and 8-8 when the team hits fewer than seven from long range.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Gaels have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Lions. Saint Mary’s has an assist on 31 of 63 field goals (49.2 percent) across its past three outings while Loyola Marymount has assists on 34 of 77 field goals (44.2 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Loyola Marymount is rated first among WCC teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 32.6 percent. The Lions have averaged 10 offensive boards per game.
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