Los Angeles, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team Travels to Loyola Marymount this Sunday for a 3 pm PT tip against the Lions. A victory over LMU would help the 2015-16 Highlanders (5-2) keep pace with the 2008-09 version of the team for the best start in the program's Division I history.
UCR moved to three games over .500 on Thursday with a 77-66 win over Northern Colorado (
box score/
recap). Jaylen Bland scored 18 points in the victory, and now ranks sixth in the nation in made three-pointers per game (4.00). Three other Highlanders joined Bland in double figures—Secean Johnson with 14, Taylor Johns with 13 and Robert Boezeman with 12.
Bland leads the Big West in scoring average at 18.0 points per game, and UC Riverside ranks second in the conference in scoring at 78.1 points per game. The Highlanders rank 25th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.407) and 19th in made three-pointers per game (10.7). Defensively, they rank ninth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage allowed (.243).
Loyola Marymount (4-3) had a three-game winning streak snapped Wednesday evening at Oregon State as the Lions fell to the Beavers 79-72. LMU has already played three other Big West institutions this season beating Cal State Fullerton (79-74) and CSUN (82-80 in OT) at home, but losing to UC Irvine (77-53) on the road.
Adom Jacko leads the Lions in scoring averaging 14.3 points per game, while connecting on 53.3 percent of his field goal attempts and making 76.9 percent of his free throws. Brandon Brown is also averaging double figures for LMU at 13.9 points per game while pacing the squad in assist at 5.9 per game.
The Highlanders are 4-4 all-time against the Lions (
view results), but LMU has won each of the last two meetings including a 66-62 decision last season (
box score/
recap).
