| Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball | |||||||||
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| University | Loyola Marymount University | ||||||||
| Head coach | Stan Johnson (6th season) | ||||||||
| Conference | West Coast Conference | ||||||||
| Location | Los Angeles, California | ||||||||
| Arena | Gersten Pavilion (capacity: 4,156) | ||||||||
| Nickname | Lions | ||||||||
| Colors | Crimson and blue[1] | ||||||||
| Uniforms | |||||||||
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| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | |||||||||
| 1990 | |||||||||
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| Conference tournament champions | |||||||||
| 1988, 1989 | |||||||||
| Conference regular-season champions | |||||||||
| 1961, 1988, 1990 | |||||||||
* vacated by NCAA | |||||||||
TheLoyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team representsLoyola Marymount University in men'scollege basketball. The team competes in theWest Coast Conference. The team has played its home game atGersten Pavilion since 1981.[2]
Loyola Marymount's last appearance in theNCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in1990, where they advanced to the Elite Eight. They lost to eventual national championUNLV. Prior to the NCAA tournament, Lions star playerHank Gathers died during theWest Coast Conference men's basketball tournament from a heart condition. The Lions defeatedNew Mexico State, defending championMichigan, andAlabama. The1990 squad was also the highest scoring team in NCAA Division I history with an average of 122 points per game.
Loyola Marymount has played in theWest Coast Conference since 1955, when the Lions andPepperdine Waves joined the hitherto Northern Californian league that includedSanta Clara University, theUniversity of San Francisco,Saint Mary's College, and theUniversity of Pacific. LMU has played in the WCC ever since, fostering heated rivalries with all WCC members, especiallyPepperdine University and theUniversity of San Diego, a WCC member since 1979.
LMU's early basketball history produced two Lions better known for their coaching tenures at otherWCC schools than their LMU careers.Pete Newell andPhil Woolpert were classmates at LMU, graduating in 1939. Newell went on to coach theSan Francisco Dons to the 1949 NIT title, and theCalifornia Golden Bears to the1959 NCAA tournament championship. Newell is considered one of the most influential coaches in the history of basketball. Woolpert coached the legendaryBill Russell andK.C. Jones led University of San Francisco Dons to NCAA championships in 1954 and 1955.
Though LMU represented the WCC in the1961 NCAA tournament, the Lions were consistently also rans in the WCC which included powerfulUniversity of San Francisco andSanta Clara University teams. Of note from LMU's early WCC teams isRick Adelman, the 1968 WCC Player of the Year, who enjoyed a 7 year NBA career followed by a 30-year NBA coaching career.
The Lions burst onto the national basketball scene in the late 1980s under coachPaul Westhead. His teams led Division I in scoring in 1988 (110.3 points per game), 1989 (112.5) and 1990 (122.4).[3] LMU's 122.4 point per game in 1990 was still a record as of October 2010.[4] As of October 2010, Loyola Marymount held the five highest combined scoring games in Division I history. Four of the five occurred during Westhead's career, including a record 331 in the 181–150 win overUnited States International University on January 31, 1989.[5]
Hank Gathers andBo Kimble transferred to LMU from theUniversity of Southern California.[6] In the1988–89 season, Gathers became the second player inNCAADivision I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season, averaging 32.7 points and 13.7rebounds per game.[7][8] In the1989–90 season, Kimble led the nation in scoring averaging 35.3 points per game. Both Gathers and Kimble wereconsensus second team All-American selections in 1990.[9][10]
In the1989–90 season, during the second round of theWCC tournament, Gathers collapsed and died on the court due to a heart condition. The team nevertheless reached the Elite Eight in the1990 NCAA tournament. Its three postseason wins included a 149–115 regional victory overMichigan that established NCAA men's tournament records for points by one team and combined points in a single game. The Lions ultimately were eliminated byUNLV, a team that went on to win the national championship. Loyola Marymount's final record was 26–6. Gathers (#44) and teammateBo Kimble (#30) later had their jerseys retired by LMU.
LMU alumnusMike Dunlap took over the program in 2014 and guided the Lions until the end of the 2020 season. Dunlap was formerly the head coach of theCharlotte Bobcats.
On March 20, 2020,Stan Johnson was announced as the 27th head coach of Loyola Marymount.[11] In the 2022–23 season, Johnson began the only coach in West Coast Conference history to defeatGonzaga,Saint Mary's, andBYU in the same season. After defeating BYU on 64–59 in the conference home opener on January 5, 2023, Johnson's Lions snapped Gonzaga's 75-game home win streak on Jan. 19, 2023 with a 68–67 win over the #6 team in the country. LMU then defeated #15 Saint Mary's at Gersten Pavilion on February 9, 2023, for his second nationally-ranked win of the season. Johnson has led LMU to two MTE (Multi-Team Event) Tournament titles in his tenure, winning theJamaica Classic in 2022 and theCancun Challenge in 2024.
The Lions have appeared in theNCAA tournament five times. Their combined record is 5–5.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game | Utah USC | L 75–91 W 69–67 |
| 1980 | First round | Arizona State | L 71–99 |
| 1988 | First round Second Round | Wyoming North Carolina | W 119–115 L 97–123 |
| 1989 | First round | Arkansas | L 101–120 |
| 1990 | First round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight | New Mexico State Michigan Alabama UNLV | W 111–92 W 149–115 W 62–60 L 101–131 |
The Lions have appeared in theNational Invitation Tournament (NIT) one time. Their record is 1–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | First round Second Round | California Wyoming | W 80–75 L 90–99 |
The Lions have appeared in theCollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two times. Their record is 2–2.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | First round | Pacific | L 76-86 |
| 2012 | First round Second Round Quarterfinals | Cal State-Fullerton Weber State Utah State | W 89–79 W 84–78OT L 69–77 |
The Lions have appeared in theCollege Basketball Invitational (CBI) one time. Their record is 2–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | First round Quarterfinals Semifinals | California Baptist Brown South Florida | W 56–55 W 81–63 L 47–56 |
Loyola Marymount has retired two jersey numbers, both being two members of the 1990 Sweet Sixteen team.
| Loyola Marymount Lions retired numbers | |||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | Career | No. ret. | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Bo Kimble | SG | 1987–1990 | February 19, 2000 | [12] |
| 44 | Hank Gathers[n 1] | F | 1987–1990 | [13] | |
The following Lion players have played in theNational Basketball Association (NBA):
The following Lions are playing in international basketball:
