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Loyola Marymount-Gonzaga Preview

Mar 7, 2010 - 6:45 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Loyola Marymount (17-14) at Gonzaga (25-5), 8:30 p.m. EDT

A relatively young Gonzaga team encountered some speed bumps en route to winning another regular-season West Coast Conference title. Perhaps the most important lesson learned was to not discount opponents such as Loyola Marymount.

Taking a title into the conference tournament for the 10th straight season, the 18th-ranked Bulldogs seek a measure of revenge when they face the Lions in the semifinals Sunday night at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

This season was especially gratifying for Gonzaga coach Mark Few. Despite losing four starters from the 2008-09 team, the Bulldogs went 12-2 in the WCC and 25-5 overall.

"It's a long, hard haul," said Few, who has been named WCC coach of the year for a record eighth time. "This is far and away the youngest, most inexperienced team we have ever taken into league."

Gonzaga wasn't as dominant as it had been over the previous two seasons, when it lost a total of one conference game. One of the Bulldogs' two defeats in this season's WCC slate was a 74-66 road loss to the Lions (18-14, 7-7) on Feb. 18, when Loyola Marymount held Gonzaga to 34.4 percent shooting.

"There's pretty good talent in this league," said Few, whose club had won 29 of its previous 31 meetings with Loyola Marymount including an 85-69 home victory Jan. 23. "If we are not playing at our highest level, we are as susceptible as anybody to get beat."

However, Few's club has every reason to feel confident entering tournament play. The Zags have won five of the last six WCC tournament titles, and are 128-12 in league play since that run began. They've also won four straight overall since losing to the Lions.

In their final tuneup before the tournament, the Bulldogs had a chance to play everyone on their roster in a 78-59 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday night.

Conference player of the year Matt Bouldin got some extra rest, scoring 15 points in 26 minutes. The senior guard is averaging 16.0 points, 4.1 assists and 1.4 steals.

Bouldin, however, was held to 10 points while shooting 3 of 12 in last month's matchup with Loyola Marymount.

Drew Viney paced the Lions in that contest with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. The sophomore forward is averaging a team-high 16.7 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Viney and Vernon Teel had 18 points apiece Saturday as Loyola Marymount defeated San Francisco 84-76 in a quarterfinal matchup. The fifth-seeded Lions opened tournament play Friday with an 87-84 victory over Pepperdine.

Teel had 27 points and seven assists but committed seven turnovers in Loyola Marymount's January loss to Gonzaga.

The winner of this matchup will face either Saint Mary's or Portland in the WCC title game Monday night.