The Saint Mary's Gaels continue their season-long three-game road trip as they head to Southern California to face the Loyola Marymount Lions. The Gaels are off to their best overall start in school history with a 19-2 record and their 8-0 conference record is their best start to conference play in over 50 years. The LMU Lions are 12-8 overall and 5-2 in conference where they sit firmly in fourth place, a year removed from a 2-12 conference record.
Saint Mary's currently leads the WCC in five statistical categories including scoring defense, scoring margin, rebound defense, rebound margin and assist/turnover ratio. Junior Matthew Dellavedova leads the way with a team-high 15.8 points and a league-leading 6.5 assists per game. Senior forward Rob Jones remains the leader in rebounds while sophomore Stephen Holt leads the conference in steals.
The next three weeks could prove crucial to Saint Mary's regular season conference title hopes. After LMU on Thursday, the Gaels travel to Provo to face BYU on Saturday, followed by a home game against San Diego next Thursday. They get a week off before heading to Spokane for a showdown with Gonzaga in what could be a battle for the regular season crown. SMC is putting itself in position for at least an at-large bid, but given last year's disappointing non-selection, every win is essential.