The Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team represents

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

in men's

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

. The team competes in the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

. The team has played its home game at

Gersten Pavilion The Gersten Pavilion is a 3,900-seat multi-purpose arena in Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the Loyola Marymount University Lions. It was built in 1981 and has been used for home games by the university's men's basketball, women's bas ...

since 1981. Loyola Marymount's last appearance in the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

was in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, where they advanced to the Elite Eight. They lost to eventual national champion

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

. Prior to the NCAA tournament, Lions star player

Hank Gathers Eric Wilson "Hank" Gathers Jr. (February 11, 1967 – March 4, 1990) was an American college basketball player for the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference (WCC). As a junior in 1989, he became the second player in NCAA Division I ...

died during the West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament from a heart condition. The Lions defeated

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

, defending champion

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. The 1990 squad was also the highest scoring team in NCAA Division I history with an average of 122 points per game.

History

Loyola Marymount has played in the

since 1955, when the Lions and

Pepperdine Waves The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University, located outside the city of Malibu, California. They compete at the NCAA Division I, Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. The school is a me ...

joined the hitherto Northern Californian league that included

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

, the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

, Saint Mary's College, and the University of Pacific. LMU has played in the WCC ever since, fostering heated rivalries with all WCC members, especially

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

and the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

, a WCC member since 1979. LMU's early basketball history produced two Lions better known for their coaching tenures at other WCC schools than their LMU careers.

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Unive ...

and

Phil Woolpert Philipp D. Woolpert (December 15, 1915 – May 5, 1987) was an American basketball coach, best known as the head coach of the University of San Francisco Dons in the 1950s. He led them to consecutive national championships in 1955 Biograph ...

were classmates at LMU, graduating in 1939. Newell went on to coach the San Francisco Dons to the 1949 NIT title, and the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

to the 1959 NCAA tournament championship. Newell is considered one of the most influential coaches in the history of basketball. Woolpert coached the legendary

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

and K.C. Jones led University of San Francisco Dons to NCAA championships in 1954 and 1955. Though LMU represented the WCC in the 1961 NCAA tournament, the Lions were consistently also rans in the WCC which included powerful

and

teams. Of note from LMU's early WCC teams is

Rick Adelman Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden S ...

, 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 coach Paul Westhead. His teams led Division I in scoring in 1988 (110.3 points per game), 1989 (112.5) and 1990 (122.4). LMU's 122.4 point per game in 1990 was still a record as of October 2010. 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 over

United States International University United States International University (USIU) was a nonprofit university based in San Diego, California, that was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At its peak, it had two additional American campuses and three inter ...

on January 31, 1989.

and

Bo Kimble Gregory Kevin "Bo" Kimble (born April 9, 1966) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He played college basketball for the Loyola Marymount Lions. As a senior in the 1989–90 season, Kimble was named a consensus second-t ...

transferred to LMU from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. In the 1988–89 season, Gathers became the second player in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season, averaging 32.7 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. In the 1989–90 season, Kimble led the nation in scoring averaging 35.3 points per game. Both Gathers and Kimble were consensus second team All-American selections in 1990. In the 1989–90 season, during the second round of the WCC tournament, Gathers collapsed and died on the court due to a heart condition. The team nevertheless reached the Elite Eight in the 1990 NCAA tournament. Its three postseason wins included a 149–115 regional victory over

that established NCAA men's tournament records for points by one team and combined points in a single game. The Lions ultimately were eliminated by

, a team that went on to win the national championship. Loyola Marymount's final record was 26–6. Gathers (#44) and teammate

(#30) later had their jerseys retired by LMU. LMU alumnus Mike 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 the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

. On March 20, 2020, Stan Johnson was announced as the 27th head coach of Loyola Marymount. In the 2022–23 season, Johnson began the only coach in West Coast Conference history to defeat Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, and BYU 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 the Jamaica Classic in 2022 and the Cancun Challenge in 2024.

Postseason results

NCAA tournament results

The Lions have appeared in the NCAA tournament five times. Their combined record is 5–5.

NIT results

The Lions have appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) one time. Their record is 1–1.

CIT results

The Lions have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two times. Their record is 2–2.

CBI results

The Lions have appeared in the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI sel ...

(CBI) one time. Their record is 2–1.

Retired numbers

Loyola Marymount has retired two jersey numbers, both being two members of the 1990 Sweet Sixteen team. ;Notes

Lions in professional basketball

The following Lion players have played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA): *

* Jean-Paul Afif * Corey Gaines * Normie Glick *

Jerry Grote Gerald Wayne Grote (October 6, 1942 – April 7, 2024) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1963 through 1981 for the Houston Colt .45s, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kansas City Roya ...

* Orlando Johnson *

* Forrest McKenzie * Richard Petruška * Keith Smith The following Lions are playing in international basketball: * James Batemon III (born 1997), basketball player in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

* Gabe Levin (born 1994), American-Israeli basketball player in the

* Eli Scott,basketball player in the Slovak Basketball League

References

External links

* {{West Coast Conference men's basketball navbox