Loyola Marymount Wins 10th Straight : Even Without Keith Smith, Lions Easily Beat St. Mary’s, 82-61

Loyola Marymount shrugged off Keith Smith’s absence Saturday night and routed St. Mary’s, 82-61, to tie the school record of 10 straight victories and set up next Saturday night’s home showdown with Pepperdine.

Smith, one of the nation’s leading scorers with a 23-point average, sat out because of a sprained ankle. But Loyola hardly seemed to notice, running up leads that reached 28 points and improving its West Coast Athletic Conference record to 8-0 before a home crowd of 1,865.

Loyola is 16-6 overall and leads Pepperdine by a game in the WCAC. St. Mary’s fell to 2-6 and 9-12.

With Smith out, Forrest McKenzie came out shooting, hitting his first four shots and 16 of Loyola’s first 30 points as the Lions built a 38-23 halftime lead. McKenzie finished with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field.

Loyola put the game away in the first five minutes of the second half, building a 51-25 lead before St. Mary’s made a basket.

Freshman Enoch Simmons, filling in for Smith, capped the surge with a wraparound pass to Fred Bradford for a layup. It was one of Simmons’ 10 assists.

“When he passed that one behind the back,” Coach Paul Westhead said, “I looked down the bench at Smitty and grinned, like, ‘That ankle better get better quickly.’ He (Simmons) acted like he belonged out there at point guard.”

Bradford pulled down 12 rebounds and Mark Armstrong had 11 as the Lions dominated the boards, 59 to 31. Sophomore Mike Yoest had 9 rebounds and also scored 20 points, including 12-for-12 shooting from the free-throw line.

Center Scott Mayer led St. Mary’s with 12 points. Forward Robert Haugen, who came into the weekend leading the nation in shooting percentage, had 11 points but hit only 3 of 8 shots.

With the game out of reach, Loyola fans turned their attention to Pepperdine. A chant of “We want Pepperdine” quickly evolved to “Pepperdine wants us.”

Westhead was more respectful. “They’re the reigning champs,” he said. “We don’t have any crowns on our heads. They’re still the No. 1 team.”

If Smith returns, as expected, that reign could be threatened.