WCAC SHOWDOWN: LOYOLA VS. PEPPERDINE : GUARDS ARE UP : Lions Have Roared to Top Behind the Hot Shooting of Smith and McKenzie

Today’s sports quiz: Name the highest-scoring backcourt in major college basketball.

Nope, it’s not Johnny Dawkins and Tommy Amaker at Duke. It’s not Mark Price and Bruce Dalrymple at Georgia Tech. It’s not Steve Mitchell and Mike Charles at Alabama Birmingham. It’s not Scott Skiles and whoever else is back there with him at Michigan State.

It’s Keith Smith and Forrest McKenzie at Loyola Marymount, which will be counting on their combined average of 43 points a game to help beat Pepperdine tonight in a game that has generated the most excitement on the Westchester campus since Albert Gersten Pavilion opened four years ago.

By midweek, the game was sold out. That’s the first time that has happened since Loyola moved into its 4,156-seat gym.

The reason for the excitement at Loyola is obvious: The Lions are 8-0 in the West Coast Athletic Conference, a game ahead of the Waves, and are riding a 10-game winning streak. Loyola’s 16 season victories are the most since 1968, and a 20-win season would be the first in 25 years.

Beyond that, the Lions, under first-year Coach Paul Westhead, are playing a crowd-pleasing, high-octane game that showcases the talents of Smith and McKenzie, who before this season were generally known only to a handful of fans and NBA scouts.

Smith and McKenzie, both seniors, have been playing their own little game on the side, competing for the school scoring record--which both have broken this season--sometimes passing each other weekly as they approach 2,000 points.

For those keeping score, McKenzie has 1,895 points and Smith 1,855. Smith sprained an ankle last week, missed his first game after appearing in 102 straight and relinquished the lead. His ankle is still tender, but he is expected to start.

Both players said this week that the record--and their NBA prospects--are sidelights to winning the WCAC title and going to the NCAA tournament. A year ago, with McKenzie redshirting and the Lions finishing with an 11-18 record, those goals seemed impossible.

When Loyola changed coaches last spring, the soft-spoken McKenzie stood off to the side and made what amounted to a major policy statement for him--that the team and the school didn’t know what it took to win.

With McKenzie’s successful return and his smooth transition from forward to the shooting guard spot in Westhead’s scheme, all that has changed.

“We didn’t (know how to win),” the 6-7 McKenzie said. “(Now) as opposed to recent years, we’re getting better as the season progresses.”

Loyola started out quickly, then lost four straight to fall to 6-6, a familiar pattern in recent years. But the team hasn’t lost since.

“That shows you the resilience of our team,” McKenzie said. “And I don’t think we’re where we could be yet. We’re just seeing where our running game can go.”

When McKenzie became embroiled in a grades dispute with the NCAA, he sat out last season and the 6-3 Smith became the acknowledged star of the team, averaging more than 25 points and leading the WCAC in scoring and assists. But both players say there has been no conflict or jousting for points, and Westhead concurs.

In fact, with the Lions averaging 83 points a game, sophomore Mike Yoest has emerged as a scorer while McKenzie and Smith still get an average of 20 and 23 points per game, respectively.

“A lot of people think because we score, there’s going to be a problem,” McKenzie said. “We just play. You do your job. If we get into head trips, it hurts the team. We could both average 28 and be losing. What would it mean? Our main responsibility is to get this team to win. Scoring is not a key issue.”

As for the school record, McKenzie said that it would be nice to finish first. “But I’d rather not have the record and get to the NCAAs than have it and not go,” he added.

Smith said his teammate is welcome to the record. After all, a load of McKenzie’s baskets have helped Smith lead the WCAC in assists. “I hope he wins it,” Smith said. “Actually, I look at him more as a scorer than me. Last year was more of a necessity.”

McKenzie’s bad luck seemed to be continuing when he broke his thumb early in fall practice. When he returned, he was scoring but missing the long jump shots that were his signature as a sophomore and junior. His switch to guard early in January not only turned the team around but also seemed to give him back his shooting touch as well.

In recent games, he has put on shooting displays that had Westhead reaching for superlatives. “Coach Westhead didn’t think I could shoot,” McKenzie said with a smile.

Westhead hadn’t seen McKenzie play for Loyola previously. After a recent streak by McKenzie--a flurry of line drives from the deep corner, rainbows from the sides and leaning jumpers from beyond the top of the key--Westhead, an English teacher, was almost at a loss for words.

“That was a phenomenal display,” he said. “I haven’t seen shooting like that . . . anywhere.”

He added later: “It took me two months to figure out he could shoot the ball. Forrest McKenzie is a great shooter. I never knew it.”

McKenzie wasn’t about to tell him. After a year of introspection, he decided that talk--which he has never dispensed freely--is cheap. “We had millions of talks when we were losing,” he said. “That’s all it is--talk. Don’t talk. Just do it.”

Although Smith has the more outgoing personality, Westhead characterizes both players as leaders by example. “They’re more doers than sayers,” he said. “They’ve just gone out and performed--let their actions speak for their feelings.”

A year ago, Smith, who was directing a lineup with three freshmen, might bark directions at a teammate and, if agitated, even chew one out. Now, he is channeling his leadership role in a more positive direction.

“My role is definitely different than last year,” he said. “We’re so disciplined in what we’re going to do, it just flows so natural, (that) where we’re trying to show leadership is to be positive, set a positive example. I’m more vocal than Forrest, but basically we’re showing by example. At the start of the streak I got more aggressive early. I think the team saw that and fell in line.”

McKenzie said: “You think about what you can do to lead them . . . (but) we’re grown men. Everybody’s a leader in himself. When you’re down, sometimes you need somebody to pull you up. Then Keith or I might look for the shot.”

In personality, Smith and McKenzie are diverse. Smith is hip, always happy to talk, a mod dresser with a taste for Prince movies and Carl Lewis haircuts. His game combines point guard aspects and long-range shooting with explosive one-on-one dissections of opponents in which he weaves effortlessly to the basket.

“He was a complete player, I think, when he was about 9,” Westhead said. “I just let him be the lead player and pick his spots. He just doesn’t make many mistakes.”

McKenzie, a born-again Christian, is more serious on the surface and has an aura of quiet confidence. He appeared almost fragile when he graduated from Pasadena High but now has a body that Michelangelo could have used as a model.

When he disagrees with an official’s call, he generally flashes his movie-star smile and walks away without a word. But an occasional swooping dunk or fancy pass are in his repertory. In last week’s emotional victory over the University of San Diego, he made four straight technical foul shots to ice the game, then surprised his coach by raising his arms in triumph.

“Keith is probably more visible because of his position,” Westhead said. “Forrest is more subtle. On the other hand, Forrest has a lot of flair. His shots can ignite people.”

Though the two aren’t inseparable, Smith says he’ll miss his teammate more than McKenzie realizes: “I respect him so much as a person, I think I’m a lot closer to him than he knows,” Smith said. “Lately I’ve been thinking about how I’m not gonna see much more of the guys. I’m more apt to show it now. I might go over and hug him after a good play. The team has grown close this year.”

And it is getting close to its lofty goals--the conference title and an NCAA bid. Six games remain, two with Pepperdine. “We have to beat Pepperdine to put the pressure on them,” McKenzie said. “This is hell week for all of us--and we have everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

A LOOK AT LOYOLA’S TOP TWO CAREER SCORERS

FORREST McKENZIE

SEASON G FG% FT% PTS AVG. 1981-82 27 .490 .884 374 13.9 1982-83 27 .486 .844 540 20.0 1983-84 27 .480 .809 563 20.9 1985-86 21 .501 .892 418 19.9 CAREER 102 .488 .847 1895 18.6

KEITH SMITH

SEASON G FG% FT% PTS AVG. 1982-83 27 .482 .612 213 7.9 1983-84 27 .487 .733 481 17.8 1984-85 27 .472 .700 678 25.1 1985-86 21 .514 .784 483 23.0 CAREER 102 .487 .724 1855 18.2

NOTE: McKenzie was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the 1984-85 season.