Lions Will Try to Keep Heads in This Game : Loyola Marymount: Emotions figure to be running high in tonight’s first-round matchup against New Mexico State.

In their first game after Hank Gathers’ death the last time they were on the court March 4, the Loyola Marymount Lions may have to control themselves as much as New Mexico State to win tonight’s opening-round game in the NCAA basketball tournament at Long Beach Arena.

The Lions (23-5) go into the 8:30 contest in an emotional state that Coach Paul Westhead has tried to address all week in practice. But he isn’t sure what to expect at tip-off, other than an outpouring of crowd support. Might they try too hard?

“That’s something we need to be conscious of,” Westhead said. “It’s easy to tell a team to relax. You can’t do that in this circumstance. You have to allow the natural run of feelings . . . the (frantic) way we play you can tend to forget yourself. I’m hoping that works to our advantage.”

Junior swing man Tom Peabody doesn’t think the team will try to do too much, but admitted he isn’t sure what to expect, either.

“We’re ready,” he said. “This is very hard. None of us has been through this before . . . dealing with it in our own way. We’ve got a lot of emotion going. Coach wants us to make sure we use the emotions the right way. If we come out and go crazy, foul all over the place, it will be a mess. We’ve gotta play within ourselves.”

The Loyola coaches expect talented New Mexico State (26-4) to run with the Lions, at least for a while. The Lions go into the game averaging a record-shattering 124.8 points, and they managed to continue scoring points in Gathers’ absence in December, when he sat out for three weeks after fainting. Bo Kimble, who leads the nation in scoring at 35.3 points a game, went on a scoring tear in that stretch, averaging nearly 46.

The Aggies, making their first NCAA appearance since 1979, scored more than 100 points four times and defeated Nevada Las Vegas along the way to their second-best record, under fifth-year Coach Neil McCarthy. All five starters average double figures, led by guard Keith Hill at 13.4 and center James Anderson and guard Randy Brown at 13.2 each. Forwards Reggie Jordan and Michael New average 10 points apiece.

Brown and Hill were All-Big West first-teamers, and Anderson has had two 30-point games recently.

The Loyola coaches characterize the Aggies as “very athletic.” The teams match up well in size, with no starters taller than 6-feet-9.

The 6-9 player is Loyola sophomore Chris Knight, who finds himself stepping in for Gathers.

“He probably sees himself as Hank’s replacement. It’s not an enviable spot to be in,” Westhead said.

The Lions, who were a remarkably loose team with Gathers at the center of much of the merriment, have shown the strain at times since his death. John O’Connell is sporting several stitches and a black eye, courtesy of teammate Terrell Lowery.

Westhead called their scuffle during practice this week “a quick five-second release,” adding, “The guys have done a terrific job of helping each other.”