Lions Try to Avoid Another Bruising From the Bruins : Basketball: Memories of last season’s 51-point loss remain, when Loyola players said they were tired after playing three games in three days. The rematch is set for tonight.

In its only meeting with a Pacific 10 Conference school this season, Loyola Marymount was soundly defeated by Washington State, 95-84, in the championship game of the L.A. Classic tournament Nov. 23 at Gersten Pavilion.

Loyola trailed the Cougars by as many as 23 points in the second half.

With that in mind, what do the Lions hope to accomplish against UCLA, a Pac-10 favorite and the third-ranked team in the nation?

“We’re going to try and play our very best basketball and score as many points as we possibly can,” said Loyola Coach Jay Hillock, whose team meets the Bruins at 7:30 tonight at Pauley Pavilion. “I think the score will have to be very high for us to have a chance . . . 220 or whatever it takes.”

The Lions (5-3) bring a two-game winning streak into the game. UCLA (4-0) has won all of its games by double-figure margins.

“UCLA has great talent and great depth,” Hillock said. “So we’re just going to have to come in with a great game plan, great execution and pressing defense.”

Loyola should be more rested for UCLA than it was last season, when the Bruins defeated the Lions by a staggering 149-98 at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA set a school single-game scoring record and had eight players in double figures, including all five starters, led by forward Don MacLean’s 33 points. It was Loyola’s third game in three days.

“We were kind of out of gas,” Hillock said. “This season we’re looking forward to the game. UCLA is a great opportunity and a great challenge. They are one of eight teams that can legitimately win the national championship.”

Ironically, Loyola’s leading scorer and rebounder against the Bruins last season was center Richard Petruska, who is ineligible to play this season after transferring to UCLA in the summer. The 6-foot-10 junior had 21 points and nine rebounds against the Bruins.

Without a comparable replacement for Petruska, Loyola would appear to be vulnerable inside against UCLA, a team that starts a front line composed of the 6-foot-10 MacLean, 6-9 center Rodney Zimmerman and 6-8 forward Tracy Murray.

Loyola has been outrebounded in all but two games this season, and its top rebounder--6-8, 210-pound forward Brian McCloskey--is not considered a physical player by UCLA standards. McCloskey is averaging a team-leading 7.8 rebounds and had 19 points and a career-high 17 rebounds Monday in a 95-84 victory over UC Irvine.

“McCloskey is really becoming comfortable in there,” Hillock said. “We have to establish an interior game to take the pressure off our outside game.”

As usual, Loyola will rely on its fast break and full-court press.

Guard Terrell Lowery is coming off a season-high 37-point effort Monday against UC Irvine. He scored 26 points in the second half to help the Lions rally from a 14-point deficit.

Lowery, who leads the team in scoring with a 26.9 average, said Loyola needs to maintain a quick tempo against UCLA.

“What we want to do is get the game going fast and tire them out if we can,” he said. “We want to get them to do things with the ball that they don’t want to do. We want to disorient them.”

The Lions succeeded in doing that against Irvine, forcing the Anteaters into 26 turnovers, 15 in the second half.

“We finally got the tempo going,” Lowery said. “That’s a part of our press. It’s imperative that we get turnovers every game or the press isn’t effective. If the other team protects the ball where we only get 10 turnovers, then the press wasn’t what we needed it to be.

“I think that UCLA is a very talented team and they’re going to play smart. I expect them not to turn it over as much as some of the teams we played before.”

Loyola will also need a big game from point guard Tony Walker, perhaps the team’s quickest player. Walker, who sat out last season recovering from wrist surgery, leads the team in assists, ranks second behind Lowery in steals and is third in scoring with a 10.3 average.

Lowery said the entire team wants to make up for what happened last season against UCLA.

“I think to an extent it was embarrassing for us to lose by that amount of points,” he said. “But we felt like we were tired in that game and UCLA was well-rested. And we were missing McCloskey (who was injured) and Walker.

“I remember that game a lot. (UCLA) had a great game plan against us and they didn’t miss too many shots. I’m just hoping that we can play a better game and be more effective in our offense and play better defense. That will make the game more interesting.”

Notes

Terrell Lowery had six steals Monday against UC Irvine to become Loyola’s all-time leader in that category. Lowery has 195 career steals, surpassing the previous record of 189 set by Mike Yoest from 1985 to ’88. Lowery is also Loyola’s all-time leader in assists. . . . UCLA leads Loyola in the overall series, 10-2, and has won the past seven meetings. The Lions last won in the 1941-42 season when they split a two-game series with the Bruins. . . . Loyola, which has lost two consecutive games to Pac-10 schools, has not beaten a Pac-10 team since it defeated Oregon State, 117-113, on Dec. 19, 1989 behind 33 points from Bo Kimble. . . . Loyola has made at least one three-point shot in 161 consecutive games, or in every game since the three-point rule was adopted before the 1986-87 season. Lowery kept the streak alive Monday by making Loyola’s only three-pointer with 9:19 left against Irvine.