Loyola Marymount Gamble Fails in 94-72 Loss to San Francisco

To try to generate more shots, and to try to cover up the loss of guard John Mazurie, Loyola Marymount Coach John Olive ordered a gambling defense Saturday against the University of San Francisco in a West Coast Conference game at San Francisco.

Loyola lost the gamble--and the game, 94-72--when the Dons were able to deal with backcourt double teams and other such defensive moves, passing through the Lions with enough ease to shoot 54.5%, the figure inflated by layups.

“Once again tonight, we had trouble putting the ball in the basket,” Olive said. “Because of that, we needed to take some chances on the defensive end to create opportunities. However, you leave yourself open when you do that. USF capitalized on those opportunities tonight.”

Mazurie and his 11.6-point average were missing because he sprained an ankle in Friday’s game against St. Mary’s. But the Lions led, 10-0, holding San Francisco scoreless for the first 6 1/2 minutes. Once the Dons (12-6, 2-2 in the WCC) got on track, they stayed there, catching up for a 37-35 halftime lead. An 11-2 run to a 70-52 San Francisco lead finished off Loyola (6-10, 1-3).