At Least Loyola Is Not Shut Out

Only one of the coaches in the game between Loyola Marymount and No. 16 Utah on Tuesday night had any say in his schedule.

It certainly wasn’t Loyola Marymount’s Charles Bradley, who is in his first season as coach.

Utah Coach Rick Majerus’ team jumped to a 15-0 lead in the first six minutes and went on to handle the Lions, 89-50, in front of 1,240 at Gersten Pavilion--even though the Utes substituted freely.

“I think Utah’s a top 10 team,” Bradley said of a team that demonstrated excellent passing ability and played with discipline even in a blowout. “Very solid in all aspects of the game.”

Loyola Marymount (0-3) missed its first 11 shots, and Utah (4-0) hardly missed at all, shooting 71.7% (33 of 46) for the game, the second-highest percentage in school history.

Utah’s Hanno Mottola, a sophomore forward from Finland, made all 10 shots and four of five free throws, leading all scorers with 25 points.

Point guard Andre Miller, a junior from Verbum Dei High, made seven of eight shots, finishing with 16 points and four assists.

Center Michael Doleac, who had sat out two games because of an ankle injury, had seven points and six rebounds in a 19-minute appearance.

As for the Lions, they were held to their lowest scoring total since a 78-46 loss to Princeton in 1991.

No Loyola Marymount player scored in double figures against Utah, which held the Lions to 28.8% shooting.

Point guard Haywood Eaddy scored nine points, Leo Saucedo had eight--including the Lions’ first basket of the game with 14:03 left in the first half--and forward Ben Ammerman scored seven.

Utah, ranked as high as No. 2 last season, has Doleac and Miller as the centerpieces of a team that is highly ranked despite losing Keith Van Horn, the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft.

“I know good teams, and we’re not there yet,” Majerus said. “Our free throw shooting--75%--that isn’t good enough. We only got three offensive rebounds.”

Of course, Utah missed only 13 shots.

“I’m just guardedly optimistic,” Majerus said. “We should have won this game: If we had lost, it would have been a big headline.”

As for Loyola Marymount, after a brutal opening schedule against Nevada Las Vegas, USC (only a four-point loss) and Utah, the Lions play Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. Fullerton lost to Utah, 87-59, on Nov. 15.

“Any time you’re facing UNLV, USC and Utah your first three games out of the chute, you’ve got to try to get the guys a chance to regroup,” Bradley said. “Cal State Fullerton is very competitive. I’m not so sure that’s a breather.”