LOS ANGELES (December 21, 2024) – The North Alabama men's basketball team has an opportunity to complete the greatest non-conference finish in Division I program history on Sunday, as the Lions travel to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT.
 
UNA enters with an 8-4 overall record. The eight wins are tied for the most non-conference victories in a single season since the Lions moved to Division I in 2018. A win on Sunday would break the record outright. The last time UNA had eight non-conference wins was the 2022-23 season, where the Lions finished 18-15 overall.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via StatBroadcast.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama at Loyola Marymount
Date: Sunday, December 22
Time: 6:00 p.m. CST
Location: Los Angeles, California
Venue: Gersten Pavilion
Capacity: 3,900
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Game Notes: Click Here
Social Media: @UNA_Basketball

NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: Senior guard Taye Fields had a memorable night this past Thursday, scoring his 1,000th career point in his 100th career game to lead the Lions in a 86-69 win over Charleston Souther in the non-conference home finale. Fields finished with 25 points, while junior all-conference guard Jacari Lane finished with 18 points.
 
SCOUTING THE UNA LIONS: For the sixth straight season, North Alabama has started .500 or better over the first 10 games. So far, UNA is on pace to set a new Division I single season record for offense with 78.9 points per game. UNA's calling card has been ball security, ranking atop the Atlantic Sun Conference and 26th in the nation with a plus-4.4 turnover margin. Lane leads the team with 15.9 PPG and 3.8 assists per game. Redshirt sophomore Corneilous Williams leads the ASUN with 7.9 rebounds per game.
 
SCOUTING THE LMU LIONS: Loyola Marymount enters with a 7-4 record and are coming off an 89-73 win Friday night against Southern. The Lions have won four straight — all at home inside Gersten Pavilion. Like their Lion counterparts from Alabama, LMU has excelled defensively this season with 69.3 PPG allowed and 4.5 blocks per game to rank 55th in the nation. Four players are averaging double figures for LMU, led by senior guard Will Johnston with 14.0 PPG. Graduate forward Alex Merkviladze is coming off a 24 point game against Southern on Friday and averages 11.7 PPG.
 
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the first all-time meeting between UNA and LMU. North Alabama has a 5-1 record against first time opponents this season, including wins over Air Force, Point, Louisiana-Monroe, Dalton State and East Carolina.
 
IDENTITY CRISIS: UNA and LMU are two of the only "Lions" in Division I basketball. Other teams that use a version of a "Lion" mascot are Southeastern Louisiana, Lindenwood, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Columbia, East Texas A&M and Penn State (Nittany Lions). LMU is the only other "Lions" UNA will face this regular season.
 
VOTES ARE PILING IN: In this week's College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, UNA received 23 votes. This marks the most votes for UNA this season. Lipscomb and North Florida also represented the ASUN with 31 votes and 22 votes, respectively.
 
WATCH OUT FOR LANE: Junior guard Jacari Lane was named to the Lou Henson Early Season Watch List, an award given to the top mid-major basketball player each season. Lane is also the reigning ASUN Player of the Week following his 19-point performance at East Carolina last week. Lane has won ASUN Player of the Week four times in the last three seasons. He is the first and only player to win the award twice this season.
 
MILESTONE MEN: Three Lions have met milestones this season, starting with Lane with his 1,000th career point against ULM. Two games later against Dalton State, senior Daniel Ortiz scored his 1,000th point in a Lion uniform. Lane and Ortiz became the 28th and 29th players to join UNA's 1K point club all-time. Senior Will Soucie hopes to be the 30th, as he enters the LMU game with 893 career points and averages 11.1 PPG.
 
SURPASSING SANDERSON: Lane made history on Thursday, entering the top 20 of UNA's all-time scoring list with 1,081 career points. He jumped past UNA Hall of Famer and the University of Alabama's all-time winningest men's basketball coach, Wimp Sanderson. Sanderson finished his UNA career with 1,065 points from 1957-59.

FIELDS DAY: Fields was the star of the show on Thursday against Charleston Southern, scoring a team-high 25 points with 17 in the first half. He shot 10-12 from the field for 83 percent, tying Lane for the UNA season-high in single-game baskets for an individual. In UNA's last road game at ECU, Fields almost had a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Redshirt sophomore Corneilous Williams, a former redshirt at LSU and transfer from Western Carolina, is averaging 9.9 PPG and 7.9 RPG. The rebound total leads the ASUN and is among the top 50 players in Division I.

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 70: UNA is 8-1 when scoring at least 70 points and 0-3 when scoring under 70 points. Defensively, the Lions have allowed under 70 points in all eight wins and over 70 points in all four losses.

TURNOVER TAKEOVER: UNA ranks atop the ASUN in turnover margin and proved that against Charleston Southern, winning the turnover battle 17-7. This led to a dominant 25-3 advantage in points off turnovers.

PAINTED THE PLANK: Over the last two seasons against Charleston Southern, UNA has dominated the paint. In last season's win, UNA outscored the Bucs 46-18 in the paint. This past Thursday, UNA won the paint 44-24.

A CASE OF THE SUNDAYS: UNA is currently 0-2 in Sunday games this season, including losses to Northwestern State and Wofford. Tomorrow will be UNA's final Sunday game of the regular season.

CONFERENCE DAYS OF THE WEEK: UNA will primarily play conference games on Thursday and Saturday this season, as well as three Wednesday games and one Tuesday game. UNA is currently 6-0 in games on those days.

ON DECK: UNA opens ASUN play at home on Thursday, Jan. 2 against Bellarmine. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. inside CB&S Bank Arena.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.