THE SCHEDULE
Exhibition 1
at Loyola Marymount (0-0)
Thursday, Nov. 6 • 7 p.m.
Gersten Pavilion • Los Angeles
Live Video • Live Stats • GameTracker

PROBABLE TRITON STARTERS (2013-14 stats listed)
G - #1 Aleks Lipovic (RSo., 6-4/190): 26 GP, 28.4 MPG, 9.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.1 APG, .434 3PT%
G - #13 Adam Klie (So., 6-4/200): 26 GP, 27.7 MPG, 10.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG
G - #23 Hunter Walker (Jr., 6-4/200): 26 GP, 28.8 MPG, 9.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.6 BPG
F - #14 Drew Dyer (Jr., 6-6/215): 26 GP, 31.7 MPG, 12.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 0.9 APG, .353 3PT%
F - #33 Zach McMillan (Jr., 6-7/215): 16 GP, 15.1 MPG, 2.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.4 BPG

WHO'S BACK, WHO'S NOT SNAPSHOT
UCSD does not have a single senior on its 14-player 2014-15 roster. The Tritons return three starters from last season's team that fell one game short of a second successive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) tournament berth. They finished 15-11 overall and an even 11-11 in league play. Drew Dyer is back after averaging 12.4 points and 5.6 rebounds a game a year ago. Fellow junior Hunter Walker more than doubled his minutes played from his rookie season and was a stat-sheet stuffer, now as UCSD's leading returner in assists (tied-38), steals (26) and blocks (15) while having averaged 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. Adam Klie (10.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) was the 2013-14 CCAA Freshman of the Year, with third-year players Aleks Lipovic (9.0 ppg, .434 3-pt pct) and Zach McMillan (5.1 rpg) also expected in the starting lineup. Junior Treavon Francis (3.9 ppg) returns as well. The Tritons lost their leading scorer and rebounder to graduation in James McCann and MacKenzie McCullough, respectively. McCann (15.6 ppg), a two-time All-CCAA selection as UCSD's point guard, left the program as the top assists man for the Division II era (469). He now plays professionally in England for the Leeds Force while pursuing a graduate degree. McCullough contributed 10.6 points and 6.0 boards per game before suffering a season-ending injury at SF State on Jan. 18. The other departed four-year Triton is guard Matt Bailey.

EIGHT NEWCOMERS AWAIT TRITON DEBUTS
Among eight newcomers to the UCSD program this year are six true freshmen: George Buaku, Jordan Flannery, Kenny Fraser, Grant Jackson, Brett Oosdyke and Chase Ogden. Jeff Van Dyke is a sophomore transfer from Division I Pepperdine, and Tony Morman is a junior arrival from Ventura College. Van Dyke and Ogden hail from nearby Carlsbad.

HEAD COACH ERIC OLEN
Eric Olen is heading into his second campaign in charge of the UCSD men's basketball team. He had previously served nine seasons as a Triton assistant before being named the program's 12th head coach on Oct. 1, 2013. Olen joined the Tritons as a second assistant for the 2004-05 season and was promoted to first assistant the next season. He was on the bench during the 2007-08 campaign when UCSD won its first CCAA tournament title and earned its first berth in the NCAA Division II Championship. As a player at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., Olen helped the Badgers to three straight appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, including trips to the NAIA Elite Eight in 2000 and 2001.

FAMILIAR FACE BACK ON TRITON BENCH
Former UCSD standout and assistant coach Clint Allard is back in La Jolla this season. Allard was the Tritons' point guard from 2004-08 and remains No. 4 on the all-time assists chart with 414, and No. 2 for the Division II era behind only the just-graduated James McCann. He was previously on the UCSD coaching staff for four seasons from 2008-12. Having spent 2012-13 and 2013-14 at CCAA foe Cal Poly Pomona, Allard returned to his alma mater in late April as the program's associate head coach.

LAST YEAR IN PRESEASON PLAY
UCSD produced a pair of strong exhibition performances in the 2013-14 lead-up, both at NCAA Division I opponents. The Tritons first hung tough at Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) newcomer Pitt, trailing by just two points with four minutes left before falling by the final score of 72-59 in front of 5,813 fans. They then had four players pour in double-digit points and downed former Division II rival Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Ariz., 71-63. Among returners, Aleks Lipovic collected 14 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting while Hunter Walker added 11 points and a team-high five assists.

ABOUT THE LIONS
LMU concluded the 2013-14 season with a 13-19 overall record and placed 10th in the 10-team West Coast Conference (WCC) with a 4-14 mark. The Lions return just one starter in Evan Payne, who averaged 15.5 points per game last season to set a new LMU freshman scoring record and earn a spot on the WCC All-Freshman Team. Chase Flint, a senior guard who missed the last 13 games a year ago with a broken elbow after making six prior starts, and Marin Mornar, a 6-foot-8 junior forward who was fifth in the WCC with 36 blocked shots, are also back. LMU has players from Australia, Slovakia, Zambia, Nigeria, Czech Republic and Croatia among a 13-member roster. Mike Dunlap is in his first season at the helm at his alma mater. He was most recently the head coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) for the 2012-13 campaign, and also has an NCAA Division II background. Dunlap guided Metro State of Denver, Colo., to a pair of national titles in 2000 and 2002. Thursday marks LMU's one and only tune-up ahead of the 2014-15 season. The Lions open at home with the four-team LMU Classic, Nov. 14-15.

SERIES HISTORY
UC San Diego won the only regular-season meeting between these teams, 87-82, in Los Angeles on Jan. 7, 1983. The Tritons and Lions have not faced off previously in the preseason.

GEAR HERE
UCSD Athletics has partnered with Advanced-Online to provide a web-based, on-demand option for UCSD apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours. Visit the site at UCSDTritonsGear.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA - #TritonsRising
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Head Coach Eric Olen on Twitter (@CoachEricOlen)
Associate Head Coach Clint Allard on Twitter (@CoachAllard)
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UP NEXT
UCSD plays its second and final exhibition at another Southern California NCAA Division I foe in UC Riverside on Saturday, Nov. 15. Tip-off at SRC Arena in Riverside is slated for 4 p.m. The Tritons then open their regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 19, when they take on Academy of Art in San Francisco at 1 p.m. UCSD begins the new campaign with seven straight road games.

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