GAME NOTES: Gersten Pavilion is the place to be for the LMU Classic, as the Loyola Marymount Lions host the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State in the season opener for both squads on Friday night.

Back at his alma mater and in his first year as head coach for the Lions is Mike Dunlap, fresh off a one-year stint as the head man with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. Despite becoming the first coach in NBA history to win three times as many games as the year before, Dunlap finds himself back at the college level where he led Metro State to a pair of Division II national titles.

This time around, Dunlap finds himself taking over a program that was just 13-19 in 2013-14 and a mere 4-14 when competing against the rest of the West Coast Conference. The squad started off well enough with 10 wins in the first 14 games, but then the wheels came off as 2014 began. In the end, the team was taken out by BYU in the WCC Tournament, 85-74, and everything came to a sudden halt.

As for the Redhawks, now in their 108th season of basketball, they still have Dickey Nutt at head coach. Now in his sixth year, Nutt guided the squad to an 18-14 record last season and an even 8-8 versus the other members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Similarly to the Lions, SEMO also played well early on with seven wins in nine games and then sputtered in the middle of the schedule.

However, SEMO did close the regular season with four straight victories and then took out Eastern Illinois in the OVC Tournament (79-61) before taking final its bow against Eastern Kentucky in an 84-76 setback the first week of March.

The Redhawks will be back in action on Saturday in this event as well, taking on the University of San Diego, while LMU locks up with the Boise State Broncos in the nightcap.

The Redhawks are bringing back three starters from last season in guard/forward Jarekious Bradley, forward Nino Johnson and guard Antonius Cleveland, although Bradley, who earned Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference honors, will not be making an appearance in the opener due to a quad contusion.

With Bradley not even making the trip to the West Coast, that leaves Johnson and Cleveland to stand up and be leaders for quite a number of new faces. Cleveland is coming off a season in which he averaged 9.1 ppg and cleared just under three rebounds per contest, while Johnson was responsible for 8.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg. Coach Nutt will also get his first look at point guard J.J. Thompson who was forced to sit out last season due to transfer rules. The same goes for Aaron Adeoye who previously played at Western Kentucky.

As if that were not enough, guard Isiah Jones is on his third college program after playing at both UAB and Odessa College.

The Lions are starting life after Anthony Ireland, one of the top players in recent history for the program. The squad does bring back Evan Payne, a double-digit performer who posted 15.4 ppg as he set an LMU freshman record with 497 points and earned WCC All-Freshman recognition in 2013-14, but he is listed as a reserve for the opener.

Ayodeji Egbeyemi is making a return to the lineup after being forced to take a medical redshirt after just eight games last season, and newcomer David Humphries, a two-time All-American at Northern Iowa Area Community College will also take up a spot in the starting backcourt. With a three-guard offense, Chase Flint, one of three seniors on the roster, has earned an opportunity to make a start for the Lions even though he averaged just 4.5 ppg and 3.3 rpg last season.

Along the front line, LMU will lean on Godwin Okonji (4.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Marin Mornar (2.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg) for the time being. The numbers for Okonji do not stem from last season though, as he too is returning from a medical redshirt after suffering a leg injury in an auto accident.

The Lions are dealing with quite a number of unknowns as they tip off the season, and all of that doubt could well work in the favor of the Redhawks who would like nothing better than to get the season off on the right foot.