Shelton's Sizzling Shooting Inspiring Confidence In LMU

Cam Shelton transferred from Northern Arizona to Loyola Marymount before last season partly to escape single-digit overnight winter temperatures in Flagstaff, Arizona. “It’s really beautiful,” he said. “But I can’t tell you how many coats I had to put on.”

Shelton had another, more compelling motive for switching schools. 

“I wanted to win,” he said. “At NAU, we gave it our best shot. Ultimately myself and my family, we decided we need to go somewhere else to kind of do what we’re doing this year. I wanted to impact winning.”

What Shelton and the Lions have done so far is sculpt a 9-4 record, LMU’s best start to a season in four years. And Shelton is having a significant impact, averaging 18.5 points per game — second-best in the West Coast Conference.

“I think we’re playing well. Fortunately for us, there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Shelton said. “I say fortunately because we don’t want to be in situation where we’re 9-4 and that’s the best we can do.”

Far from it, Shelton and his teammates have much bigger aspirations. He talks about striving for things the Lions haven’t achieved in three decades — competing for the WCC Championship and landing a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

“Obviously, we have a strong conference,” Shelton said. “No disrespect, but we think we can compete to win the league. That’s not something LMU has been able to say in recent history. I hope we continue to seize the moments we have to make that happen.”

Third-year coach Stan Johnson knows the history. LMU most recently played in the NCAAs in 1990, the year legendary star Hank Gathers died on the court and the Lions — inspired by the tragedy and attracting the attention of the college basketball world — won three NCAA Tournament games to reach the regional final.

The program hasn’t even assembled back-to-back winning seasons since 1992.

Johnson is OK with the conversation, as long as it comes with the work necessary to pursue big dreams.

"I don’t like when people talk the talk and aren’t walking the walk,” he said. “These guys are walking the walk. We’re still in the beginning stages of really learning how to win, but these guys are seeing that when you buy in to all the things that winning requires, the end result is pretty good.

“That’s our long-term goal,” he said of winning championships and dancing in March. “I like that they talk about it. But that’s in the distance.”

Shelton, with one season left in his college career, decided he would try everything possible to accelerate the process. That meant an offseason that included improving his diet, becoming stronger and spending more time watching game tape.

With guidance from Johnson’s staff, Shelton also completely revamped his shot. Seems to be working, especially lately. Over the past five games he is averaging 22.2 points while shooting better than 50 percent from 3-point distance.

Shelton said his release is quicker and more fluid, he has more power behind his shot and has developed consistency in his mechanics. But the benefits didn’t come overnight.

“We broke it down to a science,” he explained. “At first, I couldn’t shoot from outside 5 feet. I worked my way up to free throws. I shot stationary 3’s for two months.”

From that rebirth, confidence in his new shot has helped Shelton score 15 points or more in 10 of 13 games, 20 or more eight times. 

“He’s playing great,” Johnson said. “With transfers, some guys can come in right away and have an impact. For Cam, it took a year. To Cam’s credit, he’s lived in the gym, he’s lived in the film room. What we’re seeing is not surprising and not luck.”

And it’s not done, Shelton said. He is playing “reasonably well” right now, he suggested, but expects more from himself. He appreciates that his coach feels the same way. 

“I thought I was going to come in and be able to play (well) last year. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen,” said Shelton, who has more than doubled his scoring average while improving his 3-point accuracy from 28 percent to 40 percent. “It taught me a lesson: Some things you want in life are not going to happen right away.”

KEEPING COMPANY WITH STEPH: Senior Brynna Maxwell, who came to Gonzaga this season from Utah, is second nationally in free-throw accuracy at 97.5 percent (39-for-40) after making all three of her attempts in the 22nd-ranked Zags’ 70-59 win over San Diego. The NCAA leader is Kansas State senior Emilee Ebert, who is a perfect 30-for-30 so far.

Maxwell’s free-throw expertise extends back to her days at Utah. Over four seasons, she has made 230 of 251 attempts for 91.6 percent. That’s better than Steph Curry’s career mark (90.9 percent) in the NBA and would rank No. 4 on the all-time NCAA Division I women’s list if she had 20 more made free throws to qualify.

PORTLAND WOMEN IMPROVE TO 2-0: The Pilots (8-5, 2-0) kept pace with Gonzaga atop the WCC standings by claiming a 67-45 victory over visiting BYU on Monday — their biggest win in the series since the 1997-98 season. 

Alex Fowler had 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six steals for Portland and Haylee Andrews, finding her rhythm after recovering from offseason knee surgery, had perhaps her best of the season with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

It’s been a rough start for the defending regular-season champion Cougars (4-8, 0-2), whose schedule had them playing the league’s toughest two-game road trip to open WCC play. Forward Lauren Gustin had 12 rebounds to remain No. 2 nationally at 13.5 per game. But Portland’s defense held her to seven points on 1-for-12 shooting, breaking her string of 11 straight double-doubles to open the season.

THAT’S 72 AND COUNTING: The 11th-ranked Gonzaga men have stretched their home winning streak to 72 games, the longest in the “modern” era of college hoops, since the expansion of the NCAA Tournament in 1985. The Zags’ 85-75 win over Montana on Tuesday ties them with UNLV (1974-78) for the ninth-longest home win streak in college history.

“That’s crazy. Obviously that’s something that no one can really say they’ve ever done,” said Zags star Drew Timme, who had a season-high 32 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and two steals. “It’s a testament to Coach (Mark Few) and how he’s ran the ship and he’s always consistent.”

The Zags’ next home game — their final non-conference contest — is Dec. 28 against Eastern Oregon.

IMPRESSIVE TURNAROUND: The Pacific men’s team posted a 74-65 win at Lamar on Tuesday night, improving to 7-8 overall. Luke Avdalovic scored 15 points to lead three double-figure scorers and the Tigers outscored Lamar, 33-6, from the 3-point arc.

Most significant is that Pacific improved to 4-2 on the road, a stunning reversal from a year ago when it was 0-13 on its opponents’ home court.

THREE TIMES TWENTY-PLUS: San Diego’s men outlasted UC Riverside, 92-84, in overtime on Tuesday, thanks to a prolific performance by a trio of Toreros, who combined for 77 points, including all 18 scored in the extra period.

Junior guard Sigu Sisoho Jawara, a transfer from Weber State, scored a career-high 29 points. Fifth-year wing Marcellus Earlington, who began his career at St. John’s, matched his career-best with 25 points. And guard Eric Williams Jr., a graduate transfer from Oregon, had 23 points and 14 rebounds.

They are the first USD threesome to each top 20 points in the same game since Dec. 23, 2018 against Drake, when Olin Carter III scored 30, Isaiah Wright 25 and Isaiah Pineiro 20 in a 110-103 double-overtime defeat.

NEARLY PERFECT QUARTER: The Santa Clara women squared their WCC record at 1-1 with a 61-46 win over LMU on Monday in which the Broncos made 12 straight shots to open the game. Their first misfire didn’t happen until there were just 24 seconds left in the first quarter.