Loyola Will Attempt to Avoid Sequel to Lost Weekend : St. Mary’s: Lions’ opponent on Saturday is led by former Bishop Montgomery player Darrell Daniel.

Darrell Daniel is the leader of a team with no stars.

The junior point guard for St. Mary’s returns to his home turf this weekend when the Gaels play at Pepperdine at 7:30 tonight and Loyola Marymount at 7:30 Saturday.

The former Bishop Montgomery High player is a 6-foot-1 guard who grew up in Inglewood. At Bishop Montgomery and local summer leagues, Daniel was on a par with the likes of current Arizona standout Ed Stokes and UCLA standout Ed O’Bannon. But you won’t see Daniel’s name with theirs in the national statistics.

Daniel leads the Gaels in scoring at 8.5 points a game. Nobody on St. Mary’s ranks among the WCC leaders in any statistical category.

Daniel and St. Mary’s (5-10) have known the high of upsetting Big East power Villanova and the low of losing to Sacramento State the next week.

They were winless in three West Coast Conference games, but beat Loyola, 93-74, last weekend in Moraga and come to town tied with the Lions and Portland for last place at 1-3.

In most cases, when Daniel plays well, so does his team. His jump shot at the buzzer in overtime was the game-winner against Villanova, and last weekend he made five three-point baskets against Loyola.

“Any successful team starts with your (point) guard,” Gael Coach Ernie Kent said. “When he’s on, focused, he’s one of the best guards in the league. This year, at times . . . his whole game is struggling. We’ve been trying to duplicate that intensity (of the Villanova victory) ever since. It’s been a struggle. . . . (especially) on the road.”

Daniel was an occasional starter as a freshman under then-Coach Paul Landreaux, the El Camino College coach who recruited him.

Landreaux left St. Mary’s in midseason and assistant Dave Fehte took over. He put Daniel at off-guard and St. Mary’s reached the championship game of the WCC tournament, where it lost to Pepperdine, 71-68, in overtime.

“He’s a great kid,” said Fehte, who is an assistant at Loyola. “He does everything well. We had him take the last two shots in overtime against Pepperdine as a freshman. That shows the confidence we had in him. He can play.”

Kent took over the program last season and switched Daniel from shooting guard to point guard. Although the Gaels were only 13-17 and 4-10 after a fast start, Daniel made a smooth transition. He had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference (111 to 40) and averaged six points a game. He improved his scoring average to 8.2 in WCC games and made a team-high 40.4% of his shots from three-point range.

This season Kent has placed more leadership responsibility on Daniel, who is adjusting to the role.

“There’s been some big changes going through three coaches,” Daniel said. “Coach Kent has brought us from an F to an A-plus. We’re a different program.

“He’s taught me a lot toward running the point guard. He’s made me focus in more, (made it) more of a mind game. I think he has brought out the best in me.”

Daniel, who starts with former Morningside High standout Martell Bland in the backcourt, said part of the reason for St. Mary’s poor start is because of a lack of leadership. The team has only one senior.

“We felt Martell (and I) should step up,” Daniel said. “We lost some games because of (lack of) leadership--as well as not (executing). It’s something (Bland and I) decided to step up because we needed the direction of leadership.”

Kent, however, would like to see more. “Darrell has to understand next year, all that leadership falls on his shoulders,” he said. “Your guard is your first line of defense and he has the ball.

“This team has lacked leadership the last three, four years in the program. They need somebody to step up and be a leader on the court. That’s a heavy burden.”

Most of Daniel’s stats have improved from last season, including his turnover ratio. Kent said Daniel needs to work on maintaining his intensity.

Daniel, a government major who would like a career in law, defends his play.

“I think I’m doing pretty good running the team,” he said. “My defense is getting better. I play as hard as I can at both ends with intensity. I think (Kent) has brought the best out of me.”

Said Kent: “He has to get stronger so he has more stamina (because) he has to play a lot of minutes. He has to become a better defender--that will make his offense better yet.”

Everything came together when Daniel scored 16 points in the 65-64 win over Villanova. “That was a real blast,” Daniel said. “It just came down to two great shots--one by Martell to take it into overtime, then by me to win it.

“I was supposed to penetrate, then kick it to a wing player to shoot the three. They were covered, I kept dribbling. . . . I went to the right, which is my strong side, pump-faked, my man went up in the air, I shot--then celebration.”

The aftermath reminded Daniel how far the St. Mary’s campus is from home. “Moraga is slower than the big city of L.A., but school is great and I feel I’ve matured a lot.”

News of his game-winning shot against Villanova did make it south. “I heard from the guys like Ed Stokes and Ed O’Bannon, they said, ‘I can’t believe you made that shot,’ ” Daniel said.

“Sometimes I wish I’d get that recognition, but generally I like to stay low and surprise people, and the recognition will come.”

It will come if Kent has his way. “Darrell has had a pretty good career at St. Mary’s,” he said. “I’m not satisfied with a good career. I think he’s capable of a great career and it’s my job to push him to that.”