By John Klima
Correspondent

Growing up in a small corner of the world gave Matthew Knight little to do and much to dream about.

Born in Burnie, Australia, a resort town on the northeast coast of the province of Tasmania, Knight had a clear view of the Bass Strait, the body of water separating Tasmania from the Australian mainland. Put simply, Tasmania is the land below the land down under.

The mainlands nearest big city is Melbourne, about five hours away by boat or plane. The local sport of choice is rugby. Knights father, Scott, played semipro Australian Rules football until he was 42 years old. He finally quit when he lost count of all the bones he had broken.

Knight had a tall frame and a growing sense of his own athleticism. When he was 15, he decided to quit rugby and devote himself to basketball. I decided on basketball, said Knight, now 19, Because there was more traveling opportunities if I made good. Growing up in Burnie, there wasnt much to do.

In a tranquil part of the world, the call of adventure was too strong to ignore. The decision set Knights career path into motion. He passed on playing professional basketball in Australia after high school so he could instead come to America and play college basketball.

After playing sparingly as a freshman, his development has accelerated this season at Loyola Marymount. He has become the leading scorer for the slumping and injury-plagued Lions, who host Pepperdine in a West Coast Conference game at 7 p.m. tonight at Gersten Pavilion.

Knight, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward, is averaging 15.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in a season that has turned sour for the Lions. After a promising 9-5 start, the Lions (9-10, 1-5) have dropped five consecutive games, all in West Coast Conference play, to fall into last place.

LMU will attempt to snap a 13-game losing streak against Pepperdine dating back to 1998-99 against an underachieving Waves team (12-9, 2-4) that has lost four consecutive conference games and enters the game tied for sixth place in the WCC.

Knight, who has six 20-point games this season, has provided much needed offense. LMU lost three starters, including sophomore shooting guard Brandon Worthy (11.5 points), who underwent surgery to repair a ligament in his right knee on Dec.29. The Lions also lost forward Daryl Pegram (7.6 points, 4.6 rebounds) to a sore left knee last week. Both are questionable to play tonight. The Lions are also without forward Adoyah Evans-Miller, who suffered a season-ending back strain on Dec. 7.

That has made the emergence of Knight that much more important for LMU, which has fought to maintain its confidence in the programs longest losing streak in two years.

I wasnt expecting to play as big a role as I am, Knight said. I had to step up my game to cover for the loss of our players. From there, it took off. The last few of games have really shown me that I can play at this level.

Coach Steve Aggers agreed. Hes blossomed sooner than we expected said Aggers, who is trying to lead LMU to its first consecutive winning seasons since 1990-91 and 1991-92. I think hes gaining more confidence in himself, particularly as an offensive player.

The lifestyle of a college basketball player seemed much farther away than the 7,677 miles from Burnie to Los Angeles. Knight passed up the chance to play for Australias National Basketball League. Instead of playing for teams such as the Townsville Crocodiles or Wollongong Hawks after graduating from high school, he was receptive to leaving Australia altogether.

He came to LMU with guard Damian Martin, who grew up Gloucester, New South Wales. They played the equivalent of high school basketball together at the Australian Institute of Sports in Canberra. The state-sponsored prep school is Australias premier athletic institution, hosting about 700 students in 26 sports. In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 32 of the schools former athletes won medals.

Knight and Martin played together on Australias junior national team that won the 2003 World Championships in Greece. Loyola Marymount assistant coach Byron Jensen, who played at Pepperdine when Aggers was an assistant there in the early 1990s and went on to play four professional seasons in Australia, scouted Knight and Martin. Aggers made the recruiting trip personally and offered both players scholarships.

People are recruiting (in Australia) more and more, but not all those kids want to come to the States, said Aggers. Its not easy to come to a new place. Some of them just go right into the professional ranks.

The son of teachers, Knights intellectual curiosity outweighed the immediate income of Australias modest NBL, where the leagues average salary is about $47,000 American dollars. He is majoring in elementary education and wants to teach. His father, Scott, is a high school math teacher and his mother, Debbie, teaches elementary school.

Matt grew up a lot this year in terms of his confidence, said Martin, who made the All-WCC freshman team last year. Once he saw that he could play at this level, he took it on himself to lead us through the injuries.

Its a long way from Tasmania, but Knight doesnt regret the decision to skip the mainland and cross the Pacific. When I went home in the summer time, my friends had gone completely different paths, he said. We dont have anything in common anymore. I knew it would happen because I chose the career path to come over here.

After the initial culture shock (such as driving on the 405 freeway), the differences in English accents and the frantic Los Angeles lifestyle compared to the laid back Australian mentality, Knight has continued to adjust. Its a huge change, he said. One Im still getting used to.