Jan. 13, 2004
GAMES #16 & #17: The USD Toreros (3-12) start their second season beginning this Thursday, Jan. 15th, when they host the LMU Lions (0-2 WCC; 8-6) at 7:00 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Toreros will close out the week on Saturday, Jan. 17th, when they host the Pepperdine Waves (1-1 WCC; 6-11) in a 3:00 p.m. contest that will be televised by Fox Sports West. The LMU Lions lead the overall series 33-32 ... the Toreros won the last meeting, 73-51 (2-15-03) ... USD has won five straight and eight of the last ten meetings. The Pepperdine Waves lead the overall series with USD, 48-20 ... the Waves won the last meeting, 98-93 (2-13-03) and have won eight of the last ten games.
RADIO/WEBCAST/TV: Both games will be aired on KCBQ 1170 AM with Jerry Gross (play-by-play) and Jim Brogan (color) calling the action. The games will also be aired via the internet at www.usdtoreros.com. The Brad Holland Show, hosted by Gross, airs 20 minutes before tipoff. Saturday's game will be telecast by Fox Sports West and will tipoff at 3:00 p.m.
TIO LEOS TORERO TALK: Every home game Jack Murray will webcast a 40 minute pre-game show from 6:00 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. that will include interviews with USD coaches, players, alumni and administration. Click on www.usdtoreros.com to hear Tio Leos Torero Talk each and every home game. This Saturday's show will begin at 2:00 pm.
Brad Holland (10TH YEAR): Coach Brad Holland (UCLA, 1979) is in his tenth season at the helm of Torero basketball. Last season he directed the Toreros to an overall 18-12 record and 2nd place finish in the WCC at 10-4. The Toreros won their first WCC Tournament title and played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in sixteen years. In 1999-2000, Holland was chosen WCC Coach of the Year by his peers for the second straight season after he guided the Toreros to a 20-9 mark -- including wins over every WCC foe. In 1998-99 he guided the Toreros to an 18-9 mark and 2nd place finish in the WCC (9-5; tie for 2nd). Holland's USD career mark heading into the LMU game is 147-123; including two seasons at CS Fullerton, his overall coaching record is 170-154. Since the start of 1998-99 season, Holland is 91-68. Holland, who played four years of basketball at UCLA (1976-79), was the 14th player taken in the first round of the 1979 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a member of the 1980 NBA Los Angeles Lakers championship team. Brad and his wife Leslie, who reside in Carlsbad, have three children: twin daughters Kristin and Lisa, seniors at USD, and a 11-year-old son, Kyle.
WCC STANDINGS (as of 1-13-04): Gonzaga (2-0; 12-2), SCU (1-0; 9-7), Portland (1-1; 7-8), Pepperdine (1-1; 6-11), Saint Mary's (0-0; 9-6), USD (0-0; 3-12), USF (0-1; 10-7), LMU (0-2; 8-6). THIS WEEK IN WCC: (Jan. 15) USF at Gonzaga, Pepperdine at SCU, LMU at San Diego, St. Mary's at Portland. (Jan. 17) St. Mary's at Gonzaga, Pepperdine at USD, LMU at Santa Clara, San Francisco at Portland.
TORERO TIDBITS: USD plays just its 5th home game of the year when they host the LMU Lions Thursday ... USD is 3-1 in home games where they average 73.0 ppg and hold opponents to 65.8 ppg ... in those four home contests junior center Brice Vounang leads five Toreros in double-digit scoring at 18.0 ppg ... USD's last two nonconference games were road losses at Southwest Missouri State on Jan. 3rd (62-73) and New Mexico on Jan. 6th (75-88) ... at SMS, Brett Melton paced the way with 23 points, and at New Mexico the Toreros were lead by Brice Vounang (25 points, 8 rebounds) and Brandon Gay (24 points, 8 rebounds) ... Nick Lewis, who suffered a concussion less than 3 minutes into the New Mexico game, was listed as questionable for the LMU game earlier in the week ... the Toreros finished their nonconference slate 3-12 and 0-11 in away games ... the Toreros have a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging in double-digits - Vounang (15.3), Brandon Gay (12.0), Nick Lewis (11.2), Brett Melton (10.9) and Brad Lechtenberg (10.1) ... among WCC players, junior wing Mike McGrain ranks 2nd in assists at 6.4 apg and Brad Lechtenberg ranks 2nd in 3-point percentage (.463).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: The LMU Lions were 8-6 overall and 0-2 in WCC action after dropping a 74-60 home contest to Gonzaga on January 10th ... their game with Portland, which was postponed due to bad weather in the Northwest last Thursday, was rescheduled this past Monday ... the Pilots won 77-68 behind Eugene Jeter's 23 points ... forward Sherman Gay led the Lions with a game-hgih 26 points; he tallied 18 points against the Zags ... on the season Gay leads the team in scoring at 16.6 ppg ... he is followed by guard Charles Brown (11.7 ppg) and forward Keith Kincade (11.5 ppg) ... Chris Ayer leads the team in rebounding at 7.1 rpg ... coach Steve Aggers is in his 4th year. The Pepperdine Waves are 6-11 overall and 1-1 after splitting their WCC games with Gonzaga (L, 70-87) and Portland (W, 97-88) ... they'll play at Santa Clara Thursday before heading to San Diego for a 3 pm contest on Saturday ... forward Glen McGowan led the Waves over the weekend with 20 points against Gonzaga and 24 against Portland ... McGowan leads the WCC in scoring at 18.6 ppg ... he is followed in scoring by guards Terrance Johnson (14.9) and Alex Acker (13.6) ... their win over Portland snapped a 5-game losing streak.
TORERO MASH UNIT: Junior forward Corey Belser (Tacoma, WA), USD's lone returning starter from last year's 18-12 club that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, was lost for the season in the team's second exhibition on Nov. 7th. After grabbing an offensive rebound 3 minutes into the contest, he injured his right knee. Belser and sophomore guard Travis Smith (right shoulder) are both out for the season. Abdou Sane (leg injury) is still out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his leg. As of Tuesday morning, Brett Melton (back) and Nick Lewis (recovering from concussion suffered in New Mexico game) were questionable for LMU contest.
TORERO SPOTLIGHT ON ESPN 800 AM: Every Tuesday and Friday the University of San Diego will air four 'Torero Spotlights' hosted by Jack Murray. Murray will interview USD coaches and student-athletes and promote upcoming Torero events. The Torero Spotlights air at 8:22 a.m, 1:22 p.m., 4:25 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. every Tuesday and Friday.
FOLLOW USD ATHLETICS ON THE WEB: Get all the current notes and statistics on San Diego basketball, as well as all USD athletic teams, via the internet at www.usdtoreros.com.
UP NEXT: The Toreros head up to the Bay Area to take on San Francisco (Thur., Jan. 22; 7 pm) and St. Mary's (Sat., Jan. 24; 7 pm).
WCC TOURNEY RETURNS TO BAY AREA: For the first time in four years, the WCC men's and women's Basketball Championships return to the Bay Area. Santa Clara's Leavey Center will be the site of the 2004 championship, while San Francisco will serve as the host site in 2005. Santa Clara has hosted the men's championship on eight different occasions, and the last time was in 2000. The WCC will again use the championship format that was adopted in 2003 where the #5 through #8 seeds will compete in the opening round to determine who will advance to the next round of the tournament. Waiting for the winners in the quarterfinals will be the #3 and #4 seeds, who will have first round byes. The winners of the quarterfinal match-ups will go head-to-head with the #1 and #2 seeds, who will have byes through the first two rounds of the tournament.
