Feb. 24, 2004
GAMES #28 & #29: The USD Toreros (1-11 WCC; 4-23) play their final two regular-season games this week in the Pacific Northwest against Gonzaga and Portland. USD will play in Spokane, Washington against the Gonzaga Bulldogs (12-0 WCC; 23-2) on Thursday, Feb. 26th in a 8:00 p.m. contest at The Kennel (4,000 capacity). On Saturday, Feb. 28th USD will be in Portland, Oregon to take on the Portland Pilots (4-8 WCC; 10-15) in a 7:00 p.m. contest at the Chiles Center (5,000 capacity).
SERIES RECORD: This is the 60th meeting between USD and Gonzaga with the Bulldogs owning a 39-19 series lead ... the Zags won this year's game in San Diego on Jan. 29th (85-73), and have now won 10 of 11 in the series ... USD's lone win during that stretch was their 72-63 victory in last year's WCC Tournament championship game on March 10, 2003. This will be the 55th meeting between USD and Portland with the Toreros holding a 34-20 advantage ... Portland snapped a 4-game win streak by USD with their Jan. 31st 84-72 win in San Diego.
TV/RADIO/WEBCAST: Thursday's 8:00 p.m. game at Gonzaga will be telecast on ESPN2 (Dave Revsine & Fran Fraschilla). Both games will be aired on KCBQ 1170 AM with Jerry Gross (play-by-play) calling the action. The games will also be aired via the internet at www.usdtoreros.com and www.kcbq.com. The Brad Holland Show, hosted by Gross, airs 20 minutes before tipoff.
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 Gonzaga game is 148-134; including two seasons at CS Fullerton, his overall coaching record is 171-165. Since the start of 1998-99 season, Holland is 92-79. 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 (thru 2-22-04): #4 Gonzaga (12-0; 23-2), Saint Mary's (8-4; 17-10), Pepperdine (8-4; 13-14), San Francisco (6-6; 16-12), Santa Clara (5-7; 13-14), Loyola Marymount (4-8; 13-12), Portland (4-8; 10-15), Sand Diego (1-11; 4-23). OTHER WCC GAMES THIS WEEK: (Thur.) LMU at Saint Mary's, Pepperdine at San Francisco, Santa Clara at Portland. (Sat.) LMU at San Francisco, Santa Clara at Gonzaga. (Sun.) Pepperdine at Saint Mary's.
TORERO TIDBITS: The Toreros suited up just 9 players last Saturday against San Francisco, with only 5 of those players being on scholarship ... the Toreros are still searching for their first road win (0-16 away from JCP) ... in those 16 road games the Toreros have been outscored on average by 15.8 points per game (80.7 to 64.9) ... the Toreros have dropped 4 straight games and 15 of 16 ... Brandon Gay (29 points/14 rebounds) and Nick Lewis (16/13) each tallied their 5th double-double of the season with solid performances against USF; they both matched Brice Vounang's season total for double "D's" ... Vounang leads the Toreros in scoring on the road (15.9 ppg).
TORERO MASH UNIT: With Mike McGrain and Brice Vounang out in last Saturday's game with USF due to injuries suffered against St. Mary's (Feb. 18th), the Toreros have now had a total of seven players (6 scholarship) this season miss games due to injury ... McGrain, who ranks second in the WCC in assists at 6.50 apg, is lost for the remainder of the season with a thumb injury (nondisplaced fracture to the tip of his right thumb) ... Vounang, the team's top scorer (17.3 ppg) and 2nd leading rebounder (6.8 rpg), missed Saturday's game with a right knee injury (sprained medial collateral ligament) ... as of Monday he was undergoing therapy and doing noncontact drills he could tolerate; his status is day-to-day ... 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 ... sophomore guard Travis Smith (right shoulder) has not seen any action this season; Abdou Sane (stress fracture in his right leg) played in the first six games, but has not returned; Brandon Gay, the team's second leading scorer and rebounder, missed the team's first six games recovering from a stress fracture; and walk-on Slater Traaen missed two games earlier in the season with a knee injury.
TOREROS AGAINST RANKED TEAMS: Since turning Division I back in 1979-80 the Toreros have played 21 ranked teams, with 4 of those games coming against Gonzaga ... USD owns two wins against ranked teams - a 75-59 home win on Feb. 4th, 1999 against then No. 25 Gonzaga; and last year's 86-81 overtime road win at #14 UCLA on Nov. 26, 2003. Here is a breakdown of USD games against ranked teams: vs. #1 Kansas, lost 71-101 (12-9-95) +; at #2 Kansas, lost 72-79 (12-1-9); at #4 Kansas, lost 65-83 (11-26-94); vs. #7 Gonzaga, lost 79-87 (3-3-02); vs. #9 USF, lost 53-72 (1-28-82); vs. #9 Gonzaga, lost 76-77 (2-9-02); vs. #10 Gonzaga, lost 85-73 (1-29-04); at #13 UCLA, lost 63-90 (12-12-92); at #13 UCLA, lost 74-83 (12-9-89); at #14 UCLA, won 86-81, ot (11-26-03); at #14 Stanford, lost 57-87 (11-18-97); at #17 USF, lost 69-75 (2-13-82); vs. #18 Stanford, lost 69-77 1st Rd. of NCAA (3-20-03); vs. #19 LMU, lost 126-141 (2-27-88); at #20 St. John's, lost 59-74 (12-3-89); vs. #21 Stanford, lost 70-72 (12-14-96) +; at #21 Iowa State, lost 55-75 (12-31-94); at #22 LMU, lost 119-131 (2-23-90); vs. #23 LMU, lost 112-119 (1-13-90); at #23 BYU, lost 49-64 (12-11-02); vs. #25 Gonzaga, won 75-59 (2-4-99). + denotes games played at San Diego Sports Arena.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Gonzaga (23-2; 12-0 WCC), ranked No. 4 in the nation, has won a school-best 16 straight games ... this past week they beat Portland (79-69) on Feb. 18th and at Tulsa (76-56) in a nonconference tilt on Saturday ... Ronny Turiaf led the Zags against UP with 19 points/9 rebounds ... Turiaf and Adam Morrison each chipped in 13 points in road win over Tulsa ... for the season Turiaf leads 4 players in double-digit scoring (15.4); he is followed by Blake Stepp (14.4 ppg; 6.88 apg), Cory Violette (13.7 ppg/7.9 rpg) and Morrison (11.9 ppg) ... the Zags are 9-0 at home and will play their final game in 'The Kennel' on Saturday against Santa Clara. Portland (10-15; 4-8 WCC) will host Santa Clara Thursday before entertaining the Toreros on Saturday ... this past week they played just one game, losing to Gonzaga by 10 points ... forward Dustin Geddis paced the Pilots with 16 points ... guard Eugene Jeter leads the team in scoring at 16.8 ppg ... he is followed by Donald Wilson (12.6 ppg) and Adam Quick (10.2 ppg) ... the Pilots are 5-5 at home this season ... they have dropped 4 straight games.
UP NEXT: After Saturday's contest against Portland, the Toreros will compete in the WCC Tournament on March 5th as the No. 8 seed against No. 5 (TBA).
WCC TOURNAMENT TELECONFERENCE: The annual WCC Basketball Tournament media teleconference is set for Monday, March 1st, beginning at 10:00 am. The format will feature the naming of the men's and women's All-Conference teams, including the respective Player of the Year honorees. USD head coach Brad Holland will be on the call at approximately 10:50 am. The toll free number is 800-361-0912.
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.
USD PICKED 5TH IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: In the 2003-04 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll the Toreros have been picked to finish 5th. Gonzaga was tabbed as the favorite after receiving 7 first place votes and 49 points. Saint Mary's received one first place vote and tied with Pepperdine for second with 37 points. They were followed by San Francisco (32), San Diego (23), Santa Clara (22), Portland (13) and Loyola Marymount (11).
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.
