Nov. 18, 2007
USD vs. SDSU Game Notes 
GAME #4: The University of San Diego men's basketball team, under the direction of first year head coach Bill Grier, host the San Diego State Aztecs (4-0) this Monday, Nov. 19th, at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game will tip-off at 7:05 pm.
SERIES RECORD: This is the 39th meeting between USD and SDSU with the Aztecs holding a 21-17 advantage... The Aztecs have won 4-of-5 with the lone loss coming at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion (90-80) two seasons ago... USD is 2-1 in games played at the JCP... State won last year's meeting at Cox, 79-76 (Ross DeRogatis led USD with 23 points)...The Toreros are 12-6 against SDSU since the 1985 campaign.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: The game is being televised locally by Channel 4 San Diego... Steve Quis (play-by-play) and Jim Brogan (color analyst) call the action. The game will also air live on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM) with Andy Masur (play-by-play) and John Kentera (color) bringing you all the action with pregame beginning at 6:45 pm. The audio broadcast is also available at www.usdtoreros.com and www.XXSportsRadio.com.
COACH GRIER (1ST YEAR): Coach Bill Grier (Oregon, 1990) is in his first season at the helm of the USD program, and also his first head coaching position at the NCAA Division I level. He brings a record of 2-1 into the SDSU game. Hired on March 26, 2007, Grier is USD's 11th head coach overall and just the 4th head coach since the Torero program moved to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1979-80. The 44-year-old Grier spent the past 16 years at Gonzaga University, including the last 8 seasons as Mark Few's top assistant. Over the past eight years Gonzaga compiled a 21-52 record; won the WCC regular-season title seven times; the WCC Tournament title seven times; advanced to the NCAA Tournament eight times, including three trips to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Overall with Grier as an assistant coach, the Bulldogs combined for an overall record of 381-126; won 11 regular-season WCC titles; won nine WCC Tournament titles (33-7 WCC Tournament record); advanced to nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and ten overall, including four Sweet 16 appearances and the 1999 Elite Eight. Bill and his wife, Nicole, have one daughter, Giselle.
TOREROS FALL TO UNLV REBELS, 66-55: The USD Toreros dropped their first game in three contests this season with Saturday's 66-55 loss to the UNLV Rebels... Junior center Gyno Pomare scored a career-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds for his second double-double this season... Pomare made 8-of-15 shots from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity line... Pomare was the lone Torero to reach double figures as the rest of the team struggled in the shooting department... For the game the Toreros managed to make just 3-of-20 three-point attempts... USD made just 8-of-27 shots in the first half in falling behind 31-22 by halftime - USD faired better in the final 20 minutes as they made 12-of-28 shots (42.9%)... Freshman guard Trumaine Johnson (8 points) and Brandon Johnson followed Pomare in the scoring department with 8 points each... UNLV (3-0), a Sweet Sixteen team a year ago, used a balanced attack with eight players scoring 6 or more points... Guard Wink Adams led the way with 12 points.
POMARE NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Nov. 12): Gyno Pomare, USD's junior center from Oceanside, California, earned the WCC's first player of the week honor after his outstanding performance in the team's season-opening win at Hawaii. Besides finishing with a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds (7 offensive), Pomare made the key plays down the stretch in the team's 73-72 victory. With the team behind for the first time in the game at 72-70 with under a minute to play, Pomare knotted the score at 72-all with twenty-two seconds remaining with a basket inside. Following a Hawaii timeout, the Rainbows set up for an inbounds play at midcourt and Pomare knocked the pass away and drove the length of the floor and was fouled attempting a lay-up with just two seconds left. He canned the first of two attempts to seal the victory.
SCOUTING THE SDSU AZTECS: San Diego State is off to a 4-0 start... They opened the season with three wins at the World Vision Classic in Fresno, CA, and this past Saturday defeated UC San Diego (76-60)... Forward Billy White converted 10-of-11 shots from the field and led the Aztecs with 20 points and 9 rebounds... Kevin Davis added 15 points off the bench and Kyle Spain chipped in with 12... The Aztecs have six players averaging in double digits led by Spain (15.0 ppg) and forward Lorenzo Wade (13.5 ppg)... Coach Steve Fisher, who is 4-4 against the USD Toreros, has two starters and seven letter winners back from last year's club that finished 22-11 overall and reached the second round of the NIT.
LAST YEAR'S CITY CHAMPIONSHIP: San Diego State won last year's meeting at Cox Arena by the score of 79-76... Aztec guard Brandon Heath scored 8 of his 21 points in the final 28 seconds of the game to help SDSU hold off the Toreros... Torero senior Ross DeRogatis led San Diego with 23 points, including 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the three-point line... RS-Freshman forward Chris Lewis chipped in with a career-high 16 points and his 3/4 length desperation toss hit off the front rim at the final buzzer.
ANAHEIM CLASSIC SET FOR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Toreros following this current 3-game homestand... USD will take on the USC Trojans on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22nd, in the fourth and final game of opening day of the Anaheim Classic... The eight-team, 12-game, bracketed tournament, which is being co-hosted by ESPN Regional Television, Inc. and the Big West Conference, will take place between Nov. 22, 23, and 25 at the Anaheim Convention Center... USD will face either Miami-Ohio or Southern Alabama on Nov. 23rd... Other participants include Southern Illinois, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Mississippi State. For more information, go to www.AnaheimClassic.com.
ANDY MASUR & JOHN KENTERA TEAM UP ON XX SPORTS RADIO: Andy Masur will call all the Torero basketball games, home and away, on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM)... He will be joined by color analyst John Kentera for home contests... Masur recently completed his first season with the station announcing San Diego Padres baseball games... Jack Cronin, executive producer at XX Sports Radio, will assist with pre and post game shows.
WEST COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO SAN DIEGO: The Jenny Craig Pavilion will be the site for the 2008 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships (Mar. 6-10). San Diego last hosted this event for a three-year run between 2001-03. For the sixth consecutive season, the men's championships will use an 8-team/Play-in format, while the women's championships will use the traditional 1 vs. 8 format with no byes for the fourth straight year. The men's games will begin on March 7th.
