Nov. 24, 2007
USD-UCI Game Notes 
GAME #7: The University of San Diego men's basketball team, under the direction of first year head coach Bill Grier, will play the UC Irvine Anteaters (2-3) this Sunday in final day action at the inaugural Anaheim Classic. The game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (ESPNU).
SERIES RECORD: This is the 24th meeting between USD and UCI with the Toreros holding a 13-10 advantage... UC Irvine won the last meeting 65-60 on Nov. 16, 2003 at the Dell BCA Classic hosted by Xavier in Cincinnati, Ohio... Prior to that USD had won six straight meetings in the series.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: The game is being televised by ESPNU... Steve Physioc (play-by-play) and Bob Wenzel (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) 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 2-4 into the UC Irvine 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 STRUGGLE IN 77-55 LOSS TO SOUTH ALABAMA: The Toreros, playing their fourth game in seven days, turned in a disappointing effort Friday as they dropped a 77-55 decision to South Alabama... USD managed to make just 5-of-23 shots in the first 20 minutes as they were down 36-20 by intermission... Brandon Johnson, who scored a team-high 17 points, scored 11 of USD's 20 first half points... In the second half South Alabama scored the first 5 points out of the gate to increase their lead to 21 points... USD woud manage to get within 10 points four times, the last at 55-45 with 8:18 to go... The Jaguars were led by guard Demetric Bennett with 28 points, and guard Domonic Tilford off the bench with 19 points... Besides Johnson, USD got double digit scoring from Gyno Pomare (11)... USD made just 3-13 three-point attempts, and were outrebounded 38-21... One positive for USD was their free throw shooting as they converted a season-best 78.6% on 22-of-28 shooting.
TORERO TIDBITS: San Diego will be looking to snap their 4-game skid when they play UC Irvine... The last time USD lost four straight was the team's final regular-season WCC games during the 2005-06 campaign... After averaging 80.0 points per game in wins over Hawaii & CSU-Monterey Bay to open the season, the Toreros have managed to average just 56.0 ppg in their four losses... Through two games USD converted 51.6% from the floor (63-122) and 47.1% from beyond the 3-point arc (16-34); over the last four just 38.6% from the floor (81-210) and 24.7% from beyond the arc (18-73)... Brandon Johnson, the team's leading scorer at 16.5 ppg, has totaled 36 points in the Anaheim Classic which ranks 6th among all players from the eight participating teams... USD has just 18 former Toreros that scored 1,000+ career points in the men's program - juniors Gyno Pomare (874 points) and Johnson (786 points) are both on track to reach this plateau in their third season... Pomare also owns 465 career rebounds while Johnson has 296 career assists.
SCOUTING THE UC IRVINE ANTEATERS: The UC Irvine Anteaters are 2-3 after tourney losses to Mississippi State (68-53) and Tennessee-Chattanooga (85-80)... They own wins over Loyola Marymount (74-61) and Utah State (70-51), while their 3rd loss is to Nevada (77-68), a team USD will face on Dec. 12th... Forward Patrick Sanders led the Anteaters with 21 points in the loss to Tennessee-Chattanooga, while Trey Harris came off the bench to chip in with 16 points... Sanders leads the team in scoring at 12.8 ppg... Head Coach Pat Douglass (155-141, 11th year) returns 4 starters and 8 letterwinners from last year's 15-18 club.
TOREROS PICKED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON COACHES POLL: The USD men's basketball team has been picked to finish in 3rd place in the WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. Gonzaga edged out Saint Mary's as the favorite to capture their eighth consecutive regular-season WCC crown. The Zags earned 5 first place votes and 61 points, followed by Saint Mary's with 3 first place votes and 59 points. The Toreros (43 points) were followed by Santa Clara (38), San Francisco (34), Pepperdine (22), Portland (16) and Loyola Marymount (15).
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.
UP NEXT: The Toreros close out the month of November with a road trip to Boise State on the 28th. USD's next home game will be on Sunday, Dec. 2nd, with a rematch against the University of Hawaii (2 pm @ JCP).
