Nov. 27, 2007

USD-Boise State Game Notes

GAME #8: The University of San Diego men's basketball team, under the direction of first year head coach Bill Grier, head to Boise, Idaho to take on the Boise State Broncos (3-2) this Wednesday, November 28th. Game time is 7:00 pm (6 pm PST) at Taco Bell Arena.

SERIES RECORD: This is the sixth meeting between USD and BSU with the Toreros holding a slim 3-2 advantage... The Toreros have won three meetings in games played in San Diego, and have dropped both contests played at Boise State... The last meeting between these two teams came in the 2001-02 campaign, a 85-59 USD victory.

RADIO/INTERNET: 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. Pregame begins at 6:45 pm (5:45 pm PST). 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 3-4 into the Boise State 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.

SAN DIEGO SNAPS 4-GAME SKID WITH 60-57 WIN OVER UC IRVINE: The USD Toreros (3-4) dealt UC Irvine a 60-57 loss this past Sunday to snap their 4-game skid. The Toreros made six straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to hold off the Anteaters (2-4) and get back on the winning track. Gyno Pomare led the Toreros with 16 points and was followed by Brandon Johnson (15 points) and Ray Murdock (14 points, 6 rebounds). The Toreros held a 54-47 lead with 1:05 to play but saw UCI pull to within one at 54-53 with 29 seconds left. Murdock was fouled before the inbounds pass and made both free throws. After UCI's Chuma Awaji made a free throw and three-pointer for a 56-54 count, Murdock added two more free throws for a 58-54 advantage. Awaji converted another trey with 12 ticks left, but Brandon Johnson made both free throws with 10 seconds left for the final 60-57 victory. UC Irvine's Awaji finished the game with 16 points and was followed by Patrick Sanders with 13. The Anteaters outrebounded USD 30-25 with 11 of their caroms coming on the offensive end. USD shot 42.5% from the floor (17-40), and converted on a season-high 88.5% of their free throws (23-36). USD's Pomare, who came off the bench for the first time this season, scored 10 of his 16 points in the 2nd half.

TORERO TIDBITS: San Diego snapped its 4-game losing streak with the team's 60-57 win over UC Irvine... It was USD's 7th win over the Anteaters in their last last eight meetings... A key component in USD's win over the Anteaters was the team's free throw shooting, a season best 88.5% (23-26)... Over the three-game Anaheim Classic, USD had the top two marksmen from the charity stripe - Brandon Johnson (12-13) and Ray Murdock (10-11)... Among WCC players, Johnson ranks 4th in scoring (16.3 ppg), 3rd in steals (2.57), 7th in assists (3.71), 8th in free throw shooting (.762) and 10th in assist/turnover ratio (0.93); Gyno Pomare ranks 7th in scoring (14.6), 7th in rebounding (7.3), 9th in field goal percentage (.551); Murdock ranks 8th in 3-point percentage (.423) and 9th in blocked shots (0.71)... USD has just 18 former Toreros that have scored 1,000+ career points in the men's program - juniors Gyno Pomare (890 points) and Brandon Johnson (801 points) are both on track to reach this plateau in their third season... Pomare also owns 466 career rebounds while Johnson has 300 career assists... The Toreros kick off the month of December with home dates against Hawaii (Dec. 2, 2 pm) and San Jose State (Dec. 5, 7 pm).

SCOUTING THE BOISE STATE BRONCOS: The Broncos (3-2) have won two straight including Saturday's 75-73 overtime win at Southern Utah... Tyler Tiedeman made two free throws with 10.2 seconds left and SOU missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer... Tiedeman led all five Bronco starters in double digit scoring with 17 points... It was Boise State's second overtime win of the season - they opened the year with a 73-72 OT victory over Utah Valley... Prior to their win over Southern Utah the Broncos beat Montana Tech (107-53)... Senior forward Reggie Larry leads the team in scoring and rebounding with averages of 16.8 ppg and 9.2 rpg... Senior forward Matt Nelson follows at 14.0 ppg and 7.4 rpg... Head Coach Greg Graham is in his 6th year and owns a record of 86-75... He returns 3 starters and 6 lettermen from last year's 17-14 ball club.

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: USD's next home game will be on Sunday, Dec. 2nd, with a rematch against the University of Hawaii (2 pm @ JCP).