Dec. 10, 2007
USD-Nevada game notes 
GAME #12: The University of San Diego men's basketball team, under the direction of first year head coach Bill Grier, head to Reno, Nevada this Wednesday, Dec. 12th, to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack in a 7:05 p.m. contest at the Lawlor Events Center (11,536 capacity).
SERIES RECORD: This is the 14th meeting between USD and Nevada with the Wolf Pack owning a commanding 10-3 advantage... Nevada has won all seven meetings in Reno including the last one on Dec. 28, 2002 (81-70)... That same season the Toreros defeated the University of Nevada at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Nov. 23, 2002 (77-75).
RADIO/INTERNET: The game will 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 p.m. (PST). The audio broadcast is also available at www.usdtoreros.com andwww. XXSports Radio.com.
WCC STANDINGS (thru Dec. 10): #24 Saint Mary's (7-0), #19 Gonzaga (8-2), Santa Clara (6-2), San Diego (5-6), Pepperdine (5-6), San Francisco (4-5), Portland (3-6), LMU (3-7).
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 5-6 into the Nevada 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, 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.
NEW MEXICO DOWNS TOREROS 57-47 @ THE PIT: Playing on the road in one of the toughest college basketball venues in America, The Pit, the Toreros dropped a 57-47 decision to the New Mexico Lobos. Freshman forward Rob Jones led USD with 12 points, but leading scorers Brandon Johnson (10 points) and Gyno Pomare (4 points) were plagued with foul trouble the entire game. UNM received a game-high 19 points from Darren Prentice. The Toreros suffered through another cold shooting game making just 16-of-50 shots. In fact, USD's first basket and points didn't come until the 14:11 mark on a Rob Jones basket. Despite their shooting woes, the Toreros continued to play hard and stay in the game. UNM was up by as many as 16 in the 2nd half, but USD battled back to single digits at 51-42 with 3:46 to go. USD's Jones finished with team highs of 12 points and 7 rebounds. Clinton Houston came off the bench to grab 6 boards, and numerous times the Toreros found themselves with three freshmen playing at the same time - Jones, Houston and Trumaine Johnson. One bright point for USD was their free throw shooting; they made 12-of-16 for 75%. USD also outrebounded the Lobos, 33-30.
TORERO TIDBITS: USD's opponent on Wednesday, Nevada, is a member of the WAC... So far this season USD is 3-1 against WAC teams... Among all WCC players, Brandon Johnson ranks 3rd in scoring (16.8 ppg), 2nd in steals (2.45), 7th in assists (3.55), 3rd in 3-pointers made per game (2.09) and 7th in assist/turnover ratio (1.08); Gyno Pomare ranks 11th in scoring (13.2), 7th in rebounding (7.1), 5th in field goal percentage (.556), 4th in offensive rebounds per game (3.00) and 10th in blocked shots (0.64)... Sophomore forward Chris Lewis posted back-to-back double-doubles against Boise State (10/10) and Hawaii (11/10)... Pomare leads the team with 3 double-doubles this season, the last coming against SDSU (20/10)... The 6-8 junior from Oceanside owns 13 career double "D's"... Brandon Johnson sits in the 4th spot all-time for career dishes with 313 -Dana White (1997-01) holds down the #3 spot with 325... Pomare, with 493 career rebounds, needs 48 caroms to move into the 5th spot all-time among USD Division I records (1979-present).
TOREROS ON THE ROAD: USD is 1-2 in "true" away games, and 2-4 overall in games played away from the JCP... Torero road wins include their season-opening 73-72 victory at Hawaii, and a 60-57 neutral site win over UC Irvine at the Anaheim Classic... Brandon Johnson leads the Toreros in scoring away from the JCP at 17.2 ppg... He is followed by Gyno Pomare (10.2 ppg/6.5 rpg)... USD is averaging 59.3 ppg, and giving up 66.7 ppg.
TWO WCC TEAMS RANKED IN THE TOP 25: For the first time in 34 years, two WCC men's basketball teams are ranked in the top 25 at the same time... Gonzaga, with a record of 8-2, is No. 19 in the AP poll and No. 23 in the Coaches poll; undefeated Saint Mary's (7-0) enters this week's rankings at No. 24 in both polls... Led by the Saint Mary's Gaels, the #1 ranked team in the RPI, the WCC is ranked No. 9 in the latest RPI conference report... The No. 9 ranking marks the fourth consecutive season that the WCC has been ranked in the top 10, including a conference-best No. 7 ranking to end the 2004-05 season.
SCOUTING THE NEVADA WOLF PACK: Nevada, with a record of 3-4, is coming off a 82-76 home win over Montana State... Senior guard Marcelus Kemp led the Wolf Pack with 23 points while three others chipped in with 11 points... The win snapped a three-game skid that included losses at UNLV (79-67), Cal (74-68) and at Pacific (70-66)... Kemp (19.1 ppg) leads four starters in double digit scoring... He is followed by 7-0 center JaVale McGee (13.7 ppg/7.0 rpg), 6-4 sophomore guard Brandon Fields (11.6 ppg) and 6-3 freshman guard Armon Johnson (10.3 ppg)... Nevada is 2-1 at the Lawlor Events Center this season... Overall they are averaging 69.6 ppg and 36.1 rpg while giving up 69.1 ppg and 33.7 rpg... Head coach Mark Fox (4th year) lost four starters from last year's team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished 29-5 (14-2 in WAC/1st place).
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 return to the Jenny Craig Pavilion for back-to-back 1p.m. Saturday contests against Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 15, 4SD TV) and Texas-San Antonio (Dec. 22). SFA will bring a record of 7-1 to San Diego after their 66-62 road win over Oklahoma this past Saturday.
