Dec. 13, 2007

USD-SFA Game Notes

GAME #13: The University of San Diego men's basketball team, under the direction of first year head coach Bill Grier, return to the Jenny Craig Pavilion this coming Saturday, Dec. 15th, for a 1:05 p.m. contest against Stephen F. Austin.

SERIES RECORD: This is the 4th meeting between USD and Stephen F. Austin and the visiting Lumberjacks hold a 2-1 edge in the series... SFA won last year's meeting in Nacogdoches, Texas on Nov. 11, 2006 by the score of 71-62... USD's lone win came during the 1989-90 campaign with a convincing 71-45 win at the USD Sports Center... Sandwiched in between those contests was a 70-47 SFA home win in 1991-92.

TV/RADIO/INTERNET: The game will be televised locally on Channel 4 San Diego with Steve Quis (p-by-p) and Jim Brogan (color) calling the action. The game also will be broadcast on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM) with Andy Masur (p-by-p) and John Kentera (color)bringing you all the action. The audio broadcast is also available at www.usdtoreros.com andwww. XXSports Radio.com.

WCC STANDINGS (thru Dec. 13): #24 Saint Mary's (7-1), #19 Gonzaga (8-2), Santa Clara (6-3), Pepperdine (5-6), San Francisco (4-5), San Diego (5-7), 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 5-7 into the SFA 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.

NEVADA DEALS TOREROS 76-62 LOSS: Playing their second straight game on the road in a tough environment, the USD Toreros were dealt a 76-62 loss by the Nevada Wolf Pack before 6,640 fans at the Lawlor Events Center. USD junior Gyno Pomare led the Toreros with 22 points and 9 rebounds, but fouled out of the contest with just over 6 minutes left. For the second straight game USD struggled in the shooting department, finishing at 31.7% on the night (19-60). The Toreros dug themselves another big hole in the first half as they were down 42-26 at intermission, then came out and battled tough over the final 20 minutes. UNR was led by Brandon Fields with 17 points, while the Wolf Pack got double digit scoring from all five starters. In the 2nd half USD fell behind early by as many as 18 at 48-30 with 17:39 to go. With just under 13 minutes to go they fought to within 51-43 on two free throws by Chris Lewis. A Brandon Fields dunk put the Wolf Pack up by 10 and USD was never able to get the contest within single digits. Brandon Johnson finished with 18 points as he connected on a couple of late three pointers, and Chris Lewis chipped in with 10 points.

TORERO TIDBITS: Among all WCC players, Brandon Johnson ranks 3rd in scoring (16.9 ppg), 3rd in steals (2.25), 6th in assists (3.33), 3rd in 3-pointers made per game (2.08) and 6th in assist/turnover ratio (1.05); Gyno Pomare ranks 8th in scoring (13.9), 7th in rebounding (7.2), 5th in field goal percentage (.554), 4th in offensive rebounds per game (3.08) and 9th in blocked shots (0.83)... 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 314 - Dana White (1997-01) holds down the #3 spot with 325... Pomare, with 502 career rebounds, needs 39 caroms to move into the 5th spot all-time among USD Division I records (1979-present).

TOREROS AT THE JCP: USD is currently 3-2 in games played at the JCP this season... The Toreros have won two straight with December wins over Hawaii (81-67) and San Jose State (60-40)... Torero leaders at the JCP include Gyno Pomare (16.8 ppg/7.8 rpg), Brandon Johnson (16.4 ppg/4.5 apg) and Chris Lewis (8.2 ppg/6.2 rpg)... USD is averaging 69.4 ppg while giving up 63.6... The Toreros are also outrebounding their opponents in games at the JCP - 36.4 to 30.4... Since opening its doors back in November of 2000, the Toreros are a combined 62-39 overall.

SCOUTING THE SFA LUMBERJACKS: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, with a record of 7-1, will bring a 5-game winning streak to the Jenny Craig Pavilion this Saturday... In their last outing on Dec. 8th they earned an impressive 66-62 road win over Oklahoma... Forward Josh Alexander led four Lumberjacks in double digits with 19 points... SFA made 7-of-19 three-pointers and were solid from the free throw line, cashing in on 19-of-24 attempts... After starting the season 2-0, SFA suffered its only loss at Texas Tech (60-44) back on November 17th... A key component to their winning is their defense as the Lumberjacks are giving up just 56.0 points per game... Offensively SFA is paced by junior center Matt Kingsley (18.6 ppg/6.3 rpg) and junior forward Josh Alexander 914.6 ppg/5.4 rpg)... Head Coach Danny Kasper (17th year) returns 4 starters from last year's 15-14 ball club (8-8 in Southland Conference).

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).

USD HOME GAMES WEBCAST THROUGH TOREROS ALL-ACCESS: All of USD home games will be streamed live via video on the athletics department website... Fans can watch all the action live, along with listening to the play-by-play, by logging onto www.usdtoreros.com. Once on the home page, click the LIVE button on the top right of the page.

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 on Saturday, Dec. 22nd, to take onTexas-San Antonio. Game time is 1:05 pm.