Dec. 31, 2007

USD vs. Marshall Game Notes

GAME #16: The University of San Diego men's basketball team (7-8), under the direction of first year head coach Bill Grier, will close out the 2007 calendar year today at Marshall University (11 a.m. PST at Cam Henderson Fieldhouse. The Toreros are gunning for their third straight win and will be trying to get their record back to the .500 mark. Marshall (6-4) is coming off a 72-62 home loss to Lipscomb.

SERIES RECORD: This is the first meeting between USD and Marshall.

RADIO/INTERNET: The New Year's Eve game will be broadcast on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM) with Andy Masur (p-by-p) bringing you all the action. The audio broadcast is also available at www.usdtoreros.com and www. XXSportsRadio.com.

WCC STANDINGS (thru Dec. 29): Saint Mary's (12-1), Gonzaga (9-4), Santa Clara (8-6), San Diego (7-8), Portland (5-8), Pepperdine (5-9), San Francisco (4-9), LMU (3-10).

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 7-8 into the Marshall 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.

TOREROS STUN KENTUCKY WILDCATS WITH 81-72 VICTORY: Brandon Johnson led San Diego with a career-high 27 points to stun Kentucky 81-72 on the Wildcats' home floor on Saturday before 23,756 fans at historic Rupp Arena. Walk-on guard Devin Ginty, getting his second straight start, gave USD a huge boost by making 4-of-4 three-pointers and totaling a career-high 18 points. "Wow. I don't know if I have ever been more proud of our guys," said an ecstatic Bill Grier. "I'm proud of the way we competed and battled. It's something we have been stressing to our kids all season. And today our kids came out with that look in their eye. I'm also proud of the way we finished off the game and made our free throws." Prior to his Kentucky heroics, Ginty had appeared in just 7 games with a total of 38 minutes of playing time. USD also received solid all-around performances from Gyno Pomare (13 points, 12 rebounds), Rob Jones (8 points, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 3 steals), DeJon Jackson (8 points on 8-for-8 shooting at the free throw line; 0 turnovers in 36 minutes). Brandon Johnson, who scored 22 of his game-high 27 points in the 2nd half, was 3-for-5 beyond the arc, 10-12 at the free throw line, and also matched his career-high with 8 rebounds. As a team the Toreros made 9-of-16 three-pointers and 32-36 free throws.

TORERO TIDBITS: Among all WCC players, Brandon Johnson ranks 4th in scoring (16.9 ppg), 4th in steals (2.07), 6th in assists (3.33), 2nd in 3-pointers made per game (2.0) and 5th in assist/turnover ratio (+0.96); Gyno Pomare ranks 8th in scoring (14.7), 6th in rebounding (7.3), 2nd in field goal percentage (.571), 1st in offensive rebounds per game (3.07) and 7th in blocked shots (0.93)... Pomare leads the team with 4 double-doubles this season, the last coming against Kentucky (13/12)... The 6-8 junior from Oceanside owns 14 career double "D's"... Brandon Johnson sits in the 4th spot all-time for career dishes with 324 - Dana White (1997-01) holds down the #3 spot with 325... Pomare, with 524 career rebounds, needs 17 caroms to move into the 5th spot all-time among USD's Division I records (1979-present).

TOREROS ON THE ROAD: USD is 2-3 in "true" away games, and 3-5 overall in games played away from the JCP... Torero road wins include their season-opening 73-72 victory at Hawaii, a 60-57 neutral site win over UC Irvine at the Anaheim Classic, and Saturday's 81-72 win over Kentucky... Brandon Johnson leads the Toreros in scoring away from the JCP at 18.5 ppg... He is followed by Gyno Pomare (12.0 ppg/7.5 rpg)... USD is averaging 62.4 ppg, but giving up 68.5 ppg.

POMARE JOINS TORERO 1,000 POINT CLUB: During the past 52 seasons (1955-2007) of USD men's basketball, there had been just 20 Toreros to reach the 1,000 point mark... Prior to this season, the most recent addition to this list was guard Ross DeRogatis last season who sits tied at #15 with 1,090 points... With his 5th point in his 13 point outing at Kentucky, Gyno Pomare (1,008 points) is now the 21st Torero to reach this milestone, and with 524 rebounds is just the 12th Torero to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds. Brandon Johnson, with 940 points, will become the 22nd Torero to join this club in the very near future.

SCOUTING MARSHALL: The Thundering Herd dropped to 6-4 with Saturday's 72-62 home loss to Lipscomb... The loss snapped 6 straight home wins this season for the Herd at Cam Henderson Center... Senior guard Mark Dorris led three players in double digit scoring with 15 points... 6-6 freshman Tirrell Baines chipped in with a double-double of 12 points/10 rebounds... Prior to Lipscomb the Herd earned a 66-60 home win over Princeton... Junior Markel Humphrey tallied game-highs of 19 points and 7 rebounds in the win... Season leaders include Humphrey (16.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg), 6-2 senior guard Mark Dorris (13.1 ppg) and 6-6 freshman forward Tirrell Baines (12.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg)... First year senior guard Pierre-Marie Altidor Cespedes is a transfer from Gonzaga where he played three years for the Zags when current USD head coach Bill Grier was top assistant... First year head coach Donnie Jones inherits 3 starters and 8 lettermen from last year's 13-19 club (7-9 in Conference USA).

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: Following this trip the Toreros return to San Diego for their final tuneup before WCC play. USD will host Cal State Bakersfield on January 9th before opening up league play against USF (Jan. 12th).