Jan. 21, 2008

USD-Portland Game Notes

GAME #20: The Toreros (8-11; 1-1 wcc) continue WCC play with a 7:00 p.m. game at the University of Portland tonight. USD is coming off an 80-70 loss at Gonzaga, while the host Pilots dropped a tough 60-59 game against San Francisco on Saturday.

SERIES RECORD: This is the 63rd meeting between USD and Portland... The Toreros own a 40-22 advantage, and have won two straight and five of six. Last year San Diego came out on top against the Pilots in two close battles - in Portland, 74-70, and again in San Diego at the JCP, 82-76.

RADIO/INTERNET: The 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 Jan. 19th): Gonzaga (3-0; 14-4), Saint Mary's (2-0 WCC, 15-2), Santa Clara (1-1; 9-8),San Diego (1-1; 8-11), San Francisco (1-1; 5-12), Portland (1-2; 6-12), LMU (1-2; 4-15), Pepperdine (0-3; 6-13).

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 8-11 (1-1 WCC) into the Portland 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.

TORERO RALLY FALLS SHORT AGAINST GONZAGA: The USD Toreros fell behind 15-0 out of the gates against Gonzaga Saturday, and despite a strong 2nd half showing, dropped a hard-fought 80-70 decision to the Bulldogs... GU's Matt Bouldin led five players in double figures with 16 points... USD's Brandon Johnson poured in 26 points and recorded 7 steals, and De'Jon Jackson chipped in with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists... In the first half USD chipped away and got back to within 8 points three times, but GU closed out the half on a 7-0 run for a 46-29 advantage... In the 2nd half the Zags increased their lead by as many as 22 points (66-44) with 12:07 to go... From there the Toreros stormed back to get within 7 points (76-69) with just over 1 minute to go, but GU made all four of their free throws in the closing minute to hold off the Toreros... Torero guard Brandon Johnson missed two free throws with five seconds left and will now enter tonight's contest at Portand with 999 career points... Gonzaga has now won 11 straight over the Toreros.

TORERO TIDBITS: Among all WCC players, Brandon Johnson ranks 3rd in scoring (17.3 ppg), 1st in steals (2.17), 8th in assists (3.06), 1st in 3-pointers made per game (2.17) and 7th in assist/turnover ratio (+0.89)... With his 7 steals against Gonzaga this past Saturday, Johnson tied the school record matched by Corey Belser and Mike Whitmarsh... Gyno Pomare ranks 8th in WCC scoring (14.4), 6th in rebounding (7.5), 3rd in field goal percentage (.546), and 10th in free throw% (.776)... Pomare leads the team with 5 double-doubles this season, the last coming against CSU-Bakersfield (18/16)... The 6-8 junior from Oceanside owns 15 career double "D's"... With 558 career rebounds, Pomare sits in the 5th spot all-time among USD's Division I leaders (1979-present)... Torero freshman Rob Jones ranks 10th among WCC players in FG% at 47.8%.

TOREROS ON THE ROAD: The Toreros are 3-7 in games played away from the Jenny Craig Pavilion... USD is 2-5 in "true" away games and 1-2 in neutral site contests... USD's last road win was a big one, a 81-72 decision over the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena before 23,756 fans... USD's other road wins are over Hawaii (73-72) and UC Irvine (60-57) at the Anaheim Classic... Junior guard Brandon Johnson leads the Toreros in road scoring at 20.1 ppg... He is followed by Gyno Pomare at 11.3 ppg and 7.2 rpg... USD averages 62.9 ppg, but gives up 70.4 ppg.

JOHNSON SET TO JOIN POMARE IN 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 became the 21st Torero to reach this milestone... Now with 1,061 points and 558 rebounds, Gyno is just the 12th Torero to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds. Brandon Johnson, with 999 points, will become the 22nd Torero to join this club tonight... He aso ranks 3rd all-time (USD Div. I records) in assists with 329.

A LOOK AT THE PORTLAND PILOTS: The Pilots (6-12) fell to 1-2 in WCC play with a tough 60-59 home loss to USF Saturday... Sherrard Watson led the Pilots with 15 points but UP made just 4-21 threes... Last week they split their WCC road swing with a 82-78 win at Pepperdine, followed by a 73-68 loss at LMU... Forward Sherrard Watson led the Pilots with 22 points at Pepperdine... Robin Smeulders came off the bench for 16 points and 9 boards in loss at LMU... The Pilots have dropped 4 of 5... First year sophomore guard Nik Raivio leads the Pilots in scoring 12.9 ppg... He is followed by senior forward Sherrard Watson (11.6 ppg) and sophomore forward Robin Smeulders (10.1 ppg/5.7 rpg)... Freshman Luke Sikma leads the team in rebounding at 8.3 rpg... UP is 2-4 in home games this year... Second year head coach Eric Reveno (15-35) returns 2 starters and 5 lettermen from last year's 9-23 club.

WCC 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 home to face Santa Clara on Saturday, Jan. 26th (6 pm, 4SD TV) and Saint Mary's on Monday, January 28th (7 pm).