Feb. 3, 2008
USD-PEP Game Notes 
GAME #24: The USD Toreros (12-11; 5-1 wcc), coming off a convincing 72-48 win over LMU this past Saturday, will put their 4-game winning streak on the line against Pepperdine (7-15; 1-5 wcc) Monday night. Game time is 7 pm at Firestone Fieldhouse.
SERIES RECORD: This is the 80th meeting between the Toreros and Waves. Pepperdine owns a commanding 52-27 lead, but USD has won five straight in the series.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: Monday's game will be telecast on FoxSportsNet-West with Paul Sunderland and Mike Montgomery. It will also be broadcast on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM) with Andy Masur calling the action. The audio broadcasts are also available at www.usdtoreros.com and www. XXSportsRadio.com.
WCC STANDINGS (thru Feb. 3rd): Gonzaga (6-0; 17-5), #20 Saint Mary's (5-1 WCC, 18-3), San Diego (5-1; 12-11), Santa Clara (3-3; 11-10), San Francisco (2-4; 6-15), Pepperdine (1-5; 7-15), Portland (1-5; 7-15), LMU (1-5; 4-18).
COACH GRIER (1ST YEAR): Coach Bill Grier (Oregon, 1990) is in his first season at the helm of the USD program, and his first at the NCAA Division I level. He brings a record of 12-11 (5-1 wcc) into the Pepperdine 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 211-52 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.
JONES LEADS TOREROS PAST LMU LIONS 72-48: Rob Jones tallied his first career double-double with season highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds as the Toreros earned a convincing 72-48 win at LMU Saturday night... Jones played 35 minutes and made 13-of-22 shots from the floor, while adding 2 steals and 1 blocked shot... It was USD's 4th straight win and kept them in a tie for 2nd with Saint Mary's, just one game back of Gonzaga... Gyno Pomare, whose playing time was limited in the 1st half due to foul trouble, finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds... Leading scorer Brandon Johnson was held to 9 points, but chipped in with 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals... This game marked the third time this season that USD's defense held its opponent under 50 points... USD also out 23 assists to just 10 turnovers.
TORERO TIDBITS: The Toreros have won 4 straight and 5 of 6, with four of the wins coming by 8 points or less... The last time USD started WCC play with a 5-1 mark was in 1990-91 when the team got off to a 6-1 WCC start... The win over No. 20 Saint Mary's marked just the third time USD has knocked off a ranked opponent, and the first time in the JCP - USD's other wins came at No. 14 UCLA (86-81, ot, 11-26-02) and over No. 25 Gonzaga in the USD Sports Center (75-59, 2-4-99)... Among WCC players for all games, Brandon Johnson ranks 3rd in scoring (17.1 ppg), 1st in steals (2.14), t-6th in assists (3.27), 1st in 3-pointers made per game (2.32), 7th in assist/turnover ratio (+0.97) and 9th in 3-point percentage (.398)... With his 7 steals at Gonzaga (1-19-08), Johnson tied the school record matched by Corey Belser and Mike Whitmarsh... For all games among WCC players, Gyno Pomare ranks 7th in scoring (14.5), 6th in rebounding (7.4), 2nd in field goal percentage (.558), and 6th in blocked shots (1.39)... Pomare leads the team with 6 double-doubles this season, the last coming against Santa Clara (11/10)... The 6-8 junior from Oceanside owns 16 career double "D's"... In WCC games only, USD ranks 1st in scoring defense (56.0 ppg) and 3-point FG% defense (.271; 23-85)... Rob Jones' 27 points and 13 rebounds he totaled this past Saturday at LMU are both team highs for WCC games
TOREROS ON THE ROAD: The Toreros are 5-7 in games played away from the Jenny Craig Pavilion... USD is 4-5 in "true" away games and 1-2 in neutral site contests... USD is coming off a convincing 72-48 win at LMU, its 2nd straight road win (beat Portland 64-61 on Jan. 21st)... Back on Dec. 29th USD claimed a big road victory, a 81-72 decision over the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena before 23,756 fans... USD also owns road wins over Hawaii (73-72), and UC Irvine (60-57) at the Anaheim Classic... Junior guard Brandon Johnson leads the Toreros in road scoring at 18.5 ppg... He is followed by Gyno Pomare at 11.9 ppg and 6.9 rpg... USD averages 63.8 ppg, but is giving up 67.8 ppg... Last season USD won at Pepperdine, 71-67 (1-13-07) with Pomare going for 22 points/15 boards.
A LOOK AT THE PEPPERDINE WAVES: The Waves (7-15; 1-5 wcc) are coming off a heart-breaking 85-82 home loss to USF after leading by 19 points with just over 17 minutes remaining... All seven Waves that played scored in doube digits - led by Tyrone Shelley (16 points)... Prior to that they earned their lone WCC win against LMU, 7-64... That win snapped a 4-game skid and gave interim head coach Eric Bridgeland his first victory in three tries... He took over for Vance Walberg who resigned on January 17th... In the win all five starters scored 12 or more points, led by San Diego product Malcolm Thomas with 18 points and 5 blocked shots... Two other San Diego products, Tyrone Shelley (16 points) and Rico Tucker (12 points) also contributed... Pepperdine's home record is 3-4 overall... For the season the Waves are being paced by the 6-6 Shelley (16.3 ppg) who prepped at Crawford HS with Thomas and freshman Tyler Tucker... The Waves played the Saint Mary's Gaels tough in Moraga back on Jan. 19th, coming up short by the score of 79-74.
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: Following the Pepperdine game, USD will begin the second half of WCC play with a 8 p.m. road game at San Francisco on Monday, February 11th (ESPNU).
