March 18, 2008
Watch it live on March Madness On Demand!
USD-UConn Game Notes 
GAME #35: The University of San Diego men's basketball team (21-13) received the 13th seed in the West Region of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and will take on 4th seed Connecticut (24-8) of the Big East Conference this Friday, March 21st, in Tampa, Florida. USD and the UCONN Huskies will be the 2nd game of the First Session, 30 minutes after the end of the Drake-Western Kentucky opener at 12:30 p.m. (ET). The games are being played at the St. Pete Times Forum. USD's game should tip-off at approximately 11:50 a.m. (PT).
SERIES RECORD: This is the first meeting ever between San Diego and Connecticut.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: The game will be televised nationally by CBS Sports with Tim Brando and Mike Gminski calling the action. The game will also be broadcast on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM) with Andy Masur and John Kentera bringing you all the play-by-play and color analysis (pre-game 15 minutes prior to tipoff).
WCC RECORDS (as of Mar. 18th): Gonzaga (13-1 wcc; 25-7), Saint Mary's (12-2; 25-6), San Diego (11-3; 21-13), Santa Clara (6-8; 15-15), San Francisco (5-9; 10-21), Pepperdine (4-10; 11-21), Portland (3-11; 9-22), LMU (2-12; 5-26).
WCC GETS THREE TEAMS INTO NCAA's FOR FIRST TIME EVER: For the first time in league history the West Coast Conference will send three teams to the Big Dance. Joining San Diego, the league's automatic qualifier, will be Gonzaga, a #7 seed who will face #10 Davidson in Raleigh, NC, and Saint Mary's College, a #10 seed, who will take on #7 Miami in Little Rock, Arkansas. All three games will be played this coming Friday.
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'll bring a record of 21-13 (11-3 wcc) into the NCAA Tournament. His 11 WCC wins are the second most for league wins in a single season in program history. 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. His 21 wins is also the most by a Torero coach in his first season at USD - previous mark was 16 held by Hank Egan ('84-85) and Jim Brovelli ('73-74). He owns two wins over ranked opponents (#20 Saint Mary's & #20 Gonzaga), as well as an impressive 81-72 road win over Kentucky. 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.
TOREROS BATTLE TESTED: One of the first things Coach Bill Grier did upon his arrival at USD was to upgrade the schedule. This past season USD faced five teams in their non-conference schedule that have reached the NCAA's in (UNLV, USC, South Alabama, Boise State and Kentucky). Along with their three games each against Saint Mary's College and Gonzaga, USD played a total of 11 games against teams in this year's NCAA's. USD went a combined 4-7 in those contests with wins coming against Kentucky, Gonzaga, and Saint Mary's twice. Three other USD opponents reached the NIT - SDSU, New Mexico and Stephen F. Austin.
TORERO TIDBITS: USD enters the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time, and in search of its first NCAA Post-season win... (77-69 loss to Stanford in 2003; 62-61 loss to Auburn in 1987; 65-56 loss to Princeton in 1984)... USD has reached 20 or more wins for just the 3rd time since moving to Division I back in 1979-80 (24-6 in '86-87; 20-9 in '99-00), and the team's 21 wins ranks 2nd all-time... The Toreros head into NCAA Tourney play having won 5 straight and 13 of 15... USD's 11 WCC wins this season is the second best total in USD history (13-1 in 1987 under head coach Hank Egan is the top record)... Junior Gyno Pomare became just the third USD Division I player to record 1,200 points and grab 600 rebounds - he currenty sits at 1,254 and 667 rebounds... Scott Thompson (1,379 & 740; 1983-87) and Ryan Williams (1,318 & 653; 1994-99) are the other two 1200-600 club members... With his 28 point performance in the team's double overtime win against Saint Mary's on March 9th, junior Brandon Johnson set at new USD game record for minutes played (50) and a new single season record for points scored (550)...With 1,246 career points, he is now 9th all-time at USD, just 8 points behind #8 Pomare... This season USD notched two wins over top-25 ranked teams - No. 20 Gonzaga on March 10th (69-62) and No. 20 Saint Mary's back on Jan. 28th (63-55)... The two wins over ranked opponents equals USD program mark in its previous 28 seasons of Division I play (vs. No. 14 UCLA, 86-81, ot, 11-26-02; and vs. No. 25 Gonzaga in the USD Sports Center, 75-59, 2-4-99).
TRIO OF TOREROS HONORED BY WEST COAST CONFERENCE: USD juniors Brandon Johnson and Gyno Pomare have both been named to the 2008 All-WCC Men's Basketball First Team. The junior tandem helped lead the Toreros to an overall regular-season record of 21-13, and an 11-3 third place WCC mark. For Pomare, it marks the second straight season he has been named First Team, while it is Johnson's first honor. Both players, who were selected by WCC coaches in the preseason as two of the top six returning players, put together solid seasons. Freshman forward Rob Jones was named to the All-WCC Freshman team. Johnson leads the team in scoring (16.9 ppg), assists (3.5) and steals (2.2). Pomare ranks second to Johnson in scoring (13.7 ppg). He also leads the Toreros in rebounding (7.4) and FG% (.541). Like Johnson, Pomare was twice named a WCC Player of the Week this season. Jones, who earned one WCC Player of the Week award, is third on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.8 rpg).
JOHNSON & POMARE BOTH IN TORERO 1,200 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 now sits at #19 with 1,090 points... This season two more Toreros have joined the club, and now have jumped into the 1,200 club... With his 5th point in his 13 point outing at Kentucky back on Dec. 29th, Gyno Pomare became the 21st Torero to reach the 1,000 point milestone... Now with 1,254 points and 667 rebounds, Gyno's is just the 3rd NCAA Division I Torero to score 1,200+ points and grab 600+ rebounds... He holds down the 2nd spot all-time among USD's Division I rebounding leaders (1979-present) - the No. 1 spot is held by Scott Thompson (740; 1983-87)... Among all Toreros, he is now 8th on the scoring charts. Brandon Johnson became the 22nd Torero to join the 1,000 point club with his first of four three-pointers against the Portland Pilots back on Jan. 21st... He entered the game with 999 points, and finished with 12 points against the Pilots, including the game-winner at the buzzer... He now has 1,246 points (9th all-time) and also ranks 3rd all-time (USD Div. I records) in assists with 390... The last time USD had two players on the team with 1,000+ points was during the 1991-92 campaign - seniors Kelvin Woods (1,216) and Wayman Strickland (1,040). The WCC coaches picked both of these players as two of the top six WCC players returning this season - they are joined by Josh Heytvelt and Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga, Diamon Simpson of Saint Mary's College and Manny Quezada of USF.
SCOUTING THE UCONN HUSKIES: The Huskies are one of six Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament... The Huskies finished the regular-season 24-8 overall and 13-5 in conference... This is UConn's 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament where they have won national titles twice (2004 & 1999)... UConn has an all-time record of 40-25 in NCAA tournament play with its last appearance coming in the 2006 Elite Eight where they lost to George Mason... They are coming off a 78-72 Big East Tournament loss to West Virginia (March 13th)... The Huskies are paced by junior guard A.J. Price (14.9 ppg; 5.9 apg), junior forward Jeff Adrian (14.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and sophomore forwardStanley Robinson (10.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg)... 7-3 sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet owns 143 blocked shots on the season... Head Coach Jim Calhoun is in his 22nd year at UConn (526-199) and 36th overall (774-336).
TOREROS ON THE ROAD: The Toreros are 8-8 in games played away from the Jenny Craig Pavilion... USD is 7-6 in "true" away games and 1-2 in neutral site contests... The Toreros have gone 5-1 in their last six away contests... Their lone loss during this stretch was a 61-54 setback at Saint Mary's College on Feb. 25th... Back on Dec. 29th, 2007, USD claimed a huge road victory, an 81-72 decision over the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena before 23,756 fans... Junior guard Brandon Johnson leads the Toreros in road scoring at 17.5 ppg... He is followed by Gyno Pomare at 12.1 ppg and 6.7 rpg... As a team, USD averages 63.7 ppg, but is giving up 66.0 ppg.
