March 2, 2008
USD-LMU Game Notes 
GAME #31: The USD Toreros (17-13; 10-3 wcc) close out their regular-season schedule on Monday against the Loyola Marymount Lions (5-24; 2-11). Game time is 7:05 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. USD, already guaranteed a 3rd place finish and #3 seed for the upcoming WCC Tournament, has a shot at reaching 11 WCC wins with a victory on Monday. USD's best mark in history is 13-1 (1987), while it finished 10-4 twice (2003, 2000).
SERIES RECORD: Monday's game with LMU marks the 75th meeting between these two Southern California programs. The Lions hold a slim 38-36 overall advantage, while the Toreros lead 33-25 in WCC contests. USD earned a convincing 72-48 win back on Feb. 2nd with freshman Rob Jones leading the way with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: Monday's contest will air on ESPNU with Steve Physioc and Krista Blunk. 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 action (pre-game at 6:45 pm). The audio broadcasts are also available at usdtoreros.com and XXSportsRadio.com.
WCC STANDINGS (thru Mar. 1): #24 Gonzaga (12-1; 23-6), #23/#25 Saint Mary's (11-2 wcc; 24-5), San Diego (10-3; 17-13), Santa Clara (6-7; 14-14), Pepperdine (4-9; 10-19), San Francisco (4-9; 8-20), Portland (3-10; 9-20), LMU (2-11; 5-24). Other WCC Games (Mar. 3rd) SMC @ Portland (7 pm), Pepperdine @ USF (7 pm), SCU @ Gonzaga (8:30 pm).
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 17-13 (10-3 wcc) into the LMU game. A win on Monday will give USD 11 conference wins, the second most for a 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 17 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). 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.
JOHNSON TANDEM LEAD TOREROS PAST PEPPERDINE, 77-73: Freshman guard Trumaine Johnson scored a career-high 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting, and junior guard Brandon Johnson chipped in with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting as the Toreros held off a very determined Pepperdine Waves club, 77-73... USD trailed 38-37 at the half, but won for just the 4th time in 17 contests when trailing at intermission... USD held a 73-65 advantage with 1:56 to go, but Pepperdine rallied to within two at 75-73 with 18 seconds left on the clock... USD sophomore guard De'Jon Jackson calmly converted both ends of a 1-on-1 with 13 seconds to go to set the final score... USD shot a season-high 61.1 percent from the field (33-54)... Gyno Pomare added 12 points/6 rebounds.
TORERO TIDBITS: The Toreros close out their regular-season slate Monday against LMU... A win would give USD 11 conference wins, marking the second best total in USD history (13-1 in 1987 under head coach Hank Egan is the top record)... USD has secured the No. 3 seed for the upcoming WCC Tournament to be played at the JCP (Mar. 7-10), and will play the second quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 8th against the winner of the #6-#7 matchup ... Junior Gyno Pomare is one basket shy of becoming the third Torero since the program jumped to NCAA Division I status in 1979-80, to record 1,200 points and grab 600 rebounds - he currenty sits at 1,198 and 632 rebounds... Scott Thompson (1,379 & 740; 1983-87) and Ryan Williams (1,318 & 653; 1994-99) are ahead of him... Among WCC players for all games, Brandon Johnson ranks 3rd in scoring (16.6 ppg), 1st in steals (2.34), 5th in assists (3.52), 1st in 3-pointers made per game (2.21), and 7th in assist/turnover ratio (+1.05)... With his 7 steals at Gonzaga (1-19-08), Johnson tied the school record held by Corey Belser and Mike Whitmarsh... For all games among WCC players, Gyno Pomare ranks 7th in scoring (13.7), 7th in rebounding (7.2), 3rd in field goal percentage (.544), and 6th in blocked shots (1.33)... Pomare leads the team with 6 double-doubles this season, the last coming against Santa Clara (11/10) - he owns 16 career double "D's"... Freshman Rob Jones ranks 9th in the WCC in FG% (.493) and 10th in rebounding (5.3)... Over the past six games, freshman guard Trumaine Johnson has reached double-digit scoring five times, including his career-high of 22 points against Pepperdine... He is averaging11 ppg during this stretch... In WCC games only, USD ranks 1st in scoring defense (59.4 ppg) and 1st in 3-point FG% defense (.315; 58-184)... USD's win over No. 20 Saint Mary's back on Jan. 28th marked just the third time the Toreros have 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).
TOREROS AT HOME IN THE JCP: USD is currently 9-5 in games played at the JCP... USD saw its 4-game home win streak snapped on Feb. 18th by Gonzaga (59-55), but with Saturday's win over Pepperdine, USD has now won 5 of 6... Prior to the Gonzaga loss, USD beat Portland (78-61) and knocked off No. 20 Saint Mary's (63-55)... USD leaders at the JCP include Gyno Pomare (15.4 ppg/7.9 rpg) and Brandon Johnson (15.4 ppg/3.9 apg/2.6 steals)... USD averages 65.0 ppg while holding opponents to 60.6 ppg... USD outrebounds its opponents at the JCP - 33.5 to 31.1... Since opening its doors back in November of 2000, USD is 68-42 overall (61.8 winning percentage)... With its 5-1 WCC home record at the JCP, USD is averaging 62.0 ppg, and holding its WCC opponents to 56.7 ppg (+5.3 scoring margin)... Johnson (15.8 ppg) and Pomare (12.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg) lead the way in the six WCC home games.
A LOOK AT THE LMU LIONS: The Lions (2-11, 5-24) will be looking to snap their 6-game losing streak on Monday when they visit the Jenny Craig Pavilion... The Lions are coming off a 88-79 road loss at San Francisco... Guard Orlando Johnson led four Lions in double figures with 17 points... Forward Tim Diederichs and Quentin Turner chipped in 15 points each... LMU's last win came against the Dons back on Feb. 4th (72-67)... For the season, LMU's lone player averaging double digit scoring is guard Orlando Johnson (11.9 ppg)... In their 72-63 loss to Pepperdine a week ago Saturday, the Lions were paced by Marko Deric (12 points) and Quentin Turner (12 points)... In WCC games the Lions are averaging 58.8 points per game, and giving up 76.4... Head coach Rodney Tention is in his 3rd year (30-60)... During his college playing days at USF, he was a teammate of current USD Associate Head Coach Bill Carr.
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. San Diego media need to go online to secure a credential at www.sportssystems.com/wcc.
