Nov. 13, 2009
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San Diego, CA- With the help of 18 points apiece from Brandon Johnson and De'Jon Jackson, the University of San Diego men's basketball team beat the Stanford Cardinal 77-64 on Friday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in front of a raucous crowd.
Fourteen of Johnson's 18 points came during the second half, while Jackson was 8-for-13 from the field. They were not the sole contributors, however, as Chris Lewis provided the spark for the Toreros, scoring 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting and grabbing 6 rebounds.
"I'm happy with this win but I told our guys if we go out and beat them tonight that it would not be a defining moment for us this season," said head coach Bill Grier. "We have so many games in front of us. This is a great way for us to get off on the right foot though. I thought Chris Lewis gave us a big lift out of the gates and De'Jon ( Jackson) and Brandon (Johnson) gave us some steady play."
The season-opening win for the Toreros was their first win against Stanford since December 27th, 1980, when USD upended the visiting Cardinal 79-70 in overtime.
In the first half, the Toreros fired out of the gates, powered by the play of Lewis. Lewis scored the first 7 points for USD in the game's opening minutes, with a jumper 15 seconds into the game, followed by a three-pointer and a put back lay-in following a rebound at the 17:48 mark.
Stanford answered with an 8-4 run, putting the Cardinal in the lead for the first time with 14:35 on the clock. Jeremy Green's three-pointer brought the score to 13-11.
USD would enter halftime with a 35-32 lead as the team began to offensively work the ball near the rim and force Stanford to fight for its points on the other end.
USD witnessed their halftime lead quickly disappear as Landry Fields, who led Stanford with 25 points, threw down a dunk following a turnover and Jarrett Mann converted a jumper to put Stanford in the lead 36-35.
Stanford would go on to increase their lead to 38-35 with 17:19 remaining in the game, but the Toreros, who struggled to find their rhythm during the opening minutes of the half, regained the advantage for good behind the contributions from Johnson and Jackson, as well as solid defense from the entire team.
The Toreros would go on to shoot 60% from the field in the second half, converting 15 of their 25 shots during the final half. Stanford, meanwhile, was 10-for-33 (30.3%) in field goal shooting for the second half, and shot 37.5% for the game.
Chris Manresa (10 points, 5 rebounds) and Roberto Mafra (9 points, 5 rebounds) both contributed off the bench for USD. Clinton Houston had a team-high 7 boards, helping the Toreros build a 40-33 advantage in rebounds over Stanford.
Johnson, who was playing in his first regular season game since December 6th, 2008, used his 18 points to elevate himself into fourth-place on all-time scoring list, moving past Bob Bartholomew with 1,403 career points.
USD will play their next game on the road as they will take on the University of Pacific on Monday, November 16th. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. PT.
