USDvsCSUN2015

GAME #11: The USD Toreros play host to the CSUN Matadors (4-7) on Wednesday, December 23rd, in a 7:05 p.m. contest at the Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100 capacity).

SERIES RECORD: This is the 30th meeting between USD and CSUN with the Toreros owning a 16-13 advantage... CSUN won the last meeting (11-15-2012) at the JCP by the score of 74-71... Johnny Dee led USD with 16 points while CSUN received a game-high 25 points from guard Stephan Hicks.

RADIO/VIDEO STREAM: All USD home and away games will be broadcast live on ESPN 1700AM with Jack Cronin (2nd season) bringing you all the action; his pre-game show airs 10 minutes prior to tip-off. The contest will also be broadcast on TheW.tv.

WCC STANDINGS (thru Dec. 20th): Saint Mary's (8-1), Gonzaga (8-3), BYU (7-3), LMU (7-4), Pepperdine (7-4), San Francisco (6-4), Portland (6-7), San Diego (4-6), Santa Clara (4-8), Pacific (1-8).

WCC COACHES PRESEASON POLL: The Toreros were picked 9th in the 2015-16 WCC Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll... Team (First Place Vote) - 1. Gonzaga (9), 81 points; 2. BYU (2), 73 points; 3. Pepperdine, 62 points; 4. Saint Mary's, 58 points; 5. Portland, 43 points; 6. Santa Clara, 37points; 7. Pacific, 32 points; 7. San Francisco, 32 points; 9. San Diego, 17 points; 10. Loyola Marymount, 15 points.

COACH SMITH (1ST YEAR): Coach Lamont Smith (San Diego, 1998) is in his first head coaching position and comes from New Mexico where he was the Associate Head Coach... Prior to that he spent time at Washington, Arizona State, Santa Clara, Saint Mary's College and Saint Louis University... Smith, 40, returns to USD where he was a member of the men's basketball team from 1994-99... He started all 27 games his senior year in 1998-99 for the 18-9 Toreros... He was named the Toreros' Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 and 1999 and served as the team captain from 1997-99... Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of San Diego in 1998... Lamont and his wife Kimberly have two daughters -- Payton and Olivia.

TOREROS EARN 61-55 HOME WIN OVER UC DAVIS: The USD Toreros earned their fourth win of the season with a hard-fought 61-55 victory over the UC Davis Aggies (4-4). Sophomore guard Marcus Harris scored a career-best 16 points and was followed in double-digit scoring by Duda Sanadze (14), Vasa Pusica (13) and Jito Kok (11). Kok almost tallied a double-double as he broke his own single game record for blocked shots with 9 tonight. His previous record was 8 set last season against the LMU Lions. USD trailed at the intermission break 34-33, but received 11 crucial minutes off the bench from Khalil Bedart-Ghani. His 6 rebounds and 3 steals played a key role in the Toreros jumping out to a 48-37 lead in the first seven minutes of the second half. Sanadze also had a big second half with 11 of his 14 points coming after halftime. Pusica also added 6 assists and 5 rebounds to go with his 13 points. UC Davis, which won 25 games a year ago and won the Big West Conference regular-season title, pulled to within five points on three different occasions over the final five minutes, but USD always had an answer. UC Davis received 15 points and 9 rebounds from Neal Monson, with local product Brynton Lemar chipping in with 12 points. The Toreros out-rebounded the Aggies 39-34, and totaled 14 assists, 11 blocks and 7 steals.

TORERO TIDBITS: * USD returns to the JCP where it is 2-1 in home games this season... Duda Sanadze leads the team in home scoring at 13.7 points per game... He is followed by Vasa Pusica (11.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and Jito Kok (9.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 4.0 bpg)... As a team in the JCP the Toreros average 59.7 ppg and 40.3 rpg, while giving up 56.7 ppg and 35.3 rpg to its opponents.

* Over the past five games the Toreros own a record of 4-1... During this stretch senior guard Duda Sanadze is averaging 13.6 ppg... He is followed by sophomore guard Marcus Harris (8.6 ppg) and Jito Kok (8.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.6 bpg)... Over theses five games USD is averaging 58.8 ppg and 37.6 rpg while limiting opponents to 55.4 ppg and 36.2 rpg.

* Senior center Jito Kok ranks 1st in the WCC (#14 in nation) in blocked shots at 2.8 per game (28 in 10 contests)... He owns all three USD records for blocked shots - single game: 9 vs. UC Davis, 12-15-15; single season: 75 in 2014-15; career: 221 and counting... He ranks 5th all-time among WCC players, trailing #1 Hondre Brewer of USF, 279; #2 Omar Samhan of SMC, 258; John Bryant of SCU, 246; and #4 Diamon Simpson of SMC, 239. With a minimum of 20 games left in the season, Kok would need to average 3 blocks per game to set a new all-time WCC record.

* Over the past two games sophomore guard Vasa Pusica has scored a team-best 24 points (12.0 ppg)... He has connected on 10-of-19 shots from the field (52.6%) while chipping in 5.0 rebounds per game and 4.0 assists per game... In the win over UC Davis he he scored a season-best 13 points and played all 20 minutes of the second half going for 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

* Junior forward Brett Bailey notched his first career double-double against Denver with 11 points and 10 rebounds... His previous high for rebounds was 9 last year against Princeton (11-28-14)... He turned in a solid game against the SDSU Aztecs last Sunday with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 32 minutes of action... Besides his game-ending dunk that sealed the victory with one second to go, Bailey grabbed three offensive rebounds with two resulting in Torero points in the first half... Bailey leads the Toreros in rebounding at 5.5 caroms per game (#13 in WCC).

SCOUTING THE CSUN MATADORS: The CSUN Matadors come to town riding a two-game winning streak following wins against Portland State (77-71) and Bethesda (79-49)... Other wins came against Wright State (72-67) and Vanguard (72-52)... In their most recent outing against Bethesda, junior guard Kendall Smith scored 22 points and sophomore forward Tavrion Dawson came off the bench to score 21 points and grab 13 rebounds... For the season Dawson is averaging 13.3 ppg and is followed by sophomore guard Michael Warren (13.1 ppg) and freshman guard Jason Richardson (10.9 ppg)... Head Coach Reggie Theus is in his third season.

A LOOK AHEAD: The 2015-16 WCC schedule gets underway with road games at Pacific (Dec. 31, 6 p.m.) and Saint Mary's College (Jan. 2, 7:00 p.m.)... Pacific is currently 1-8 and opens up WCC play this week by hosting Santa Clara (Dec. 21) and San Francisco (Dec. 23)... Former USD assistant Mike Burns is currently Pacific's interim head coach. Saint Mary's College is at the top of the WCC standings with its 8-1 record... The Gaels lead the nation in field goal percentage (54.6) with sophomore guard Emmett Naar leading the nation with his 69.4% clip (25-36)... SMC opens WCC play at home with USF (Dec. 21) before playing at Santa Clara (Dec. 23).