USDvsUSF2016game14

GAME #14: The USD Toreros (5-8, 0-2 WCC) return to the JCP for two league games this week beginning with the San Francisco Dons (8-6, 2-2 WCC) on Thursday, January 7th. Game time is slated for 7:05 pm.

SERIES RECORD: This is the 77th meeting between USD and USF with the Dons owning a 40-36 advantage... The Toreros won both meetings last season - 57-56 at USF on Jan. 1, 2015 and 77-69 on Jan. 31, 2015 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

RADIO/TV/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 by Fox Sports San Diego (Eddie Doucette, Brad Holland & J.T. Rogan). The game will also air on CSN Bay Area, ROOT Northwest, ROOT Rocky Mountain and TheW.tv (out-of-region).

WCC STANDINGS (thru Jan. 4th): Saint Mary's (4-0 WCC, 13-1), Gonzaga (4-0, 12-3), San Francisco (2-2, 8-6), Portland (2-2, 8-9), Pacific (2-2, 3-10), BYU (1-1, 10-5), Pepperdine (1-2, 8-6), Santa Clara (1-3, 5-11), San Diego (0-2, 5-8), LMU (0-3, 7-7).

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 DROP BOTH WCC ROAD CONTESTS: The Toreros dropped both WCC contests this past weekend up in the bay area... On New Year's Eve the Toreros lost a close one to Pacific, 77-75... For the second straight game Vasa Pusica came off the bench to lead the team in scoring... He finished with 15 points and also grabbed a team-best 7 rebounds... His desperation three-pointer near the halfcourt line at the final buzzer made the final a two-point decision... Sophomore forward Cameron Neubauer came off the bench to add 11 points, and was matched by center Jito Kok (11 points, 7 rebounds)... Down by 10 late in the first half, USD battled back to take a 5-point lead with 7:27 to go, but Pacific used a 9-0 run to regain control and were able to hold on down the stretch... Pacific was paced by guards Ray Bowles (19 points) and T.J. Wallace (15 points, 9 rebounds)... On Saturday in Moraga the Toreros ran into a buzz saw as the first place Saint Mary's Gaels dealt them a 79-46 loss... SMC shot 58.2% from the field (32-55) and 69.2% beyond the arc (9-13)... USD received double-digit scoring performances from Brett Bailey (12 points, 7 rebounds) and Duda Sanadze (11 points)... SMC was paced by Dane Pineau (17 points) and was followed in the scoring column by Stefan Gonzalez (12 points, 4-4 in threes), Calvin Hermanson (11 points) and Jock Landale (11).

TORERO TIDBITS: * The Toreros return to the Jenny Craig Pavilion where they are 3-1 this season... Duda Sanadze (13.0 ppg) and Vasa Pusica (12.5 ppg) lead the Toreros in scoring for home games... They are followed by Brett Bailey (8.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Jito Kok (8.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg)... At the JCP the Toreros average 65.0 ppg & 40.5 rpg while limiting its opponents to 58.2 & 34.8.

* The Toreros are 2-3 over their last five contests... Vasa Pusica tops Torero scorers in this stretch with his 11.2 points per game average... He is followed by Duda Sanadze (10.2 ppg) and Brett Bailey (9.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg)... During this stretch USD has averaged 62.0 ppg & 34.8 rpg, with opponents averaging 66.6 ppg & 35.0 rpg.

* The Toreros closed out the month of December with a 4-2 record... Senior Duda Sanadze averaged a team-best 12.7 ppg during the month with Vasa Pusica chipping in at a 10.8 ppg clip... Brett Bailey (8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Jito Kok (8.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.7 bpg) also played key roles.

* Senior center Jito Kok ranks 1st in the WCC (#11 in nation thru games of Jan. 4) in blocked shots at 2.85 per game (37 in 13 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: 230 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 17 games left in the season, Kok needs more 50 blocks (2.94 per game) to set a new all-time WCC record. He ranks seventh among active career Division I blocked shots leaders (230).

* Junior forward Brett Bailey notched his first career double-double against Denver with 11 points and 10 rebounds... In the team's last outing, he combined for a 12 point / 7 rebound effort against Saint Mary's marking the seventh game he has led the Toreros in rebounding... Besides SMC, he has also led the team in rebounding against Western Michigan (6), San Jose State (8), San Diego State (7), Denver (10), UC Davis (7), and CSUN (8) ... For the season he leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 per game (#12 WCC).

* Sophomore 6'7" forward Cameron Neubauer (Berlin, Germany) returned to action against UC Davis on December 15th after missing the team's first nine contests due to a fractured left arm... In the WCC opener at Pacific, Neubauer came off the bench to connect on 3-of-4 threes and finish with a career-best 11 points.

* USD knocked off San Diego State in the annual City Championship game played outdoors at Petco Park on December 6th by the score of 53-48... Senior Duda Sanadze turned in an inspiring peformance with 15 points (5-10 in threes), 6 rebounds and a career-best 5 steals... Freshman guard Olin Carter III helped USD to a 31-13 halftime advantage by making 4-of-5 threes in the first 20 minutes.

* Once again the USD basketball team will kick-off the Poway Youth Basketball League for the Challenged Division with a clinic this Tuesday, January 5th... The Poway Challenged League is open to all players with intellectual disabilities... The division has been around for over 20 years and has grown from a handful of players to more than 100 participants... USD coaches and players will assist with warm-up drills, skills stations, and some entertaining three-point contests between selected USD players and PYBL Challenged participants... The fun event will take place at Meadowbrook Middle School in Poway from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 pm.

* Four recent Toreros are currently playing professionally overseas - Gyno Pomare, '09 (Kanazawa Samuraiz; Kanazawa, Japan), Dennis Kramer, '14 (EWE Baskets; Oldenberg, Germany), Johnny Dee, '15 (Polpharma; Starogard Gdanski, Poland) and Christopher Anderson, '15 (Weissenhorn Youngstars; Weissenhorn, Germany).

SCOUTING THE SAN FRANCISCO DONS: The San Francisco Dons come to town with an overall record of 8-6, along with a 2-2 WCC record... This past week they defeated Portland (107-95) on December 31st, and followed up with a tough 102-94 overtime loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs on January 2nd... In the Portland win, USF trailed 61-52 at the half before rallying for 12-point victory... Tim Derksen (27 points) and Devin Watson (22 points) paced five Dons in double-digit scoring... Against Gonzaga, Watson scored 33 points with Ronnie Boyce chipping in 20... Derken's three-pointer sent the game to overtime, but the Zags outscored the Dons 20-12... On the season the Dons are being paced by Watson (20.3 ppg) and Derksen (15.1 ppg)... Through four WCC games, four players are averaging double-digits: Watson (21.5 ppg), Boyce (16.3), Derksen (14.3) and Uche Ofoegbu (13.3)... Head Coach Rex Walters is in his 8th season with USF (120-118 overall; 57-58 WCC).

A LOOK AHEAD: The Toreros return to the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion for a contest against the Santa Clara Broncos (Sat., Jan. 9th, 7:05 p.m., TWCSN).