San Diego (1-0) •Â
 UC Davis (0-1) •Â
 Washington (1-0)
The Pavilion • Davis, Calif. |Â
Alaska Airlines Arena • Seattle, Wash.
Live Stream • Mountain West Network |Â
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Radio • ESPN 1700AM
Live Statistics • USDToreros.com
Social • Twitter.com/USDMBB • Instagram.com/USDMBB
SAN DIEGO – San Diego takes its first road trip of the season as it heads up the coast to take on UC Davis and Washington.
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The Toreros (1-0) continue a season-opening stretch of three games in seven days on Friday at 7 p.m. PT when they take on the Aggies (0-1). USD continues its trip north for a Monday matchup at 8 p.m. against the Huskies (1-0).
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The game at UC Daivs will be streamed via the Mountain West Network and the game at Washington will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN 1700AM with Jack Cronin on the call. Live statistics will be available via USDToreros.com.
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LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego outscored Weber State by 24 points in the second half and
Sam Scholl earned his first victory as a head coach as the Toreros defeated the Wildcats, 83-66, Tuesday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
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• The Toreros roared back from an early first-half deficit to defeat Weber State.
Isaiah Pineiro led the charge with a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds. He also put in work on the defensive end with a team-high four steals.
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• It was a tale of two halves for the Toreros, which shot 33.3 percent in the first half but exploded in the second stanza, going 21-of-32 (65.6 percent). USD came alive from behind the arc in the second half, going 7-of-10 from three-point range compared to a 0-for-7 mark in the first half.
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Yauhen Massalski was two points shy of having a double-double of his own, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds.
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Olin Carter III and
Isaiah Wright registered 13 points apiece, while
Alex Floresca added 12 points.
Joey Calcaterra was excellent in his collegiate debut off the bench, knocking down three-of-five shots for seven points.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UC DAVIS
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USD is 4-1 all-time against UC Davis and won their most recent meeting, 61-55, on Dec. 15, 2015, in San Diego. The previous four meetings between the teams were during the 1978-79 season or earlier.
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Olin Carter III,
Tyler Williams and
Alex Floresca played in the previous meeting against the Aggies in 2015. Williams logged 17 minutes and a point, while Carter III and Floresca played 15 and nine minutes, respectively.
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ALL-TIME SERIES VS. WASHINGTON
• The Toreros are 1-1 all-time against the Huskies, with their lone win coming in Seattle. USD defeated the Huskies during their first contest in program history, 72-54, on Dec. 30, 2000. The Toreros were edged, 98-94, in the following year's meeting in San Diego on Dec. 1, 2001.
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FAMILIAR FACES » UC DAVIS
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Isaiah Pineiro is from Auburn, California – a roughly 45 minute drive to the campus of UC Davis. He prepped at Placer High School where he earned all-league and all-section honors, averaging 20.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per game during his senior season.
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Devin Moss is from Roseville, California, which is about an hour north-east of UC Davis' campus. He prepped at Rocklin High School in Rocklin, California, before attending Cornell for undergraduate studies where he graduated with a 3.85 GPA. He's working on his graduate degree in communications at USD.
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FAMILIAR FACES » WASHINGTON
• Head coach,
Sam Scholl, is from nearby Gig Harbor, Washington. He grew up a Seattle sports fan and is a big fan of the Seattle Seahawks. Scholl still has many family and friends who live in the Seattle area and there will be roughly 50-60 family members and friends in attendance at the game.
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• Director of Operations,
Lance LaVetter, joined USD after serving three years as an assistant coach at Seattle U. He spent 12 years as the director of basketball operations under Lorenzo Romar at Washington.
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SENIORS LEAD THE WAY
• The Toreros will be led by four returning senior starters,
Isaiah Pineiro,
Isaiah Wright,
Olin Carter III and
Tyler Williams. Pineiro, Wright and Carter III played in all 34 games last year, while Williams appeared in 29 contests.
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TOREROS RETURN 81 PERCENT OF SCORING
• USD returns 81 percent of its scoring from last year's team that won 20 games, including four senior starters. Pineiro led the Toreros at 15.7 points per game, followed by Wright (13.4), Carter III (12.4) and Williams (8.8).
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• Among the returners who logged regular minutes last year,
Yauhen Massalski was seventh on the team with 4.2 points per game and
Alex Floresca recorded 2.6 points per game.
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PINEIRO ON THE ALL-WCC PRESEASON TEAM
• Pineiro was an All-WCC first team selection a year ago, averaging 15.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He hit double-digits in scoring in 30 games and shot 49.1 percent from the field.
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• Pineiro led the Toreros in scoring and was No. 6 in the WCC at 15.7 points per game. He was 10th in the conference with 6.2 rebounds per game.
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WRIGHT AT THE POINT
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Isaiah Wright was an All-WCC second team selection a year ago after leading the Toreros in assists (5.3 per game) and steals (1.29 per game).
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• Wright became an instant leader on the court for the Toreros last season, taking over point guard responsibilities after transferring from Utah and sitting out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
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• Wright is the only Torero on the roster who has NCAA Tournament experience, advancing to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 during his freshman season with Utah in 2014-15.
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CARTER III CLIMBING THE TOREROS RECORD BOOK
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Olin Carter III has worked his way up the USD record book and is among the top 20 in multiple categories.
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- He is 20th all-time in career scoring with 1,111 points.
- Carter III has played in 95 games and is 27 games away from breaking into the top 10 all-time.
- Carter III is on the cusp of breaking into top 10 in field-goals made, field-goals attempted, three-pointers made, and three-pointers attempted.
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NEW FACES
• USD added true freshman,
Finn Sullivan, from nearby Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, California. Sullivan led the Torrey Pines Falcons to a 28-4 record (10-0 conference), averaging 18.7 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game and 5.5 assists per game his senior year.
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• The Toreros active lineup will include four redshirt freshman this year, including
Joey Calcaterra,
Emanuel Hylton,
Akim-Jamal Jonah and
Andrew Ferguson. The quartet sat out last season but are expected to provide depth off the bench this year.
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Braun Hartfield joined the Toreros as a transfer from Youngstown State. In 32 appearances as a sophomore, Hartfield averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He will sit out the 2018-19 season per NCAA transfer rules and be eligible to play in 2019-20.
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• Also joining the Toreros in 2018-19 will be walk-ons,
Devin Moss and
Simon Stringer.
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TEAM BONDING EXPERENCE IN COSTA RICA
• USD traveled to Costa Rica in early August as part of a foreign trip. While the team won all three of its games against Laurentian University (Canada), Costa Rica's U-21 National Team and the University of Calgary, the most important moments happened off the court.
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• The Toreros participated in a Central American history class, visited a local orphanage and children's hospital, explored the Costa Rican culture, and participated in events – like zip-lining through the jungle – that brought them closer together.
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NOTABLE DEPARTURES
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Cameron Neubauer was the only starter from last year's team to depart, graduating with a degree in finance. He appeared in all 34 games and made 31 starts. Neubauer averaged 6.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
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• Juwan Gray transferred to Towson after completing his sophomore year with the Toreros. Gray averaged 5.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and appeared in all 34 contests as one of the first USD players off the bench.
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ALL-WCC RETURNERS
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Isaiah Pineiro was named to the All-WCC first team last season, while
Isaiah Wright earned second-team honors and
Olin Carter III was an honorable mention.
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COACH SCHOLL'S FIRST SEASON AS HEAD COACH
• Head coach,
Sam Scholl, became the Toreros 13th head coach in program history and sixth since the school move to Division-I (1979-80) on April 3, 2018.
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• Scholl served as the acting head coach for the final four games of the 2017-18 season. Scholl went 2-2 as the acting head coach, going 0-1 in the WCC Tournament and 2-1 in the CollegeInsiders.com Postseason Tournament.
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• Scholl has 18 years of coaching experience in the West Coast Conference, the fourth-most of all coaches in the conference behind Gonzaga's Mark Few (29 years, 19 as head coach), Saint Mary's Randy Bennett (29 years, 17 as head coach at SMC) and San Francisco's Kyle Smith (19 years, two as head coach at USF).
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• Additionally Scholl owns two years of WCC playing time having competed at USD from 1998-2000. He was the Toreros' lone senior on the team's 20-9 squad from the 1999-2000 campaign and USD would post a 38-18 two-year record during Scholl's playing career.
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HOW SCHOLL FOUND OUT HE'D BE THE NEXT HEAD COACH
• Following the conclusion of the 2017-18 season, Scholl remained in the role of acting head coach while a national search for the next head coach was conducted.
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• When athletics director,
Bill McGillis, decided on Scholl as the next head coach, he flew to Scholl's hometown of Gig Harbor, Washington, on Easter Sunday where Scholl was spending time with his family.
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• McGillis stopped at a local FedEx to print out the contract for Scholl to sign, then went to a Fred Meyer to buy a celebratory cake. He found the address to Scholl's parents' house via WhitePages.com and surprised Scholl with the head coaching offer and cake in front of his family on Easter Sunday.
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TOUGH SCHEDULE
• The Toreros will take on a challenging nonconference schedule that includes matchups against four Pac-12 opponents, a trip to Ole Miss and multiple quality mid-major programs.
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• Coach Scholl noted the increased intensity in nonconference scheduling is due in part to the Toreros entering the season as a "team with expectations" and ready to take the next step in competing with the nation's best teams. He wants USD to be a program that his players and others have high expectations of.
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• USD will travel to Washington (Nov. 12) and Oregon (Dec. 12), take on Washington State (Dec. 22) in Las Vegas, and play host to Colorado (Nov. 20).
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• The Toreros will travel to Ole Miss on Nov. 28 for the first meeting between the programs in history.
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• USD also takes on multiple quality mid-major programs includingt Weber State, UC Davis, Northern Colorado and Grand Canyon.
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APPROACHING 900
• MBB is nine wins away from 900 in program history - DI and DII (they currently have 572 as a DI institution).
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