SAN DIEGO – San Diego will make its first road trip of the season as the Toreros travel two hours north and play at Long Beach State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.

The Toreros are coming off a narrow 76-73 loss to UC Irvine in their season opener this past Tuesday. USD led by 14 at halftime, but it shot 23.6% from the field in the second half, including 1-of-10 from three-point range. 

Long Beach State also dropped its season opener, a 69-65 loss at UCLA on Wednesday. The Beach were up by 6 at the break, but the Bruins hit 19 free throws to LBSU's 6 in the final half to help put away the game.

Saturday's game can be watched on Big West TV as well as heard for free on the Toreros' website, with the Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin on the call.

LAST TIME OUT: TOREROS CANNOT HOLD OFF UC IRVINE IN SECOND HALF
- San Diego raced out to a 14-point halftime lead, but UC Irvine limited the Toreros to 6 field goals in the second half to beat the Toreros, 76-73, in the 2019-20 season opener inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Toreros led by as much as 18 points at one point in the opening half, helped by hitting 7-of-13 three-pointers and shooting 51.5% from the field. However, after the Toreros led 61-48 with 12:44 remaining in the game, UC Irvine went on to score 28 of the game's final 40 points. USD had only 2 field goals in the final 12 minutes. Redshirt junior Braun Hartfield led all Toreros with 17 points and 8 rebounds while redshirt freshman Marion Humphrey added 14 points.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST LONG BEACH STATE
- Saturday will be the 18th all-time meeting between San Diego and Long Beach State, with the Toreros trailing in the series, 7-10.

- The Toreros won the last meeting in 2018-19, a 74-70 victory in San Diego on December 1, 2018.

- Prior to last season, the Toreros and LBSU had not faced off since 1992-93. The two schools have only met 6 times in USD's history as a Division I program (record: 3-3).

- The Toreros were 4-7 against Long Beach State from 1956-69.

LOOKING AHEAD
- The Toreros return home on Tuesday, November 12 to face Fresno State in the Jenny Craig Pavilion (7 p.m.).

BRAUN'S DEBUT
- Redshirt junior Braun Hartfield, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, scored 17 points in his USD debut against UC Irvine, which are the most by a Torero newcomer in a season opener since then-freshman Johnny Dee scored 22 on November 14, 2011 against Stephen F. Austin.

- Hartfield was relatively even in his point distribution between the first and second half, scoring 9 (3-4 FB) in the first and 8 in the second (2-7 FG).

- Hartfield also led the team in rebounds with 8.

- In his last season on the court, as a sophomore at Youngstown State, Hartfield averaged 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds.

DOUBLE-DIGIT POINTS
- With the help of Hartfield, 4 different Toreros reached double-figures in points on Tuesday, a first for USD since March 7, 2019 against Portland in the WCC Tournament when it had 5 players in double-figures.

- James Jean-Marie almost made it 5 Toreros with 10+ points as he finished with 9 in his USD debut.

- Of the 8 players who played against UC Irvine, 7 scored 5 or more points. Sabry Philip, who only played 3 minutes, was the only Torero who did not score.

NEWCOMER PRODUCTION
- As to be anticipated with a roster of 10 newcomers, first-year players in a USD uniform provided most of the scoring in the season opener. Of the 73 points, 45 were scored by newcomers (62%).

- The top two scorers, Braun Hartfield (17 pts) and Marion Humphrey (14 pts), combined for 31 points in their USD debut.

AT THE POINT
- Marion Humphrey was second on the team in points in his USD debut on Tuesday. The redshirt freshman point guard was the team's top shooter, though, as he was 5-of-9 (55.6%) from the field.

- A native of Hoover, Ala., Humphrey was 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.

- Humphrey filled up the stat sheet in his collegiate debut, totaling 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in 30 minutes.

NEW THREE-POINT LINE, SAME TEAM
- The Toreros took 23 three-point shots in the season opener, making up 39% of their total shots.

- Six Toreros took at least 1 of the 23 attempts, with 5 of them draining at least 1.

- Last year, USD had 20+ three-point attempts in 25 of the 36 games.

- Of the 2,002 field goal attempts last year, 40% were from three-point range (808).

ON THE ROAD
- Saturday will be USD's first road game of the young season. Last year, the Toreros were 5-9 in true road games, including 2-3 in nonconference play.

- In 2018-19, the Toreros won their road opener 76-57 at UC Davis. USD has won each of its last two road openers to a season.

START TO A SEASON
- Following Tuesday's loss, the Toreros are looking to avoid their first 0-2 start to a season since 2016-17.

- USD has gained at least 1 win in its first 2 games in 36 of its 40 seasons at the Division I level.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
- The USD roster features 7 international players, which are tied for the second-most on a Division I team this season.

- Six different countries are represented among the 7 international players, including Belarus (Yauhen Massalski), Belgium (Noel Coleman), Brazil (Felipe Doria), Canada (James Jean-Marie, Sabry Philip), Germany (Vladimir Pinchuk), and Norway (Mikal Gjerde).

- The 3 teams with the most international players all play in the West Coast Conference.

Most International Players
Division I Men's Basketball Rosters
10 - Saint Mary's
7 - San Diego & LMU
6 - Davidson, Montana State, Utah State, Cal Baptist
5 - 13 schools

SCHOLL IN HIS SECOND FULL SEASON
- Entering his second full season as the head coach, Sam Scholl will look to build upon a 21-win coaching debut in 2018-19.

- Scholl led the Toreros to 21 wins and the program's first NIT appearance in his first full season, making him only the second coach in program history to lead the Toreros to 20+ wins and a postseason trip in the inaugural year at the helm.

- A former guard for USD, Scholl is 23-18 in his head coaching career after guiding the team to a 2-2 record to end the 2017-18 season as the interim head coach.

- Scholl has been on a USD coaching staff for 11 of his 19 years in coaching. He was a graduate assistant and assistant coach from 2001 to 2007 and then rejoined the school in 2015. He has 21 years of experience playing or coaching in the West Coast Conference.

A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
- The Toreros loaded up their nonconference schedule once again this season as it features three 20-win teams from last season (UC Irvine, Fresno State, San Diego State) and five teams who finished in the top-100 of the NET rankings.

- Those top-100 NET ranking teams include Washington (44), Colorado (65), UC Irvine (71), Hofstra (76), and Fresno State (82). Another opponent, Stanford, finished just outside the top-100 at 103. The Toreros, meanwhile, placed No. 98.