SAN DIEGO – After a two-game stint at home, San Diego returns to the road in conference action this week, starting with a 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. matchup at BYU on Thursday in the Marriott Center.

USD, on a four-game losing streak, has never won in nine previous tries at BYU. The Cougars, meanwhile, enter Thursday having won seven of their last eight games. 

The two sides have defended the arc well all season as both are among the top-three in the WCC in three-point defense.

Thursday's game can be watched on BYUtv and heard here, with the Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin on the call.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST BYU
- Thursday will be 22nd all-time meeting between San Diego and BYU. The Toreros trail in the series, 6-15.

- The Toreros won the last meeting, a 80-57 triumph in the quarterfinals of the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas on March 9, 2019. Isaiah Pineiro scored 27 while the Toreros shot 49 percent from the field. The Cougars, meanwhile, logged a 31 percent shooting effort.

- USD is 1-3 in the last four meetings against BYU.

- The Toreros have not won back-to-back games against BYU since 2013.

- The Toreros are 0-9 all-time in Provo. Last year, they fell 87-73 at BYU on March 2, 2019.

LOOKING AHEAD
- The Toreros travel to Portland to take on the Pilots for the first time this season on Saturday at 7 p.m.

FINN SHOWS OUT
- Coming off the bench, sophomore Finn Sullivan had a career-best game against Pepperdine last Saturday. The guard scored a personal-best 25 points and tallied five assists, three rebounds and a steal in 27 minutes.

- The new career-high in points bested his previous high of 17 set against BYU in the quarterfinals of the 2019 WCC Tournament. 

- Sullivan became only the second Torero in the last 10 years to have 25+ points and 5+ assists in a single-game. He joined Isaiah Pineiro, who did it twice last season and once during the 2017-18 season.

- Sullivan was 10-of-13 from the field against the Waves, which was his best career shooting night when taking five or more shots. The field goals made were also a career-high.

- Sullivan enters the week shooting 52.2% from the field in conference-only games, which is best on the team and 15th-best in the conference. 

- In the last two games, Sullivan has a combined 30 points on 63.2% shooting (12-of-19), seven assists and four rebounds. He had five points against No. 1 Gonzaga in 16 minutes off the bench.

- After going two games without a three-pointer made, Sullivan is 5-of-8 from long range in the last two. He is shooting 32.1% from three for the season.

- Before Sullivan's recent two-game stretch in which he is averaging 15.0 points per contest, Sullivan had gone scoreless in the previous three games against DI opponents. He had 13 against Whittier during the middle of the nearly month-long span.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
- USD broke out offensively against Pepperdine as the 78 points were its most against a Division I team since December 2, 2019 at UIC. The Toreros had gone seven games without breaking the 70-point barrier against DI opponents.

- The Toreros have turned in six games this season with 70+ points (3-3 record).

AT THE POINT
- Marion Humphrey had three assists and no turnovers against Pepperdine last Saturday. It was the fifth time in the last six games in which he had three or more assists and second time in those five instances which he had no turnovers.

- Humphrey has a 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in the last five games, turning in 20 assists against six turnovers.

- Humphrey enters the week 10th in the WCC in assists in conference-only games (3.3) while his assist-to-turnover ratio in WCC contests (2.2) is tied for sixth-best.

- Humphrey had seven assists and no turnovers against Whittier on December 29, making it only the fourth time in the last 10 seasons a Torero had seven-plus assists and no turnovers (source: Sports Reference). It was the first time since Isaiah Wright had eight assists and no turnovers against Weber State in last year's season opener on November 6, 2018.

TEAM ASSISTS
- With the help of Marion Humphrey and his team-leading 46 assists, the Toreros are 51st in the country and sixth in the WCC in total assists (253). Five Toreros have 30+ assists this year: Humphrey (46), Joey Calcaterra (45), Braun Hartfield (39), Alex Floresca (35), and Finn Sullivan (31).

CREATING OFFENSE
- USD had 15 assists on 27 field goals against Pepperdine, giving it six straight games in which it had 50% of its field goals on assists. For the season, the Toreros generate 54% of their field goals off assists, compared to the Division I average of 51%. In the last six games, USD's average is 64% (96 assists, 150 field goals made).

FIRST vs. SECOND
- In conference-only games, the Toreros are shooting 44.4% (52-of-117) in the second half - compared to 34.3% (37-of-108) in the first half. USD is averaging 37.8 points in the second half and 24.5 in the first.

- Defensively, the Toreros are allowing opponents to shoot 43.8% in the second half of WCC games and 50% in the first.

START TO THE WCC SEASON
- The Toreros are 0-4 to start their conference schedule for the first time since 2015-16. They have not started a WCC season 0-5 since 2010-11.

BLOCK BY BLOCK
- Yauhen Massalski currently ranks fifth in program history with 107 career blocks. He is only the fifth Torero to have 100+ blocks in a career, and he has 40+ blocks in each of his first two seasons at USD. 

- The Belarus native has a block in seven of his eight games this year. He has at least one block in 53 career games, which are the third-most since 2010-11 by a Torero (source: Sports Reference). Jito Kok (2013-16) had 111 career games with at least one block to lead the program.

All-Time Career Blocks
USD History

1. Jito Kok (2012-15) - 193
2. Scott Thompson (1983-87) - 183
3. Gyno Pomare (2005-09) - 158
4. Dondi Bell (1987-1991) - 129
5. Yauhen Massalski (2017-Current) - 107