San Diego Toreros (8-14, 1-6 WCC) • San Francisco Dons (15-7, 4-3 WCC)
Thursday, January 30 • 7 p.m.
Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) • San Diego, Calif.
TV • Spectrum SportsNet/NBCSCA/ROOT | Live Audio | Live Stats
SAN DIEGO – San Diego will face San Francisco for the first and only time this Thursday as the Toreros and Dons square off on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
USD, which enters a split week with home and away games, is coming off a 13-point loss to Santa Clara at home last week. The Toreros entered the game with their first conference win under their belt and scoring 70+ in three straight games.
San Francisco, meanwhile, enters the JCP having won four of its last five games, including an 83-82 win over BYU last weekend.
Thursday's game can be watched on a variety of networks, with Steve Quis and Dave Miller on the call. The game can be seen on Spectrum SportsNet, NBC Sports California, ROOT and AT&T SportsNet. It can also be heard here, with the Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin on the call.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO
- Thursday will be the 85th all-time meeting between USD and San Francisco. The Toreros trail in the series, 40-44.
- San Diego has won four straight against the Dons, including an overtime thriller last February at San Francisco (W, 91-90).
- USD has won two straight in the series at home and is 20-17 all-time. Its last loss against the Dons in the Jenny Craig Pavilion was on January 21, 2017.
- The Toreros have not won five straight against San Francisco since 2007-09.
BIG GAME JAMES
- James Jean-Marie led the Toreros in scoring for only the second time this season last Saturday against Santa Clara. The junior had 14 pts on 5-of-12 shooting (4-6 FT).
- The 12 field goal attempts were a season-high for Jean-Marie. The forward entered the game averaging 6.1 shots per contest (currently: 6.4).
- In the last 11 games, Jean-Marie is shooting a team-best 50.7% (36-of-71) to help him average 8.3 points. He is third on the team in scoring over that stretch.
- Jean-Marie is averaging 8.9 points per WCC game, up from his season average of 7.8.
BLOCK BY BLOCK
- Yauhen Massalski totaled three blocks last weekend against Santa Clara, his 16th career game with three or more blocks. The junior has a team-best 19 blocks this season (1.5/game).
- Massalski currently ranks fifth in program history with 112 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 10 of his 13 games this year. He has at least one block in 55 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
- Jito Kok (2012-15) - 193
- Scott Thompson (1983-87) - 183
- Gyno Pomare (2005-09) - 158
- Dondi Bell (1987-1991) - 129
- Yauhen Massalski (2017-Current) - 112
ON THE BOARDS
- In addition to accumulating blocks, Yauhen Massalsi has been the team leader in rebounds in each of the last three games. He has double-digit rebounds in the last two, including 10 against Santa Clara last Saturday and 14 at Portland two weeks ago.
- In the last three games, Massalski is averaging 10.0 rebounds. He has a 6.9 clip for the entire season.
- Massalski, the team's leading rebounder in average, is fourth on the team in total rebounds (90) despite missing nine games. He is third on the team in offensive rebounds (34).
FINN HEATING UP
- Finn Sullivan has 10+ points in three of his last four games, helping him average 14.0 points over the stretch. He has started each of the last three games.
- In the last four games, Sullivan is shooting 44.7% from the field (17-of-38) to average the 14.0 points and is also averaging 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals.
- Sullivan, who only started one game in the first 19 contests of the year, is averaging 29.9 minutes per game in the last four.
- Sullivan had three double-digit scoring games in the first 14 contests of the year. He has three in the last four.
JOEY BEING JOEY
- Joey Calcaterra, the team's second-leading scorer, has 10+ points in each of the last three games and is averaging 13.7 points over the stretch.
- For the season, he is averaging 12.5 points.
- Calcaterra has taken 10 or more shots in the last four games and in 15 of the 22 contests this season. He is shooting 39.1% on the season.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
- After only scoring more than 60 once in the first three WCC games, the Toreros scored 70+ in three straight games from January 11-18. It was the first time they scored 70+ points in three consecutive games since January 5-17, 2019.
- The Toreros have turned in eight games this season with 70+ points (4-4 record).
TEAM REBOUNDS
- The Toreros have won the rebounding battle in three of the last four games, with the only time in which they did not they tied Santa Clara in rebounding 35-35. USD has a +10 rebounding margin in the last four.
- USD is averaging 35.8 rebounds in the last four. In the three games prior, they had 27.7.
- In conference play, USD is averaging 10.0 offensive rebounds, which is the third-best mark in the WCC.
- The Toreros are 6-4 this season when they outrebound their opponent.
