San Diego Toreros (9-18, 2-10 WCC) • BYU Cougars (20-7, 9-3 WCC)
Saturday, February 15 • 7 p.m.
Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) • San Diego, Calif.
TV • CBS Sports Network | Live Audio | Live Stats
SAN DIEGO – San Diego will host its penultimate home game of the regular season on Saturday when they take on BYU at the Jenny Craig Pavilion at 7 p.m.
USD enters the weekend coming off a heartbreaking loss at Pepperdine on Thursday when Colbey Ross hit a game-winning three pointer at the end of regulation to break a 69-69 tie. BYU, meanwhile, enters Saturday on a five-game winning streak.
Saturday's game can be watched on the CBS Sports Network, with John Schriffen (play-by-play) and Ryan Hollins (analyst) on the call. It can also be heard here, with the Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin broadcasting the action.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST BYU
- Saturday will be the 23rd all-time meeting between USD and BYU. The Toreros trail in the series, 6-16.
- In the first meeting of the season, the Toreros were up midway through the first half, but the Cougars shot 55% from the field - and 50% from three-point range - to help deal USD a 93-70 loss in Provo on January 16.
- USD beat BYU in the WCC Tournament last year, but it has lost four of the last five against the Cougars.
- At home, though, the Toreros have won two of the last three against BYU. Their last win in the Jenny Craig Pavilion was on February 17, 2018 (W, 75-62).
- The last three games have been decided by 14 or more points.
BIG TIME BRAUN
- Braun Hartfield has dramatically improved his point production in the last four games as the redshirt junior is averaging 23.5 points on 52.5% shooting (32-of-61) since February 1. He is also shooting 42.9% from three (12-of-28).
- In the previous eight games - the first eight WCC contests this season - Hartfield averaged 13.3 points on 35.8% shooting (34-of-95).
- In the last four games, Hartfield is shooting better - over 50% - while also averaging 15.3 field goal attempts. In the eight games prior, Hartfield only averaged four less shots (11.9) while shooting below his season average (35.8%). He is shooting 43.6% this year.
- The recent stretch has helped bring Hartfield into the WCC's top-10 for effective field goal percentage. Hartfield's clip of 50.8% is currently ninth in the conference.
- Hartfield has three 20-point efforts in the last four games. He set a new season-high of 27 at Pacific to start the stretch and then fell one point short of matching it at Pepperdine on Thursday with 26. He has six 20-point games this year, which lead the team.
| Last 4 Games (Since Feb. 1) |
|
Previous 8 Games (Jan. 2-30) |
| 23.5 |
Points |
13.3 |
| 52.5% |
FG% |
35.8% |
| 42.9% |
3FG% |
35.7% |
| 5.3 |
Rebounds |
4.6 |
| 3.3 |
Assists |
1.6 |
| 1.5 |
Steals |
0.8 |
MOST VALUABLE
- Braun Hartfield, the team's leading scorer, has paced the Toreros in scoring in five straight games and 14 times this year. He has a team-best 21 double-digit scoring efforts this season, five more than the next closest Torero, Joey Calcaterra (16).
- In overall games, Hartfield is 9th in the WCC in scoring (14.7) while in conference-only contests, he is 8th with a 16.7 scoring average.
- Also in overall games, Hartfield is top-10 in the WCC in scoring (14.7), rebounding (10th, 5.8) and field goal percentage (10th, 43.6%).
- In 12 WCC games, Hartfield is the only Torero averaging double-digit points (16.7) while he is second on the team in rebounding (5.1), assists (2.0) and steals (1.0). He is shooting 42.3% from the field (66-of-156) and 38.6% from three (27-of-70).
FROM DOWNTOWN
- Despite Pepperdine's game-winning three-pointer at the end of the game, the Toreros have been solid closing out three-point attempts by opponents in the last five games. They have held the opposition to a combined 16-of-80 (20%) from beyond the arc over the stretch since January 30.
- No team has made more than four three-pointers in the last five games while they have all taken 15 or more attempts. The best three-point performance by an opponent in the span was Pepperdine's 26.6% (4-of-15) on Thursday, and the Waves started the game 0-of-6 through the first 22 minutes.
- In the six previous games before the recent stretch, USD's opponents were shooting 45.4% (54-of-119) from long distance.
- USD is first in the WCC (and 90th in the country) in three-point defense with a 31.3% against this season.
PRESENCE DOWN LOW
- Yauhen Massalski has played 20+ minutes off the bench in the last three games and is averaging 12.0 points on 55.6% shooting (15-of-27) and 9.0 rebounds. The junior had not played more than 20 minutes in the three games prior and was averaging less than five points a game.
- Massalski has double-digit points in two of his last three games and 9+ rebounds in four of the last seven contests.
ON THE BOARDS
- Yauhen Massalski has led the team in rebounds in three straight games and six times in the last eight contests.
- In the last seven games, Massalski is averaging 8.9 rebounds. His season average is a team-best 7.1.
- In WCC-only games, Massalski is fifth in the conference in rebounding (7.0).
Top-5 Rebounding in the WCC (Conference-Only Games)
- Jahlil Tripp (Pacific), 10.1
- Kameron Edwards (Pepperdine), 7.9
- Filip Petrusev (Gonzaga), 7.7
- Malik Fitts (Saint Mary's), 7.5
- Yauhen Massalski (USD), 7.0
BLOCK PARTY
- Yauhen Massalski, who has six blocks in the last three games, currently ranks fifth in program history with 119 career blocks and is 10 shy of fourth place. 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. He has 26 blocks this season with at least five games remaining.
- The Belarus native has a block in 13 of his 18 games this year. He has at least one block in 59 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) - 119
TAKING CARE OF IT
- Marion Humphrey, who is 10th in WCC-only games in assists (3.1), had a career-best eight assists against one turnover against Portland last Saturday. He became only the second Torero in the last 10 years to have 8+ assists and one or no turnovers in a game (other: Isaiah Wright, 11/25/17 vs. Grand Canyon).
- In the last seven games, Humphrey has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.8 (24 assists, 5 turnovers). He is averaging 3.4 assists over the same stretch. He also has one or no turnovers in each of the last four games.
THIEVERY
- Finn Sullivan has nine straight games with a steal, totaling 14 over the stretch. He is currently third on the team in average steals (0.9).
- Sullivan had seven steals in his first 14 games of the year.
