SAN DIEGO — The Toreros will look to continue their winning ways as they host Portland State Tuesday night in game three of USD's seven game homestand to start the season.

Tip-off Friday night is set for 7:02 p.m., and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jack Cronin (PxP) calling the action. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE VIKINGS

• Tuesday's affair will the 34th all-time meeting between the two teams with the Toreros leading 22-11

• San Diego has won each of the last five matchups, eight of the last 10 and 21 of the last 26

• Each of the last two matchups have come down to the wire, while the Toreros have come out on top by four or less points ... Last season, the Toreros topped Portland State 69-65 in Portland, Oreg. 

LAST TIME OUT

• USD Men's Basketball bounced back from a crushing one-point loss in the season opener by earning its first win of the year, a 74-60 triumph over Boston University on Friday night, Nov. 8.

• San Diego was again led by junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr.'s 28 points and a 15-0 run at the start of the second half to separate themselves from the Terriers. Bradley has 24-plus in his first two games at the DI level.

 • Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet scored in double digits and logged double-digit rebounds for the first time in his career in consecutive games as a part of the first Torero double-double this season, adding a game-high two blocks.

• The Toreros shot 47.5% from the field with ten made threes and improved upon their free throw woes last time out by going 83.3% from the charity stripe. San Diego won the game in several aspects: cleaning up on the glass 41-35, 15-9 in assists, 13-2 in fast break points and limiting turnovers to 11.

HOW IT HAPPENED

- The Toreros started the game on an 8-1 run, holding the Terriers without a field goal in the first 4:21 of play

- After the 3-0 lead, Kjay Bradley Jr. scored each of San Diego's next 14 points, but BU turned up its sharp shooting and knotted the game at 17s – that was close as they would get, however, never taking the lead from the Toreros

- David Simon scored eight of the Toreros 10 points going into the half for a 34-30 lead at the break on 44.8% shooting from the field, 35.7% beyond the arc

- San Diego would go on a 15-0 run at the start of the second period to take a 17-point advantage at 13:53 remaining … a David Simon three-point play on an and-one dunk gave USD a game-high 18-point lead

- Bradley led the scoring attack in the remainder of the half, mirroring his 14 first-half points as the Toreros pushed through for the 74-60 win

NOTES

• Bradley Jr. becomes the first Torero to score 24-plus in the first two games of the season since fellow junior college transfer Isaiah Pineiro (28 and 25) at the start of the 2018 season, the first Torero to do so in his first two games of DI college basketball since at least 1999.

    - As of Nov. 10, his 26.0 ppg is good for T-17th best in the nation, third among players in their first DI games 

    - The junior from Inglewood, Calif. records the highest scoring Torero performance since Deuce Turner's 30 on March 2, 2024 against Pacific

• Kody Clouet contributed a career-best seven rebounds on his way to a game-high +14

• Five different Toreros notched blocks for a total of six to Boston University's zero

BUILDING ON LAST SEASON'S SUCCESSES

• With year-to-year growth evident within the program, the Toreros look to continue to build on top of their successes in the 2023-24 season and return to prominent heights ... 2023-24's season highlights included:

    - The program's most wins (18) since 2018-19

    - The program's first winning record since 2018-19

    - The program's best regular-season WCC finish since 2014-15 (fifth)

    - The program's first win over a Power-5 opponent since 2018 (Dec. 9, 2023, over Arizona State)

    - Eight double-digit comeback wins, which led the nation

INTRODUCING, YOUR 2024-25 TOREROS

• Lavin and his staff have reloaded the roster of 21 players, 14 of which are underclassmen, both the most among WCC rosters and most for the program since at least 2005-06 ... The team's average age prior to opening day was 20.96 years

• USD also leads the WCC and is tied (Long Beach State) among all Californian DI programs with the most players from one state on the roster – 11 from California

KEY RETURNERS

• Senior center Steven Jamerson II is the top returner for San Diego, averaging 8.3 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game with six double-doubles in 2023-24

• Sophomore guard Dragos Lungu is coming off a stellar summer as he was 2024 FIBA U20 EuroBasket MVP and champion with Romania during the offseason, averaging 16.3 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game and 18.4 EFF in the tournament

• Experienced guards, graduate guard Deven Dahlke and senior Dominic Muncey, also both return ready to make an impact in the USD lineup

KEY ADDITIONS

• The Toreros add nine newcomers to the roster: six freshmen and three transfers

• Graduate guard Kody Clouet returns to his native San Diego County and highlights the incoming class, set to be a focal point in the San Diego offense

    - Averaged 17.6 PPG, shooting 50.3% FG / 43% 3PT / 81% FT at SE Oklahoma State last season

• Redshirt senior Colby Brooks shifts WCC sides from Gonzaga in 2024-25

• Forwards Kean Webb and Gavin Ripp highlight the freshman class coming to San Diego

HEAD COACHES AS TORERO ASSISTANTS

• Also re-bolstered within the program for the 2024-25 season is the coaching staff; joining Lavin and his 14 years of DI head coaching experience on the bench is three other former head coaches

• The first key addition is former NBA veteran & head coach, Earl Watson, as an assistant 

    - Head Coach of Phoenix Suns, 2016-17, previously with the Raptors as an assistant from 2021-23

    - Watson played under Lavin for four seasons at UCLA, ranking top-5 in several all-time stats

• Also new to the USD sideline in 2024-25 is volunteer Justin Hutson, previously the Fresno State head coach from 2018-24 and 10-year assistant at four different DI programs

• John Moore, the all-time winningest head coach at NAIA Westmont College is geared up for his third season alongside Lavin as a USD assistant

THE SCHEDULE

• The Toreros kick off the regular season with seven November home games before their first road affair, at Arizona State on Dec. 3

    - The Toreros' marquee win last season was the 89-84 triumph over ASU on Dec. 9 in San Diego

• San Diego's MTE is in the home confines of the JCP against Southern Utah (11/22) and Idaho (11/24)

• USD will play at San Diego State on Dec. 7, the first matchup with the cross-town rival since 2019 and first in the Viejas Arena since the win over the Aztecs in 2018

• Toreros will wrap up the non-conference slate facing Grand Canyon in the Intuit Dome (Inglewood, Calif.) on Dec. 28 as a part of the West Coast Hoops Showdown, the first college basketball games ever in the newly constructed Intuit Dome, home of the LA Clippers

• USD plays each league opponent twice, except for preseason league favorites Gonzaga and Saint Mary's

• San Diego plays new WCC opponents Oregon State and Washington State in home-and-homes

YEAR THREE OF THE LAVIN ERA

• 2024-2025 marks head coach Steve Lavin's third season at the helm in San Diego after being hired in April of 2022.

• Prior to the start of the new season, Lavin had accumulated a record of 266-185 (.589) with 10 postseason appearances in 13 full seasons as a DI head coach.

• Prior to arriving at USD, he guided UCLA and St. John's to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in 11 years

• A staple in college basketball for over three decades, Lavin is the 14th head coach in program history and the Toreros' seventh head coach since USD moved to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1979-80.

• Most recently, Lavin served as a national college basketball broadcaster for Fox Sports and CBS Sports, previously working with ESPN, ABC, and the Pac-12 Network.