SAN DIEGO — The Toreros round up their home multi-team-event, taking on Idaho Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jack Cronin (PxP) and Braden Surprenant (analyst) calling the action.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAY MTE

• The third participant of the MTE is the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, who topped the Toreros 72-67 on Friday night and the Vandals 82-67 on Saturday afternoon in the JCP.

• This is the fourth consecutive year the Toreros are playing in a three-team MTE, the first time hosting during Feast Week since 2012 

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE VANDALS

• Sunday will be the second ever meeting between the two sides, first since 1984

• Idaho took the lone meeting, 75-63 on a neutral court on Dec. 15, 1984

• This will be the Toreros' second Big Sky opponent of the season, having lost to Portland State, 76-85 on Nov. 12

LAST TIME OUT

•  San Diego Men's Basketball came up short against Southern Utah in the home multi-team event opener, falling by a final score of 67-72 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Friday night.

•  Despite an unfavorable final slate, the Toreros had several individual performances shine through the clouds, fronted by junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr.'s 27 points, his third 20-plus point game in his first five games at the DI level.

•  In his career debut, freshman guard Tony Duckett scored six points and finished plus-11. Senior forward Colby Brooks made his USD debut and finished a team-high plus-12. Senior forward Bendji Pierre made his season debut and tacked on six points and six rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

- USD Head Coach Steve Lavin rolled out an all-California starting five as freshman forward Gavin Ripp got his first career start and senior guard Dominic Muncey made his first start of the season

- It was a slow start for both teams, 2-7 from the field on each end in the opening five minutes

- Duckett entered the court for the first time in his career and quickly made a spinning fadeaway to snap the Toreros two-field goal first 7:19

- The Toreros entered the locker room at the half trailing 30-32 on 38.5% shooting from the field

USD had a slow start to begin the second period, too, an 0-5 stretch in the first 3:26

- The Thunderbirds would go on a 14-0 tear on 4-5 from three (finished the game 9-26) to take a game-high 16-point lead

- San Diego answered with a run of their own, scoring nine unanswered in a span of 3:25

- From there, the Toreros continued to chip away, led by Pierre and Brooks who helped USD to a 30-22 points-in-the-paint final margin

- USD got within four of the opposition multiple times, including after a Bradley Jr. four-point play with 30.7 seconds remaining but would get no closer

HOT START

• In the win over Boston Univ. on Nov. 8, Junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr. became 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.

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

• The junior from Inglewood, Calif. recorded the highest scoring Torero performance (28) since Deuce Turner's 30 on March 2, 2024 against Pacific

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.