TEMPE, Ariz. — San Diego Men's Basketball will hit the road for the first time this season, facing Arizona State Tuesday night, looking to repeat last season's success against the Sun Devils. 

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Braiden Bell (PxP, X: @braidenbellpxp) and Kelly Burke (analyst, X: @KellyBurkeSprts) calling the action. Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin (X: @JackCroninPXP) will have the call over radio airwaves on USDToreros.com/watch.
 

San Diego Toreros (3-4, 0-0 WCC)  • Arizona State Sun Devils (7-1, 0-0 BIG 12)

Tuesday, December 3, 2024  •  7 PM MST/ 6 PM PST

Desert Financial Arena (14,198) • Tempe, Arizona

Live Streaming • ESPN+ • Live Stats/Radio • USDToreros.com

 Social  •   X.com/USDMBB  •  Instagram.com/USDMBB

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE SUN DEVILS

• A 89-84 win for the Toreros over Arizona State in the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Dec. 9, 2023 was San Diego's feature win last season ... USD trailed by as much as 12 points but rallied to outscore ASU by 13 in the second half ... Steven Jamerson II was the game's leading rebounder with nine and added 10 points

• San Diego is 1-3 in the all-time series with road losses in 2022, 2003 and 1992

• The last time the Toreros faced a BIG 12 opponent, they beat No. 25 Oklahoma 76-64 on Nov. 25, 2009, in Anchorage, Alaska ... USD last played a true road game at a BIG 12 program on Dec. 11, 1999, a 10-point loss to No. 10 Texas ... San Diego has never won a road affair with a BIG 12 side

• USD Head Coach Steve Lavin is 13-5 all-time vs. Arizona State, 7-3 in Tempe, Airz. 

• ASU plays five common opponents as USD in 2024-25, already having beaten Idaho State 55-48, whom the Toreros fell to, 66-78

LAST TIME OUT

• Torero Men's Basketball completed a comeback 69-64 win over the Marian Sabres behind strong second half efforts and four in double figured on Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, Nov. 27.

• The Toreros, improving to 3-4 with their second straight win, trailed by nine but were resilient on both sides of the ball against the previously undefeated DIII Sabres. After surrendering 50% shooting from both the field and 3-point land in the first half, San Diego kept the visitors from Fond du Lac, Wis. to 33.3% field goal shooting and 20% from three in the second period. 

NOTABLE

• Offensively, USD was led by freshman guard Tony Duckett, making his first career start and scoring a game-high 16 points on 8-10 shooting for two ... has gone from not playing at all to start the season, to starting, in a three-game span (avg. 9.0 ppg, on 54.2% FG in 25.2 min.)

• Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet made it two straight double-doubles in his first two career starts with 13 rebounds, 10 points and two blocks; eight points and rebounds in the second half alone ... notched his third double-double of November

• Junior guard Kjay Bradley finished with 15 points and four steals, scoring 13 and stealing three of them down the stretch in the second half

• Despite early foul trouble, senior center Steven Jamerson II also tacked on 15, going a perfect 5-5 from the field and 5-6 at the free throw line with eight additional rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED

- Duckett made his first career start while Trouet and graduate guard Deven Dahlke made their second starts of the season

- There were five lead changes in the opening six minutes of play in the contest

- Marian made four of seven attempted threes by the sixth lead change of the game at the under-12 media timeout

- With just over six minutes remaining in the half, a put-back by Trouet put the Toreros back on top temporarily, only for the Sabres to convert on an and-one on the other end

- From there, the guests would utilize USD turnovers to go on a 10-0 run over a span of over four minutes, leading by as much as nine

- At the half, the Toreros trailed 31-38, Jamerson II leading all scorers with 11 points

- A 10-15 (.667) start from the field for San Diego and big and-one and late shot clock makes from Bradley Jr. and Duckett saw USD tie the game at 53's with 8:43 to go

- In the 11th lead change of the game, another Bradley Jr. and-one gave the Toreros their first lead since 25-24 and this time for good at 5:57 remaining, 58-55

- Solid defense and makes behind the free throw line saw the Toreros close out the victory

SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY

• 10 different Toreros have featured in a starting lineup this season, the first career start for six

- In their first career starts the six Toreros average 14.8 pts., 4.2 reb., 2 ast., 1.7 stl. and 1 bl..  

• The latest to capitalize on his first career start is freshman guard Tony Duckett, scoring 16 against Marian on Nov. 27 ... In his first two career starts so. forward Santiago Trouet has two double-doubles, averaging 14 pts. and 11.5 ast. ... Since his first DI start, junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr. is averaging 15.8 pts., 2.8 stl. and 3.7 ast. 

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

• No Toreros were featured on the WCC's preseason all-conference team

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

    - Joins Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska), Rick Pitino (St. John's) and Mike Woodson (Indiana) as the only former NBA head coaches now in college basketball, the lone assistsant 

• 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