SAN DIEGO — Torero Men's Basketball hits the road in search of it's first away win of the season, taking on Fresno State on Saturday afternoon.
The game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network with Paul Loeffler (PxP), Marc Q. Jones (Analyst) and Talyor Martinez (Sideline) calling the action while voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin (PxP, X: @JackCroninPXP) will have the call over the radio airwaves on USDToreros.com/watch. Inside coverage can also be found on the @USDMBB social channels.
San Diego Toreros (3-7, 0-0 WCC) • Fresno State Bulldogs (3-7, 0-1 MW)
Saturday, December 14, 2024 • 4 PM PST
Save Mart Center (18,000) • Fresno, Calif.
Live Streaming • Mountain West Network • Live Stats/Radio • USDToreros.com
Social • X.com/USDMBB • Instagram.com/USDMBB
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BULLDOGS
• The Toreros will look to earn their first ever win in Fresno, trailing the all-time series 2-5 and 0-3 in the Bulldogs' house
• Fresno State narrowly topped USD last season, 71-67 in the JCP on Dec. 29, 2023 ... The Toreros last defeated their conterpart three matchups ago, on Nov. 12, 2019 ... The first ever matchup was on Dec. 10, 2005, which San Diego also won, in Cox Arena
• The Bulldogs play four common opponents as USD in 2024-25; having beat Long Beach State but losing to SDSU by a larger margin, while the Toreros are yet to play Washington State or Santa Clara
SATURDAY'S INACTIVES
• The Toreros are likely to be without the following pieces for the road affair: Fr. G Chas Lewless, So. G Keyon Kensie Jr., So. G Dragos Lungu, Fr. F Gavin Ripp, So. G Josh Hecht, Gr. G Kody Clouet, Jr. G Emmanuel Callas, Fr. G Jackson Gaffney and Sr. G Dominic Muncey
LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego Men's Basketball fell by a final score of 70-76 at home to Long Beach State Tuesday after an efficient shooting night by The Beach.
• The guests out-shot San Diego 58%-43% from the field, a 73.7% clip in the second half alone. In the first 15 minutes of the second half, The Beach had missed just two field goals.
NOTABLE
• Four Toreros scored in double-figures in the contest, junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr. leading the contingent with 19 points, also tacking on six assists.
• Six Toreros combined to convert on a season-high 11 3-pointers, as senior forward Bendji Pierre continued his hot run of form from behind the arc and guided the effort with three and finishing with 13 points.
• Senior center Steven Jamerson II grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds and was two points shy of a double-double. USD also had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the third time this season and five different Toreros notched blocks, seven combining for eight total steals in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the fourth consecutive game, the lineup of Bradley Jr., Duckett, Jamerson II, Dahlke and Trouet start the game
- Strong Torero defense, a pair of threes and six free throws saw them take the game's first lead, extending to a 15-9 advantage at the under-12 media timeout
- Three more threes and an eventual 6-0 run led to a 20-14 lead with 7:08 remaining in the first period
- Long Beach State answered with a 6-0 run of their own, evening the score and eventually taking their first lead of the game with 4:41 to go
- At the half, the USD trailed 30-33, shooting 50% from beyond the arc while making just three two-point field goals (32%), however going 9-10 at the charity stripe
- Sophomore forward Trouet scored seven of San Diego's first nine points out of the break, but LBSU continued its efficient shooting
- In the first 12 minutes of the second half, Long Beach State was shot 8-10 from FG, 2-2 3PT and 5-5 FT
- The Toreros were able to keep the game within single digits however with more threes from Pierre and freshman guard Tony Duckett
- A Pierre chase-down block and another 3-pointer on the other end of the floor fronted an 8-0 USD run that saw the hosts come within three with 2:55 remaining
- The Beach put the game beyond reach with another run, the score reading 76-70 when the clocks struck zeros
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 blk..
• 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.
• Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet notched two straight double-doubles in his first two career starts and had three double-doubles in November, scoring double-digit points in his first three starts
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
- 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
• Guard Tony Duckett and 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 concurrently now an assistant for his wife with SDSU Women's Basketball
• 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 REMAINING SCHEDULE
• The Toreros host UC San Diego on Dec. 21 in an intra-city rivalry and Winter Wonderland fan event
• 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.
