SAN DIEGO — Torero Basketball will play host to a Winter Wonderland double-header and fan event Saturday evening as San Diego Men's Hoops welcomes crosstown rival UC San Diego on the night cap.
Between the USD women's game vs. Gonzaga at 2 p.m. and the latter men's game, the Winter Wonderland complimentary fan festivities at the Jenny Craig Pavilion will include a knit hat for the first 200 fans at both games, hot chocolate and pictures with Santa.
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jack Cronin (PxP, X: @JackCroninPXP) and Braden Surprenant (Analyst, X: @b_surp) calling the action. Inside coverage can also be found on the @USDMBB social channels.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE TRITONS
• The Toreros own a 6-1 all-time record against the northern neighbors up the I-5 in La Jolla, 6-0 on home court, while dropping last season's matchup, 63-69 in LionTree Arena on Dec. 11, 2023
• UCSD is the fourth consecutive in-state non conference opponent for the Toreros, the penultimate non-con matchup of the 2024-25 season
• The two sides share four common opponents this season, both having beaten Idaho and lost at the hands of San Diego State
LAST TIME OUT
• In a game with 11 lead changes, San Diego Men's Basketball fell short on the road, succumbing to a 73-65 loss to Fresno State last Saturday afternoon.
• USD kept the hosts without a field goal for nine consecutive minutes in the first half and led by five at the break, however, the Bulldogs were able to keep the game in reach with 16 free throw attempts to the guests mere two ... Fresno State out-shot the Toreros 50%-33% to take control in the second half.
NOTABLE
• Junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr. led the San Diego scoring with 17, 15 in the second half.
• Senior center Steven Jamerson II cleaned up well on the glass, finishing with a game-high 13 rebounds and a point shy of a double-double.
• Forward Colby Brooks scored a career-best 10 points and finished +9 while sophomore David Simon was +10 with seven points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Bendji Pierre made his first start of the season, first since the end of the 2022-23 season
- It was a back-and-forth affair right from the get-go
- A 13-2 run by the host saw the Bulldogs take first lead extension at 18-11
- As a part of a 10-0 run in the Toreros favor, a steal and dunk from Brooks saw USD take the lead
- San Diego held the hosts without a field goal for nine consecutive minutes, however the Bulldogs stayed in the game with 16 attempts at the charity stripe in the first half to the Toreros two
- At the half, San Diego had 26 of their 37 points in the paint, 19 off the bench
- USD turnovers and more efficient Fresno State shooting led to the Bulldogs taking the lead back
- The Toreros didn't back down, as Simon hit a three to go ahead
- For the 11th and final lead change of the game, Fresno State used another run to go out in front for good with just under 11 minutes remaining
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.
