SAN DIEGO — Torero Men's Basketball will take on cross-town rival San Diego State for the first time in five years, matching up with the 24th-ranked Aztecs Saturday at 7 p.m. in Viejas Arena.
The game will be streamed live on YurView/The Mountain West Network with Jon Schaeffer (X: @jonschaeffer) calling the action. Jack Cronin (PxP, X: @JackCroninPXP) and Braden Surprenant (analyst, X: @b_surp) will have the call over radio airwaves on USDToreros.com/watch.
San Diego Toreros (3-4, 0-0 WCC) • San Diego State Aztecs (5-2, 0-0 MW)
Saturday, December 7, 2024 • 7 PM PST
Viejas Arena (12,414) • San Diego, Calif.
Live Streaming • YurView • Live Stats/Radio • USDToreros.com
Social • X.com/USDMBB • Instagram.com/USDMBB
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE AZTECS
• The last time the Toreros traveled up I-8 to face their intra-city rivals in Viejas Arena, USD outscored San Diego State by 19 points in the second half for a 73-61 Torero win on Dec. 5, 2018.
• San Diego trails in the all-time series, 14-23, 7-16 as the guests ... Dating back to the first matchup on Dec. 4, 1979, the two longest-standing NCAA DI programs in America's Finest City would match up each season, until the two teams last met in 2019.
• The Toreros last win vs. an AP Top 25 team was on Nov. 25, 2009, taking down No. 25 Oklahoma 76-64 in Anchorage, Alaska ... USD has played 39 games against ranked opponents since then, three against 24th-ranked teams ... San Diego last played a ranked SDSU team in 2014 ... On Dec. 5, 2013 when the Aztecs were No. 24, the Toreros fell by one point, 64-65, in front of a sold-out crowd in the Jenny Craig Pavilion
• SDSU plays three common opponents as USD in 2024-25; Gonzaga, UC San Diego and Fresno State
LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego led for over 14 minutes and by as much as 12 points against NET No. 33 Arizona State on the road Tuesday night, however, falling by a final score of 54-90 at game's end.
• Following their first road game of the season and defeat to their first quad one opponent, the Toreros now fall to 3-5 on the young season ahead of a Saturday night matchup against cross-town rival San Diego State.
• The difference proved to be in rebounds and 3-point shooting. USD was out-rebounded by the hosts, 48-33, and the Sun Devils shot 12-23 (52.2%) from beyond the arc while the Toreros made at a 2-19 (22.2%) clip.
NOTABLE
• USD was again led junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr., who tallied 15 points.
• Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet continued his run of double-digit scoring in his first three career starts with 10 points.
• Graduate guard and Phoenix native Deven Dahlke had a game-high three steals and four assists in 34 minutes played.
• Collectively on defense, San Diego notched nine steals and forced 14 Sun Devils turnovers while surrendering 13 takeaways. The Toreros also held the game advantage in points in the paint.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- USD Head Coach Steve Lavin, now 13-6 all-time vs. Arizona State and 7-4 in Tempe, rolled out the same lineup from the game prior
- The Toreros executed their physical gameplan early and built a 10-3 lead after the first media timeout, holding ASU to a 1-9 start from the field
- An and-one conversion and technical foul assessed to the home bench led to points from freshman guard - Tony Duckett Jr. in his second career start and a 17-5 Torero lead
- The Sun Devils would go on an 11-4 run to chop away at the deficit, their first streak of several
- Arizona State came back for the lead at 29-27 with 4:25 remaining in the first half on an 8-0 run
- The 8-0 run turned into a 15-2 ASU run to end the half with USD down seven, 33-40
- The hosts continued their momentum into the second half, shooting 7-7 from 3-point land and 11-14 on field goals out of the half t extend their lead
- San Diego sophomore guard Nick Del Bosque made his collegiate career debut late in the game while junior guard Neel Beniwal made his season debut, playing over six minutes
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
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
