SAN DIEGO – Torero Hoops was topped by conference-undefeated Saint Mary's inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday night by a final score of 103-56.
 
The 15-3 Gaels did pretty much everything well, shooting 52.9% from the field, 51.7% with 15 made from beyond the arc, dishing out 26 assists and going +20 on the rebounds. SMC scored 1.65 points per possession, the most points per possession by any DI team in a road game in 18 years and most in any game since 2021 according to Torvik. 
 
Sophomore Joey Chammaa highlighted USD's day with a tied career best 14 points on 7-11 shooting. Freshman Tony Duckett was a point shy of his fourth straight game in double figures. The wounded Toreros, with nine guys inactive due to injury or illness, did see the return of senior guard Dom Muncey to the court for the first time since Dec. 7.
 
How it Happened

• Graduate guard Kody Clouet returned to the starting lineup for the first time since a Nov. 24 win over Idaho, freshman Kean Webb made his second career start
• Junior Kjay Bradley Jr. came off the bench and picked up where he left off last time out against Gonzaga, hitting a three to see USD down 3-6 at the first media timeout
• San Diego turnovers picked up briefly and SMC capitalized, going up 19-10
• Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet got going, but the Gaels opened a 6-0 run and 25-13 lead
• Saint Mary's really started taking over on the glass and shooting well inside five minutes to go, going on another 8-0 run and opening a 41-24 lead at the half
• SMC continued to kill USD on the boards to start the second half
• The Gaels used more runs to contribute to their ever-growing lead
• The guests made 10 threes in the second half at a 58.8% clip, and all 10 of their free throws
• The Toreros did however find a spark late in the game behind Chammaa and others off the bench, going on a 7-9 field goal shooting stretch

 
Up Next
The Toreros will take four days to regather and prepare for another WCC home game, the first of it's kind against Washington State, battling the Cougars on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.. Wazzu fell at home to Pacific earlier in the week, whom the Toreros topped to kick off conference play.
 
Postgame Quotes
 
Head Coach Steve Lavin
 
Opening statement…
Well, Saint Mary's came in like a buzz saw and sustained an elite level of execution from start to finish, their 26 assists against only six turnovers is an indication of how tied together they were at the offensive end of the floor, and their size and strength up front gave us problems. They were plus-20 on the boards and really controlled the paint from start to finish, I was most disappointed with our lack of punch back. We've had our share of defeats this year, but we counter punch well, and this was the first game that I didn't see the resilience that's been on display in other games this season. The last group of reserves from eight minutes to the end of the game brought some light, and they shared the ball. Joey Chammaa found some rhythm offensively, and his teammates did an effective job getting the ball back to him because he had the hot hand. But we didn't play with the necessary cohesion offensively in terms of sharing the basketball, and then we didn't play with the sense of urgency or energy defensively to be able to compete against a team like Saint Mary's, who's undefeated in conference play and trending towards the NCAA Tournament.
 
On missing nine players, especially Sr. center Steven Jamerson II and sophomore forward David Simon…
Yeah, the number of injuries affects the rhythm of a season, because in practices, you're not able to create the competitive environment that simulates games against good competition, and then naturally, when you're down front line, players like Steven Jamerson II and David Simon; their size and length is something that we miss against quality opponents like Saint Mary's.
 
On looking ahead to Washington State Thursday…
Yeah, we'll come back tomorrow and close the book on this game by watching game film and spending time amplifying the elements that we must remedy if we hope to be competitive in our conference games, then we'll go forward with our preparation for Washington State. The university is still on break, so there are no classes to interfere with our ability to practice and improve in the areas that we need to.
 
We've got to get better. We need to improve our ball movement offensively and share the basketball to get good looks at the basket. Defensively, there needs to be more of a sense of urgency. Until we're back at full strength, we're going to be undersized and lack some depth up front, and there will be some players playing out of position at times, but we need to adjust to that. It's a terrific opportunity for Kean Webb to continue to get quality minutes against good competition: at Oregon State, at No. 18 Gonzaga and now against Saint Mary's. I bet we will look back on this run of defeats and realize it was helpful for Kean's development, not only this year, but throughout his career.