SAN DIEGO – Torero Hoops had a resilient effort to fight back from down 19 against Pepperdine Thursday, but as has been the case numerous times this season, fell just shy of a result, this time by a score of 90-98.
 
It was San Diego's highest-scoring game of the season, and the team shared the ball with 17 assists, led by freshmen Kean Webb (16 points, seven rebounds) and Joey Chammaa's (24 points, nine assists) career nights. The first half, however, in which the Waves scored 55 points on eight threes and nearly 60% shooting, overshadowed the Toreros performances.
 
Pepperdine led by as much as 19 points in the first half inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion, but the Toreros stuck together as they do time and time again, whittling that lead down to four inside of one minute remaining. San Diego held the Waves to just 37% shooting in the second half.
 
San Diego coaches participated in the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week for the contest. For Head Coach Steve Lavin, the battle is literal and personal, having missed much of the 2012 season to a persevered fight over prostate cancer.
 
Notable

• Redshirt-freshman Joey Chammaa scored a career-high 24 points, the sixth different Torero to score 20-plus this season
• Chammaa's nine assists is the most by a Torero in over two years, last achieved by Eric Williams Jr. against Pepperdine on Jan. 12, 2023
• Webb scored a career-high in his third straight, going for 16 points on 5-6 shooting with seven boards
• Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet was one point and one rebound shy of a double-double
• Freshman guard Tony Duckett scored in double figures (14) for the eighth time in the last nine games
• Grad guard Kody Clouet added 12 points, three steals and three assists
• Six different Toreros combined on the 10 made 3-pointers

 
How it Happened

• The Toreros ran out the same starting five for the fifth straight game
• Unlike recent USD games, it was a high-scoring affair from the get-go on both sides
• Pepperdine took the first sizable lead after four lead changes, using a 12-0 run to go up 21-8 after the under-12 media timeout
• The run was ended by the usual suspect Chammaa with a three at the end of the shot clock
• The Waves had a 6-8 stretch from three, four out of the hands of guard Zion Bethea
• Clouet and Chammaa kept the damage minimal with threes of their own
• Grad guard Deven Dahlke and senior Bendji Pierre added on treys to mark a USD 5-6 stretch from beyond the arc
• Behind more made threes, some second-chance points and converted free throws, Pepperdine grew it's lead to 19
• At the halftime break, the deficit was 15, the score 40-55
• A team effort out of Chammaa, Trouet, Duckett and lastly grad guard Dominic Muncey's third three of the season chop the lead down to eight
• The Waves joined the Toreros in the foul trouble, putting USD in the bonus early
• Another Pierre deep ball cut the deficit to a two-possession game inside 10 minutes to go
• Pepperdine would go without a field goal for over six minutes
• The T-Ros were teetering inside 10 points for the last four minutes of the game but couldn't close the gap fully
• Three starters – Muncey, Trouet and Duckett – fouled out of the contest, as did two Waves to cap a foul-heavy and yet scoring-heavy affair
• PU was limited to three made field goals in the last eight minutes of the game
• Poor free throw shooting too from the guests down the stretch kept San Diego in it
• A Dahlke trey ball made it a four-point game inside one minute, as did some Chammaa free throws at 30 seconds remaining, but that was the closest the Toreros would get

 
Up Next
Now having played each team in conference once now, the Toreros stay home for a quick turnaround to host LMU on Saturday at 3 p.m.. The Lions topped San Diego 70-77 on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles while Duckett scored a program freshman record 31. Saturday is a Celebration of Black Legacy at the Jenny Craig Pavilion to kick off Black History Month.
 
Post Game Quotes
 
Redshirt-Freshman Guard Joey Chammaa
 
On his career high scoring night…
It's special. I've been waiting for this. Just knocking down shots, getting downhill, getting to the paint, mid-ranges, threes, just kind of exploring around the paint and probing got me to that.
 
On his nine assists being part of his game…
The coaching staff taught me about not being one dimensional and exploring my options, like doing something besides scoring, so I really took that to heart. Plus, just pushing in transition and having guys open, I think Kean did an exceptional job of finding the ball, and meeting the ball. Same with our shooters like Kody, Bendji and Deven. They really got me there; I just have to find the open man and they hit.
 
On staying together as a team…
I feel like it's one thing if you have a group of guys that don't want to win. But we have a group of guys who are young and very talented and want to get after it every single day. If you come to practice tomorrow, you'll see, it's like we won. The energy is high. Everything is high, and we believe in ourselves, and we believe in our staff, and our staff believes in us, which is the most important thing. I'm sure there's gonna be a big turnaround, I wouldn't be surprised. 
 
On being a reliable spark for his team…
I take pride in being the spark guy. Whatever the score is, I'll do anything to bring the team back, get that momentum up, and just bring the energy back. I feel like that's my job, and I came in and tried to do my best today, whether it's being relentless or just being a fierce competitor.
 
Freshman Center Kean Webb
On scoring a career-high 16 points…
It feels great. Obviously, the older, more experienced guys trusted me. They all just believe in me. All the older guys, the coaching staff, they always hype me up, and always bring that energy. It's just confidence building.
 
On recording his third straight game with a career high…
Just development, I think our coaches do a great job in practices, giving me the reps and development I need, whether it's in half court or full court. It's just building that confidence in practice day after day and then applying it to the game. Like I said, the older guys trust me a lot, as well as the guys around me, and the coaches.
 
On staying together as a team…
Like Joey said, we have a group of guys that love each other. They truly do. We have a group of guys that want to compete. They come to practice every day, they fight, they play their hearts out every day. I feel like we just have to stay together, trust each other, and know the hard times don't last forever. We'll get through it. 
 
Head Coach Steve Lavin
On Coaches vs. Cancer and personal tie…
Cancer is something that affects everyone in the world, whether it's through six degrees of a family member or a friend, someone in your community, or people you grew up with. The importance of education regarding early detection, also funding and supporting the cause to find a cure, to beat cancer, to eradicate a dreaded disease, and it's a way through basketball to celebrate a great cause, the Suits and Sneakers annual week is something that galvanizes the basketball community for something that's bigger than ourselves, which is to eradicate cancer, and someday that's going to happen. In the meantime, we've got to support it and raise awareness. It was a special night from that standpoint. 
 
Opening statement…
We dug ourselves a hole in the first half, falling down 19 points, and we gave up 57% from the field, and Pepperdine was in a flow shooting the ball with a lot of confidence, both attacking in transition, but also hitting threes and executing their flex offense on the half court. We made some adjustments in the second half, and held them to 37% from the field, which is a terrific number. That's a defensive number that allows you to win games, but we didn't do it in both halves. Last week in San Francisco, we held the Dons to 37% from the field in the first half, but then in the second half we gave up 57%. Tonight, it was the opposite. Defensively we didn't come out with the necessary sense of urgency, we weren't tied together, we weren't aggressive, they beat us up on the boards, just more physical and more stout. Then in the second half, we really took it to Pepperdine and outscored them by seven in the second half. But really it was the 15-point run from down 19 to cut it to four points, and then late, we had to foul some because we were trailing. So, it ended up being us outscoring them by seven in the second half. Proud of this team. A lot of impressive individual performances. Joey Chammaa with a career-high 24 points, but also nine assists. As a team, we had 17 assists against only 11 turnovers. So, we're taking care of the ball, which had been an issue earlier this season. We are addressing and even have remedied some of the issues that hurt us. We have stretches offensively where we're not able to knock down shots. I thought we passed up some open threes on some possessions, and that hurts us as well. If we've got an open three, we need to take it, and we can also get an offensive rebound if we miss it, but sometimes you never get a wide-open good look from the three again during a possession if you pass up that first one. Different from trying to score late in the game, obviously that's different, because we're not taking threes when we want to put the game away or get to the foul line or only play through the paint. But through the flow of the game, when we have an open three in transition or out of our offense or we played inside-out and got to the second side, we need to take those open shots. So, I thought Kean Webb had one of the more complete performances of his time here at San Diego, and Deven Dahlke came in and knocked down a couple shots for us, which was big as we closed the gap on the deficit. Santiago returned to form. I think this was one of his better games. Not only the nine rebounds, but also offensively he was aggressive and used good judgment, didn't force shots. Really pleased with Santiago's bounce-back from this past weekend.
 
On his message at halftime before the comeback…
I think the biggest message was that our aggression level wasn't where it needed to be, and every team we face this season is going to have more experience than we do, and we've talked about that. I think we're the ninth or 10^th-youngest team in the country, and for the second consecutive year, we're the youngest team in program history, but we can't allow that to be an excuse. It's a reality, but we have to find ways to overcome our lack of experience. And in a number of areas, we've improved, but there are times where we get taken inside because of a team's physicality and their overall experience. I thought in the second half, we really responded well. I was not pleased with our aggression level, so we just switched some things schematically in terms of our defense; we didn't switch, or we switched much less. We just played man-to-man. There are times where switching can be effective in terms of trying to disrupt an opponent's offense or their rhythm or flow, but tonight, the switching was not effective, and so we called it off. In the second half we just played old-school, traditional smash-mouth, aggressive, man to man defense, and it paid dividends. It allowed us to close the gap. We had possessions, we had open shots, it wasn't turnovers, but we got some good looks and they just didn't go down. But, proud of our players' grit and their fight back, that's been a trait all season long, with the exception of maybe the Saint Mary's game and the Oregon State game, but they never go quietly into the night. And as you build a program, that's really an important quality or trait, and so pleased with that. But disappointed for our players, because they work so hard all week, and I would love to see them punch through to the winner's circle, because they do work so hard, they're so earnest and eager and come with a great attitude, and they're coachable, and they really care about one another in a genuine way, and that is something I'm proud of as we build this program.
 
On the freshmen stepping up in the absence of injured players…
I am so proud of them for persevering through an unprecedented season with the number of injuries, the musical chairs, and how that disrupts and at times, leads to a disjointed performance, because it affects your practice and preparation, as well as the flow of a game. We've never had a full roster or a full complement of players. And other teams have injuries too, we're not the only team in the country, we just happen to lead the country in injuries and games missed as a result of injuries, but it's a lesson in life. Life's unfair. Life keeps coming. It's going to lead to unexpected aspects. You just have to find a way to overcome that adversity, that's where I'm really proud of this team. What happens with injuries is sometimes that the silver linings is that players get opportunities to play in big games and in big moments, and so for the long term growth, not only this season, but down the line, the fact that we've had to throw a lot of our young players into the fire, baptism by fire, and they've responded well, so now we just want to get in the win column.
 
On the upcoming rematch with LMU on Saturday…
We talked to the team after this game about, minimizing the runs by opponents. You do that through defense, but you also do it through offense. Teams are going to go on runs. You're not going to shut a team out. It's not like baseball or football or hockey or soccer. No one's ever shut a team out in division I basketball, in modern history. But you want to minimize the runs so we're not down 13 in the second half to Loyola [Marymount]. We came back, took the lead inside of four minutes against Loyola [Marymount], we had a couple point blank shots that we didn't convert on, and so they knocked us off at their place earlier this season. But now we have a chance for payback. That theme of not digging holes, because now you're expending so much energy to get back to tie a game or to take the lead, and in the process, an opponent is going to go on a run or counter punch, and so we really have to focus on things we have control over. Again, we're not going to shut a team out, but let's not fall down 13, 19, 18-2, where you're down 16 points, as we did to Washington State before coming back and taking a seven-point lead. But because we expended so much energy, they went on a run to close out the game. And so, these are lessons that you understand if you've been in coaching for 35 years, and now it's about imparting those lessons, that knowledge. We call it 'the math', and that's what the box score is about, and that's what watching the game film is about, is explaining that 'the math' of falling down double digits is not favorable, because now you're playing uphill. It's the equivalent of putting people on base in baseball – it comes back to haunt you – or penalties in football, right? That comes back to haunt you in terms of field position and basketball has its own fundamentals and kind of elements that are ingredients that go into winning, and we have to remedy the things that have affected us and have led to losses, and pick up great experience along the line, but make those adjustments and improve the areas that have cost us and start to build on our strengths and minimize those areas that have led to us being in this losing streak, and in the desert.