SAN DIEGO — Having seen each conference team once now, the Toreros will play host to LMU Saturday afternoon, their second WCC bout with the Lions in two weeks, seeking revenge for a narrow loss in Los Angeles.
Thursday will be the second of two games that San Diego participates in Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers week, a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Coaches vs. Cancer takes a more physical, personal meaning for Toreros Head Coach Steve Lavin who missed the majority of the 2011-12 season at St. John's in a bout with prostate cancer, which he gallantly overcame.
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.
THE LION RUNDOWN
• San Diego leads the all-time series, 52 wins to 43, 27-18 and five straight in the Jenny Craig Pavilion
• LMU will be the first WCC team the Toreros get a second look at, having beat San Diego recently on Jan. 18, 77-70 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion
• In 52 years of record keeping, six of 27 (22%) of Torero 31+ point games have been against the Lions
• The first time they met: USD came up just shy of an in-conference comeback again, while the Toreros botched a go-ahead dunk and missed a tying free throw, both inside 32 seconds remaining ... Freshman guard Tony Duckett scored a San Diego freshman record and team season-best 31 points on 11 made field goals and four threes ... Duckett had a career-high 20 points in the first half alone ... The Toreros came back from down 13 in the second half to tie the game and even take the lead with under four minutes to go
LAST TIME OUT
• 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.
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
- Freshman guard Tony Duckett scored in double figures (14) for the eighth time in the last nine games
- Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet was one point and one rebound shy of a double-double
- 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
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• True freshmen Duckett (double figures in eight of his last nine) and Webb (three straight games with career highs in scoring are fronting a youth movement on America's Most Beautiful campus,
a roster of which 14 are underclassmen, 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's roster ranks 354th/364 in DI MBB experience according to KenPom with nine newcomers
SCORING RECORD + SC TOP 10 = WCC HONOR
• Tony Duckett garnered WCC Freshman of the Week honors after setting an all-time San Diego freshman single-game record with 31 points on 11 made field goals on Jan. 18 against LMU ... He posted a career-high 20 points in the first half alone and grabbed a career-high five rebounds
• The Carlsbad, Calif. native was also the spark for the Toreros' 16-point comeback against Washington State on Jan. 16, scoring 14 points and connecting on two big dunks, including one that put USD ahead for the first time just before halftime ... The other dunk was No. 9 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays on Jan. 17
MANY MEN DOWN
• As of Jan. 18, USD leads DI MBB with 13 players having missed at least one game due to injury, the most by four ... As many as nine have been out at once on multiple occasions while only two players of 21 on the roster have played in each game this season
• Across the 2023-24 season, 15 San Diego players combined to miss over 900 days of practice and/or competition due to health
TOUGH LUCK
• As of Friday, Jan. 31, San Diego is among the top 10 unluckiest team nationally (-.121) out of 364 teams, according to KenPom
• In USD's loss to GCU in the Intuit Dome on Dec. 28 the Lopes made 36 free throws and 27.8% of field goal attempts ... No Division I team had ever won a regulation-length game by making 35 or more free throws and shooting less than 30% from the field until the Lopes did so, according to the Stathead database
• In a 13-point loss at No. 18 Gonzaga on Jan. 8, the Toreros became the the first team to make the same or more field goals as Gonzaga and not come out winners since Jan. 25, 2024
• USD's defense entered a Jan. 11 matchup with Saint Mary's as a top-80 defense nationally in KenPom's metric for efficiency ... The Gaels scored scored 1.65 points per possession on terrific shooting, 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
A TOREROS DOZEN
• As of Jan. 12, the Toreros rank tied for third in the nation for most players with double-digit games (12) ... In a narrow loss to UC San Diego on Dec. 21, Joey Chammaa's 14 points made him the 12th Torero to score in double figures in the 12th game of the season, tied for second nationally in the stat at the time
• Six different Toreros have scored 20+ this season while nine USD players have been in double-figures multiple times and eight have led the team in scoring in a game
• Lavin has used 12 different starting lineup thus far this season, featuring 14 different Toreros
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
• USD had a stretch of decreased turnovers in four straight games from Dec. 21-Jan. 2; a whopping 23 vs. UC San Diego, to 15 vs. GCU on Dec. 28, to 11 in a WCC-opening win over Pacific (and a season best 20 assists) on Dec. 30 and a season low five vs. Santa Clara
• Junior point guard Kjay Bradley Jr. guided the effort each time off the bench, including a six assist, no turnover line against Santa Clara and seven assists to two turnovers in the Pacific win
AN OVERDUE WCC-OPENING WIN
• San Diego broke a six-game losing streak in the month of December with a strong 75-65 win over Pacific to kick off league play in the Toreros' final game of 2024
• The Toreros won their first WCC opener since a win over San Francisco on Dec. 28, 2017, when the team went on to win the first three games of conference play
• The winning formula consisted of season-highs in assists (20, prev. 16) and steals (11, prev. 10) ... A season best nine different Toreros contributed assists ... Steven Jamerson II notched his first 20-point game and double-double of the season, also doubling the single-game best +/- for a Torero thus far (+28, prev. +14)
ENOUGH BOARDS TO BUILD A HOUSE
• In a narrow loss to UC San Diego on Dec. 21, sophomore forward Santiago Trouet grabbed 20 rebounds, the third most in a single game by a Torero, most in 42 years (Robby Roberts, 21 vs. NAU on Nov. 11, 1982 & Gus Magee, 24 vs. Trinity on Jan. 7, 1969) ... At the time it was the season single-game high in NCAA DI, currently tied for fourth
SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY
• 14 different Toreros have featured in 12 different starting lineups this season, the first career start for eight ... The first six Toreros to make their first career starts this season averaged 14.8 pts., 4.2 reb., 2 ast., 1.7 stl. and 1 blk.. in those games
• The latest to capitalize on his first career start is freshman guard Tony Duckett, scoring 16 against Marian on Nov. 27
• 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
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's roster ranks 354th/364 in DI MBB experience according to KenPom
• 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
THE REMAINING SCHEDULE
• 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
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
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 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
- 2016-17 Phoenix Suns Head Coach and four years as an assistant with the Spurs, Suns, Raptors
- 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 assistant
• 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
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.
