SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Diego Men's Hoops seeks revenge on a narrow one-point loss the Toreros suffered to Santa Clara earlier in the season, taking on the Broncos on the road on Saturday afternoon. 

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Anthony Pasarelli (PxP) and Henry Caruso (Analyst) calling the action. Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin (X: @JackCroninPXP) will have the call over the radio airwaves on USDToreros.com/watch. Inside coverage can also be found on the @USDMBB social channels.

THE BRONCO RUNDOWN

• The Toreros are 39-55 vs. Santa Clara, 19-27 in the Leavey Center, including the last meeting in the Leavey Center on Feb. 3, 2024

• The Broncos ended USD's season in the second round of the WCC Tournament in 2023-24 and bested the Toreros 81-80 on Jan. 30 earlier this season 

• The first time they met: After trailing by as much as 13 points to Santa Clara in the second half, the Toreros tied the game with three minutes left to play but fell just short of an in-conference upset at the JCP, 80-81 ... Bradley Jr. scored 20 of his 23 points off the bench in the second half and contributed six assists with no turnovers to help USD claw back ... Trouet recorded his fifth double-double of the season, scoring a career-best 21 points with 11 rebounds, also notching two steals and a block.

LAST TIME OUT

•  In a game that had 15 lead changes and 13 ties, the Toreros had the opportunity to take the game's final lead with one shot in the closing seconds but ultimately fell short on the road Thursday, 69-71 to Pacific.

•  After the Tigers broke the deadlock with a two at 12 seconds remaining, redshirt freshman Joey Chammaa, previously 50% from three point land and the field, attempted a go-ahead 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it bounced off the back rim.

NOTABLE

- Neither led by more than four points in the second half, the biggest lead overall being a nine-point Torero advantage in the first half

- San Diego shot 50% and better from both the field and from three in the first half for the first time this season

- USD also outscored it's hosts 48-5 off the bench

- Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet led the way for the Toreros with 18 points and seven rebounds

- Both Chammaa and grad guard Kody Clouet added 14 points

- Sophomore forward David Simon made his return from injury and was productive off the bench

HOW IT HAPPENED

- The Toreros ran out with the 13th different starting lineup of the season with the return of grad guard Deven Dahlke to the starting five

- San Diego led to start, but as would be the story the rest of the night, the opposition responded swiftly

- Simon made his return to the court for the first time since suffering an injury on Dec. 28 vs. GCU

- USD went on an 8-0 run as a part of the 10th lead change of the first half

- Chammaa and Klouet stacked some 3-pointers on top of eachother and eventually the lead grew to a game-high nine points

- Pacific hung tough however, cutting the lead down to 39-37 at the half

- It was the first half half of basketball this season in which the Toreros shot 50% or better from both the field and 3-point range, the second period of it's sort on the season, having done so in the reverse matchup against Pacific, a home win on Dec. 30 … Clouet led the way with 12 points on four made threes

- Even after the break, both teams would continue to exchange leads and spent over six minutes tied in the contest, neither team leading by more than four points in the second half

- Trouet would get going for the Toreros, particularly off high-low actions

- The Toreros found themselves down two with the ball with 38 seconds remaining as the Tigers intentionally fouled Trouet, who made both shots at the charity stripe to tie the game

- Then, with 12 seconds and change remaining, Pacific's Lamar Washington got a layup to go to reclaim the lead

- After a timeout, the Toreros got the ball to the other side of the court and Chammaa got a look at a three, but he couldn't get it to fall, nor could the team get the board for a put-back before the final buzzer

YOUTH MOVEMENT

•  True freshmen Duckett and Webb and redshirt freshman Joey Chammaa 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

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

A TOREROS DOZEN

•  As of Feb. 2, the Toreros rank tied for second in the nation for most players with double-digit games (13)

•  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

TOUGH LUCK

•  As of Feb. 5, San Diego is among the top 10 unluckiest team nationally (-.117) 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

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

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 13 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.