LAS VEGAS — San Diego men's hoops will open the 2025 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship with a rubber match against Pacific Thursday afternoon inside Orleans Arena, the opening game of the WCC postseason.  

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Dave Flemming (PxP, X: @DFlemmingSpeaks) and Dan Dickau (Analyst, X: @DanDickau21) calling the action. Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin (PxP, 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 TIGER RUNDOWN

• After splitting this season's series,. San Diego trails in the all-time series, 10-13 ... Thursday will be the first ever conference tournament and neutral site matchup between the two sides

• Dec. 30 @ San Diego, Calif. (W, 75-65):  A team effort guided USD to victory, with four different players scoring in double figures and nine combined for a season-high 20 assists and six for a season-best 11 steals with just 11 turnovers ... Senior center Steven Jamerson II led the way with his first double-double of the season, scoring a season-high 21 and grabbing 11 rebounds ... Graduate guard Kody Clouet in his second game back from injury hit three big 3-pointers to kick start a 13-0 and eventual 21-2 run for the Toreros in the second half while Pacific went a cold 1-15 from deep in the second half, seeing USD reclaim a sizable lead for good.

•  Feb. 6 @ Stockton, Calif. (L, 69-71):  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, 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 ... Neither team 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.

LAST TIME OUT

•  The team rallied from down 12 points in the first half and 77-78 late, to finish its regular-season schedule on a high note in the form of a rousing 82-80 victory over Portland on Senior Night Saturday inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion

•  USD secured it's first win since Dec. 30 behind senior guard Kody Clouet's career and game-high 35 points on 8-10 3-point shooting. The graduate student and local product out of San Marcos knocked down a career-high eight three-pointers on 10 attempts, added three steals, and defended the Pilots' Austin Rapp on his potential game-tying layup at the death to preserve an emotional victory.

NOTABLE

- Clouet's 35 points and eight three-point makes were both season highs for a Torero. The only other 30-piece was Duckett's 31-point outburst at LMU on Jan. 18. Clouet's previous season highs were 19 points twice, and four made triples on three occasions.

- Clouet's 35 points are tied for the sixth-best single-game output by a Torero all-time, matching Doug Harris' total from Feb. 28, 1995, against Cal State Northridge. It was the most points by a USD student-athlete since Eric Williams Jr.'s school-record 43 in an overtime defeat to Utah State in the same building on Nov. 17, 2022. 

- Clouet's eight three-pointers tied for No. 2 on the program's single-game list with all-time leading scorer Johnny Dee, Ross DeRogatis (twice) and Mark Manor, one shy of matching PJ Hayes' nine (9-for-14) in a 33-point effort, ironically at Portland, last season on Jan. 23, 2024. That night, the Toreros erased a 14-point deficit to win another thriller, 85-81.

- Clouet had previous collegiate highs of 33 last year while at Southeastern Oklahoma State (also 31 and 30-point performances) and 30 at now-closed University of St. Katherine in San Marcos. He twice hit seven triples, including in that 33-pointer for SE OKST against Ouachita Baptist on Feb. 22, 2024. 

- Dahlke, Duckett and senior big man Steven Jamerson II joined Clouet in double-figure scoring, all at 10-points apiece. Duckett added a game and career-high seven assists, having twice previously dished out five helpers. The Carlsbad native now has 24 assists over the last six contests. Dahlke led all players with his career-high four steals. Jamerson II had a team-best seven rebounds and shared the game high of two blocked shots.

- USD committed single-digit turnovers, seven, for the fourth time this season, while forcing Portland into 13 miscues. Dahlke did not turn the ball over in his 34:37, while adding five assists to his stellar final night in home confines. 

- The Torero bench outscored that of Portland by a dominant final tally of 27-3. Duckett (10) and Simon (nine) led that charge with the latter an efficient 4-for-5 from the field while knocking down his lone three-point attempt, grabbing four boards and blocking a shot. In fact, Duckett and Simon led all players on the night in plus/minus at +14 and +13, respectively.

- Portland had taken the season's first meeting between the sides at home back on Jan. 23 by the final score of 92-82. The Toreros maintain the upper hand in the all-time series, 62-37, and have now won two straight and five of the past six matchups inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion going back through the 2018-19 campaign. USD swept last year's pair. 

- Five outstanding Torero seniors were recognized prior to tip-off, in Clouet, Dahlke, Jamerson II, Dominic Muncey and Bendji Pierre.

- Lavin's starting five was made up of exactly those five seniors, for a nation-leading 17th different starting lineup combination used by the veteran head coach for this campaign. 

- It was Lavin's career win number 260 as a head coach at the DI level, his 452nd career game.

- Lavin is now 6-0 in March regular season games in his last five seasons 

HOW IT HAPPENED

- San Diego faced its biggest deficit of the night at 12 when Vukasin Masic made two free throws for 38-26 with 3:27 left in the first half 

- The Toreros then caught fire from deep as Clouet hit a pair before fellow senior Deven Dahlke connected on his second of the period to cut the margin down to five by the break, 44-39

- In the second half, USD pulled to within one at 51-50 on a Clouet three, only for Masic to answer with a triple of his own just ahead of the first media timeout. Later, sophomore David Simon drilled a three-pointer at the 13:05 mark to give the home side its first lead since 13-11

- USD maintained its advantage, in fact growing it to as many as eight at 69-61 with 8:17 to go on a fast-break driving layup by Dahlke

- Portland slowly clawed its way back into it and took one last lead at 78-77 with only 95 ticks left

- Head coach Steve Lavin called his full timeout and drew up a decisive, winning play, as Clouet handed off to Tony Duckett while screening, and the true freshman did the rest, not making a mistake on his driving lay-in attempt for 79-78 with 33 seconds remaining

- Clouet made two free throws for 81-78, before Joey Chammaa split his to give the visitors a final hope at 82-80 

- The Pilots were out of timeouts, and Clouet did all he could to force Rapp into a tough, driving lay-up down the left flank. Chris Austin's tip-in attempt was denied by the front of the rim, and the clock finally expired as USD celebrated a much-needed and much-deserved triumph

ALL-WCC ACCOLADES

•  Following the completion of the regular season, the West Coast Conference announced it's all-conference award selections

•  For his efforts on the court, guard Tony Duckett was named to the All-WCC Freshman Team on Tuesday, March 4 ... Duckett averages 11.6 points per game during conference play, starting 15 times with a 2.05 assist-to-turnover ratio, shooting the three ball at a 39.3% clip on the season overall

•  For efforts as students at USD, on Wednesday, March 5 senior guard Dominic Muncey was tabbed to the WCC All-Academic Team while senior froward Bendji Pierre and grad guard Deven Dahlke were granted all-academic honorable mentions

WALK-ON TO BOARD GRABBER

•  Senior Center Steven Jamerson II finished the regular season ranked second in the WCC in offensive rebounds (106, 3.7/g) and third in total rebounds (227, 7.8/g)

•  The former walk-on turned team leader has had double-digit rebounds in eight games, amassing three double-doubles in February with a stretch of five straight games with nine-plus boards

COACH'S MILESTONE

•  A Feb. 22 contest against Oregon State marked the 450th career game as a head coach on the DI men's basketball sidelines for USD Head Coach Steve Lavin, entering the game with 259 career wins

A TOREROS DOZEN

•  As of Feb. 10, 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 17 different starting lineup thus far this season, featuring 15 different Toreros

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 Feb. 7, 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

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

• 15 different Toreros have featured in 15 different starting lineups this season, the first career DI start for nine ... 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

• 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

• 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