LAS VEGAS — After a thrilling WCC Championship first round win Thursday, the Toreros will look to double their money with a second round matchup with seventh-seeded LMU Friday night.
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 LION RUNDOWN
• San Diego leads the all-time series, 52 wins to 44, 1-3 on neutral grounds/in the WCC Tournament ... 1-2 in Orleans Arena, the last USD win being in the 2009 first round
• In 52 years of record keeping, six of 28 (21.4%) of Torero 31+ point games have been against the Lions
• Jan. 18 @ Los Angeles (L, 70-77): 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
• Feb. 1 @ San Diego (L, 62-78): The visiting LMU Lions bested the Toreros on Feb. 1 by a final score of 78-62 inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion ... San Diego had one of it's best starts of the season, going up by as much as eleven, but deflated thereafter by an 18-0 and 25-2 run by the Lions and poor shooting from the hosts ... Senior center Steven Jamerson II had the Toreros first double-double since Jan. 2, posting a career-high 15 rebounds and additional 11 points.
LAST TIME OUT
• "We all packed to stay for a lot longer." Those were the words of San Diego freshman Tony Duckett whose free throws clinched an 81-77 Torero win over Pacific in the first round of the WCC Basketball Championship, extending USD Men's Basketball's season.
• Inside Las Vegas's Orleans Arena, after 21 lead changes and in the 12th tie of the game, three seconds remained in the Credit Union 1 2025 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship opener when Duckett drew a shooting foul. He hit both shots to put USD up then got the interception on the ensuing inbound and nailed two more from the charity stripe to ice the victory.
• For a second straight season, San Diego advances to the second round of the conference tournament.
NOTABLE
- Duckett scored 21 points on 7-14 shooting from the field
- Clouet notched 20-plus in a second straight game
- Senior center Steven Jamerson II tallied 18 with eight boards, three steals and two blocks
- San Diego's 27-30 night at the free throw line proved critical while forcing 19 turnovers
- The game featured 21 lead changes, a season-high for the Toreros, besting the previous high which was the USD two-point loss at Pacific on Feb. 6 (15)
- The Toreros improve to 2-0 in March (6-26 on the season)
- It is the second time all season and second time in the last three games that multiple Toreros have scored - 20-plus (last at Washington State on Feb. 27)
- Clouet has now scored in double figures in five straight, Duckett in three straight now tied for the team lead with 15 double-digit games
- San Diego collects it's first win away from home this season and first win in their Navy uniforms … USD is 1-1 overall on a neutral site
HOW IT HAPPENED
- It was a back-and-forth affair from the start, almost strictly from inside the paint
- Pacific took first advantage with a 6-0 run
- Sophomore forward David Simon got into early foul trouble with four personal fouls in the first half … he would not foul out with eight crucial minutes played in the second half, adding 13 points for USD on the night
- At the break, the Toreros trailed 33-39 while the Tigers were shooting 58.3% from the field with 15 made free throws … both teams had only one made 3-pointer in the period
- San Diego took a lead after trailing by eight early in the second half by way of a signature Jamerson II dunk
- The 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th lead changes of the night ensued
- Clouet got going offensively, as did Jamerson II
- Clouet hit a go-ahead 3-pointer inside three minutes remaining, the 21st lead change of the game for a 74-71 lead
- Jamerson II fouled out before the two-minute mark
- Pacific would tie the game twice more, giving USD the ball with 13 seconds remaining
- With three ticks remaining, Duckett was fouled driving to the basket as he hit the go-ahead free throws had an interception on a football pass inbounds play, then hit two more free throws to complete the 81-77 win
- San Diego's final seven points were scored at the free throw line
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
FINISHING WCC PLAY AS THEY STARTED & KODY'S HUGE DAY
• 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 on March 1 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, and defended the Pilots' Austin Rapp on his potential game-tying layup at the death to preserve an emotional victory
• 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 freshman scoring record at LMU on Jan. 18 ... It tied for the sixth-best single-game output by a Torero all-time, most since Eric Williams Jr.'s school-record 43 ... Clouet's eight three-pointers tied for No. 2 on the program's single-game list, most since PJ Hayes' program-record nine last season
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 17 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
• 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
