SAN DIEGO — USD men's basketball continues its home stand hosting the Washington State Cougars Wednesday night in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.  

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 COUGAR RUNDOWN

• Washington State is 8-12 on the season, 1-6 on the road, 3-4 thus far in it's second trip through the WCC but on a three-game losing streak

• USD trails in the all-time series, 2-4, this just the third meeting since 2018, the second in San Diego since 1974 ... USD's two wins were in 2009 by 36 in Anchorage, Alaska by a score of 74-48 and on Jan. 7, 1975 in Pullman, Wash. 

• San Diego Head Coach Steve Lavin is 14-2 in his career against Wazzu, the two losses coming last season, his last time crossing paths with the Cougars before that being in 2003 PAC-12 play while at UCLA.

LAST TIME OUT

- A 32-point effort from Tim Moore Jr. and a triple-double by Assane Diop highlighted USD men's basketball's 113-67 win over Bethesda on Saturday evening in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

- The blowout victory over the NCCAA program rounds out the Toreros' non-conference slate as they prepare for the rest of WCC play.

- Moore, a grad forward, posted the career high scoring effort by making each of his first 10 field goal attempts and all 12 at the charity stripe, also logging two blocks and five rebounds in just 25 minutes. The Houston native's 25 in the first half alone was more than a Torero had scored in a game this season while he becomes the fifth Torero to attempt 12 or more free throws in a game and make all of them, one shy of the record.

- Diop, a junior forward, had never had a double-double in his collegiate career but did one better with his 15-rebound, 11-point, 10-assist effort, plus four steals, finishing a whopping plus-51 in the game in 33 minutes played.

- As a team, the Toreros logged season-bests in points, field goal percentage (58.5%), rebounds (49) and assists (28). USD shot the three at a 50% clip, led by grad guard Toneari Lane's five made threes for 17 total points. Also finishing in double figures was grad Dominique Ford with 12.

- San Diego was off and running after the opening minutes, but Bethesda temporarily stayed within sight with a high volume of 3-pointers

- USD separated as it found success in the paint and BU's best defense became sending the hosts to the free throw line … San Diego would go on to be 27-29 (93.1%) at the free throw line for the game

- Leading the way for the Toreros from the get-go was Moore, whose teammates continued to feed him inside

- At the half, San Diego led 55-32 behind Moore's 25 points

- The biggest USD run of the game was a 16-0 hot streak halfway through the second period to separate more than ever

- Moore missed his first shot of the game on his 11th attempt from the field, remaining perfect from the free throw line

- When it seemed unlikely that Diop would achieve the triple double, the Senegalese big found redshirt-sophomore guard Josh Hecht (eight points) and freshman forward Alejandro Aviles (seven points) for his ninth and tenth assists of the game, sending his teammates in a frenzy on the bench

TY-LAUR'S TAKEOVER, TAKEAWAYS

• In conference play, 6-foot, 155-pound Ty-Laur Johnson ranks third in the WCC in scoring average at 19.2 points, third in assists at 6.0 and first in steals with 3.2 per game – almost a whole steal more than the conference's next best – in six games played

• The Brooklyn native led the Toreros to a WCC-opening 66-54 victory over NET No. 101 Pacific on Dec. 28 ... Johnson was 6-13 from the field, a career-best 5-8 from three, and 5-6 from the line as his 22 points were one shy of his USD season best ... He also swiped six steals, which tied for the second most by a Torero in a single game, just one shy of the San Diego record

5 x 1,000 =

• On Jan. 8, Juanse Gorosito surpassed 1,000 career NCAA points to join four other current teammates in the 1K-point club: Dominique Ford (1,120+), Toneari Lane (1,391+), Adrian McIntyre (1,300+) and Tim Moore Jr. (1,248+)

• Three of the five achieved 1,000 points solely in DI hoops – Gorosito (prev. Ball State, Portland), Ford (prev. Southern Utah, Idaho) and Lane (prev. Georgia State, Winthrop)

MAKING BIG WAVES

• The dominant 83-63 win over Pepperdine in the JCP on Jan. 8 was San Diego men's hoops' largest margin of victory over a conference opponent since a March 9, 2019 WCC Tournament quarterfinal, 80-57 win over BYU

• In a well-rounded team game, USD shot a season-best 54.2% from the field, 45.8% from three, dishing out 21 assists with 12 steals and finishing +8 in rebounds