LAS VEGAS — San Diego men's basketball takes to the 2026 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Championship tournament as it faces 10th-seeded LMU in the first round at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 in Las Vegas' Orleans Arena.
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Roxy Bernstein (PxP, X: @roxybernstein) and Dan Dickau (Color, X: @dandickau21) calling the action. Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin (PxP, X: @JackCroninPXP) will have the call over radio airwaves on USDToreros.com/watch. Inside coverage can also be found on the @USDMBB social channels.
THE LION RUNDOWN
• San Diego trails in the all-time series against the Lions, 56-59 losses, 1-4 in the WCC Tournament, as the Toreros will look to avenge a second-round bounce in last season's tournament in addition to LMU taking both of this season's meetings
This Season's First Meeting (83-63 L, Feb. 7 in LA):
- The game was defined by the first six minutes, in which the hosts got out to a 17-0 lead. From there, the Toreros made attempts at catch-up but could never close the gap in what ended up being a 20-point defeat.
- USD shot 60% (18-30) from the field in the second half but couldn't stop the Lions to make up ground as LMU also shot 61.5% (16-26) on second half field goals, San Diego also holding its opponent to five made threes, a 22.7% clip from beyond the arc.
- The bright spots for the Toreros were in guards Dominique Ford and Brandon Benjamin off the bench. The freshman Benjamin, in his hometown, went 5-of-5 from the field to finish in double figures in the City of Angels for the second time this season, finishing a team high plus-6 in 13 minutes played ... Ford, a graduate student, led the squad with 14 points and six rebounds.
This Season's Second Meeting (77-65 L, Feb. 21 in SD):
- San Diego fought back from an early deficit to tie the game up halfway through the second period, but LMU held out for the victory on a strong shooting night ... The visiting Lions shot 57.8% from the field and 47.1% from three while the Toreros went 43.6% from the floor overall.
- Leading the USD effort were grad guards Toneari Lane and Adrian McIntyre with 19 and 18 points respectively on their senior nights ... Lane caught fire from beyond the arc to get the Toreros back in the game, going 5-8 from deep ... Also scoring in double figures on their senior days were guards Juanse Gorosito (12) and Dominique Ford (10).
- The Toreros celebrated the careers of seven of the program's seniors prior to the final home game of the season: Toneari Lane, Adrian McIntyre, Juanse Gorosito, Tim Moore Jr., Neel Beniwal and Emmanuel Callas.
LAST TIME OUT
- San Diego men's basketball fell in the final game of its regular season, 87-74 on the road to Portland on Saturday evening.
- USD led by as much as 14 in the second half before a 22-0 Pilot run flipped the game around ... USD had solid numbers across the board offensively but were thwarted by untimely turnovers and a lapse on defense.
- In Saturday's affair San Diego shot a suitable 53.6% from the field and 42.9% from three and dished out a whopping 24 assists ... The visitors held UP to 37.5% from the floor, 12.7% from deep in the first half, but the Pilots rebounded with game-changing 69% and 66.7% splits respectively in the second period.
- Leading the Toreros in scoring was Assane Diop with 16 ... Fellow junior forward Vuk Boskovic posted career highs 14 points and seven assists, going 4-6 from beyond the arc ... Redshirt-freshman forward Gavin Ripp continued his run of form with a career-best 13 points while former Pilot turned USD senior guard Juanse Gorosito finished with 11 points.
TOP-10 SHARP SHOOTER
• Grad guard Toneari Lane ranks seventh nationally, first in the WCC, among qualified players in 3-point percentage at 44.8%
• The Atlanta native has made four-plus threes in four of his last five games, converting at a rate of over 50% over the last 12 games (since Jan. 19)
BREAKING THE 3PT RECORD ... AGAIN
• In an overtime loss at Oregon State on Feb. 25, the Toreros made 18 threes on 43 attempts (also a single-game record), including four in the last 39 seconds of regulation to force OT
• The 18 converted 3-pointers breaks the previous school record of 15 in a single game, done three times, last in the Toreros' 96-92 win over Washington State on Jan. 21 ... The 43 attempted threes breaks the previous program record set over a decade ago, by eight – the Toreros attempted 35 vs. CSUN on Dec. 23, 2015
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