Nov. 15, 2007
GAME #3: The University of San Diego men's basketball team, under the direction of first year head coach Bill Grier, will be gunning for their third straight victory to open the 2007-08 campaign when they host the UNLV Running Rebels (2-0) this Saturday, Nov. 17th, at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game will tip-off at 6:05 pm.
SERIES RECORD: This is the eighth meeting between these two schools, but the first encounter since the 1969 season... UNLV leads the all-time series 4-3, including wins in the last four meetings... USD is 2-1 in games played in San Diego.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: The game is being televised locally by Channel 4 San Diego, and the feed will be picked up by Cox Las Vegas... Steve Quis (play-by-play) and John Kentera (color analyst) call the action. The game will also air live on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM) with Andy Masur (play-by-play) bringing you all the action with pregame beginning at 5:45 pm. The audio broadcast is also available at www.usdtoreros.com and www.XXSportsRadio.com.
COACH GRIER (1ST YEAR): Coach Bill Grier (Oregon, 1990) is in his first season at the helm of the USD program, and also his first head coaching position at the NCAA Division I level. He brings a record of 2-0 into the UNLV game. Hired on March 26, 2007, Grier is USD's 11th head coach overall and just the 4th head coach since the Torero program moved to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1979-80. The 44-year-old Grier spent the past 16 years at Gonzaga University, including the last 8 seasons as Mark Few's top assistant. Over the past eight years Gonzaga compiled a 21-52 record; won the WCC regular-season title seven times; the WCC Tournament title seven times; advanced to the NCAA Tournament eight times, including three trips to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Overall with Grier as an assistant coach, the Bulldogs combined for an overall record of 381-126; won 11 regular-season WCC titles; won nine WCC Tournament titles (33-7 WCC Tournament record); advanced to nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and ten overall, including four Sweet 16 appearances and the 1999 Elite Eight. Bill and his wife, Nicole, have one daughter, Giselle.
MURDOCK LEADS TOREROS PAST CSU-MONTEREY BAY 87-76: The USD Toreros improved to 2-0 with Monday's 87-76 win over visiting CSU Monterey Bay at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Junior forward Ray Murdock scored a career-high 19 points as he made 7-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc. Four other Toreros reached double digit scoring, including guard Brandon Johnson and forward Chris Lewis, each with 16 points. The Toreros shot 57.4% from the field for the game and outrebounded the Otters, 38-28. Midway through the first half the Toreros held just a 15-13 advantage. Over the final 10 minutes USD outscored the Otters, 30-19. Brandon Johnson, who scored a team-best 19 points in the win over Hawaii, scored all of his points in the first half against CSUMB. In the second half San Diego built their lead to as many as 23 on two occasions before the visitors battled back and got to within 11 on numerous occasions, including the final score of 87-76. Danny Brown (11 points) and Gyno Pomare (10 points) also reached double figures. The Toreros were without the services of three freshmen serving a one-game suspension for breaking team rules - Rob Jones, Trumaine Johnson and Clinton Houston. CSUMB was paced by guards D'Shon Cannon and Augie Johnston, each with 15 points.
POMARE NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Nov. 12): Gyno Pomare, USD's junior center from Oceanside, California, earned the WCC's first player of the week honor after his outstanding performance in the team's season-opening win at Hawaii. Besides finishing with a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds (7 offensive), Pomare made the key plays down the stretch in the team's 73-72 victory. With the team behind for the first time in the game at 72-70 with under a minute to play, Pomare knotted the score at 72-all with twenty-two seconds remaining with a basket inside. Following a Hawaii timeout, the Rainbows set up for an inbounds play at midcourt and Pomare knocked the pass away and drove the length of the floor and was fouled attempting a lay-up with just two seconds left. He canned the first of two attempts to seal the victory.
TOREROS WIN OPENER OVER HAWAII: The Toreros opened their 2007-08 campaign with a solid 73-72 win at Hawaii. With the game tied at 72-all and UH with the ball, Gyno Pomare stole a pass and dribbled the length of the floor where he was fouled with two seconds left. He made the first of two free throws to seal the win. Pomare finished with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, while guard Brandon Johnson ran the team and scored a team-high 19 points. USD shot the ball well in the first half in building a 40-33 intermission lead. In fact, the Toreros made their first six three-point attempts. USD held a 14 point lead (37-23) with 3:15 to go after a Nathan Lozeau bucket, but the Rainbows closed out the final three minutes on a 10-3 run. Hawaii came out of the break and quicky established itself as Bobby Nash hit a three to make it 40-36, but every time UH made a run, USD answered with a key bucket. The game stayed close throughout and the host Rainbows tied the game at 70-all with 1:31 to go on a trey by Jared Dillinger. They took their first lead of the game with 0:43 seconds left on a Riley Luettgerodt bucket, but Pomare knotted it at 72-all with 0:21 seconds, then provided the last second heroics. Rob Jones would finish the game with 8 points and 9 rebounds in 32 minutes of action in his first collegiate game. Ray Murdock also added 8 points, while Chris Lewis (7 points) and Danny Brown (6 points) contributed as well. For the game the Toreros shot 45.9% from the field (28-61), 53.8% from beyond the 3-point line (10-21) and also outrebounded UH, 44-40.
SAN DIEGO WINS BOTH EXHIBITION TUNEUPS: The Toreros played two exhibition contests and came away with wins in both... On October 31st the Toreros dealt Point Loma College a 71-62 defeat... Junior guard Brandon Johnson led four Toreros in double digit scoring with 16 points to go with 6 assists and 2 steals... Danny Brown (12), De'Jon Jackson (11) and Gyno Pomare (10 points, 8 rebounds) also reached double digit marks.. This past Sunday USD took on Occidental College and came away with a 71-62 victory... Gyno Pomare scored a team-best 16 points, while Brandon Johnson (16 points) and Chris Lewis (10 points) also tallied double-digit scoring.
POMARE & JOHNSON AMONG WCC'S BEST: In addition to predicting the 2007-08 West Coast Conference regular-season standings, WCC head coaches were also asked to submit who they thought were the top six returning players from last season. USD has two of the six players in junior center Gyno Pomare and junior point guard Brandon Johnson. The USD junior duo is joined by Josh Heytvelt and Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga, Diamon Simpson of Saint Mary's College and Manny Quezada of USF. The Toreros have been picked to finish 3rd in the WCC Coaches Preseason poll. USD returns one of the quickest guards in the WCC in Brandon Johnson. The junior point guard is one of the top playmakers in the conference, leading the WCC in assists last season with 4.75 apg, while ranking 12th overall in scoring at 12.8 points per game. While he was making plays on the offensive end for USD, he tormented the Toreros' opponents on the defensive end, ranking fourth in the WCC in steals with 1.94 spg. Johnson needs just 33 more assists to crack into the Toreros' top five career assists chart. Last season, junior forward Gyno Pomare established himself as one of the top frontcourt players in the conference, earning All-WCC first team honors. Pomare teams up with point guard Brandon Johnson to give the Toreros one of the top inside-outside tandems in the league. Pomare was relentless on the boards, averaging a WCC-best 8.3 rpg. He finished the season ranked in the top ten in the WCC in scoring (14.9 ppg-6th), rebounding (1st), field goal % (.538-2nd), and blocks (1.31 bpg-6th). SCOUTING THE UNLV RUNNING REBELS: UNLV, like San Diego, has opened the season with two straight wins... They defeated Montana State (76-65) on Nov. 9th and Dixie State (97-66) on Nov. 13th... In their last outing Joe Darger led five Rebels in double digits with 19 points... In win over Montana State, guard Curtis Terry poured in 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor... UNLV has four players averaging in double figures in scoring in senior Curtis Terry (18.5 ppg), junior Wink Adams (13.5), juior Joe Darger (11.0) and senior Corey Bailey (10.5)... Head Coach Lon Kruger (66-34, 4th season) returns 8 letter winners and 1 starter (Adams) from last year's 30-7 squad that reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen... Adams, a 6-0, junior guard, averaged 13.9 ppg a year ago.
ANAHEIM CLASSIC SET FOR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Toreros following their home stand... USD will take on the USC Trojans on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22nd, in the fourth and final game of opening day of the Anaheim Classic... The eight-team, 12-game, bracketed tournament, which is being co-hosted by ESPN Regional Television, Inc. and the Big West Conference, will take place between Nov. 22, 23, and 25 at the Anaheim Convention Center... USD will face either Miami-Ohio or Southern Alabama on Nov. 23rd... Other participants include Southern Illinois, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Mississippi State. For more information, go to www.AnaheimClassic.com.
TOREROS PICKED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON COACHES POLL: The USD men's basketball team has been picked to finish in 3rd place in the WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. Gonzaga edged out Saint Mary's as the favorite to capture their eighth consecutive regular-season WCC crown. The Zags earned 5 first place votes and 61 points, followed by Saint Mary's with 3 first place votes and 59 points. The Toreros (43 points) were followed by Santa Clara (38), San Francisco (34), Pepperdine (22), Portland (16) and Loyola Marymount (15).
TORERO COACHING STAFF: Bill Grier didn't waste anytime in assembling an outstanding staff... Associate Head Coach Bill Carr joins the Torero staff following a three-year stint up the freeway at UC San Diego where he was head coach... He also has WCC ties from his days as a player and assistant coach with the University of San Francisco. Assistant Coach Walter Roese joins USD following a two-year stay at BYU... When he first joined BYU in 2005 he became the first Brazilian full-time assistant coach in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball. Roese coached the Brazilian Junior National Team helping his native country qualify for the 2007 World Cup. This past summer, he was the head coach for the World University games in Thailand for Brazil. Assistant Kyle Bankhead played for coach Grier at Gonzaga and is in his first year as a full-time coach. Booker T. Harris, a former player at San Francisco, is the team's Basketball Operations Director.
ANDY MASUR & JOHN KENTERA TEAM UP ON XX SPORTS RADIO: Andy Masur will call all the Torero basketball games, home and away, on XX Sports Radio (1090 AM & 105.7 FM)... He will be joined by color analyst John Kentera for home contests... Masur recently completed his first season with the station announcing San Diego Padres baseball games... Jack Cronin, executive producer at XX Sports Radio, will assist with pre and post game shows.
USD HOME GAMES WEBCAST THROUGH TOREROS ALL-ACCESS: All of USD home games will be streamed live via video on the athletics department website... Fans can watch all the action live, along with listening to the play-by-play, by logging onto www.usdtoreros.com. Once on the home page, click the LIVE button on the top right of the page.
WEST COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO SAN DIEGO: The Jenny Craig Pavilion will be the site for the 2008 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships (Mar. 6-10). San Diego last hosted this event for a three-year run between 2001-03. For the sixth consecutive season, the men's championships will use an 8-team/Play-in format, while the women's championships will use the traditional 1 vs. 8 format with no byes for the fourth straight year. The men's games will begin on March 7th.
UP NEXT: The Toreros will host the San Diego State Aztecs in the annual City Championship on Monday, Nov. 19th, at 7 pm in the JCP. With school in session, fans are advised to car pool and come early as parking will be limited. Additional parking is available in the West Lot with tram service running to JCP vicinity.
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