Feb. 27, 2009
GAME #30: The University of San Diego men's basketball team (15-14; 6-7 wcc), under the direction of 2nd-year head coach Bill Grier, close out their regular-season schedule against the 17th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs (22-5; 13-0 wcc) on Saturday (4:40 p.m. tip).
SERIES RECORD: This is the 75th meeting between USD and Gonzaga with the Bulldogs owning a commanding 53-21 series advantage... The Zags won this year's first meeting on Jan. 31st, 64-47... Danny Brown paced the Toreros with 9 points off the bench... Last season the Toreros snapped the Zags' 13-game winning streak in the series in the WCC Tournament championship game 69-62 (Mar. 11) played at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi & Bob Valvano). The game will also be broadcast on XX Sports Radio 1090 AM with Andy Masur (play-by-play) and John Kentera (color analyst) bringing you the action. The game can also be heard via the internet at www.usdtoreros.com.
SENIOR TRIBUTE PRIOR TO TIPOFF: It is a Torero Tradition to pay tribute to those seniors appearing in their final home games at the Jenny Craig Pavilion... Before the start of Saturday's contest, USD will honor four seniors - Head Team Manager Nick U'Ren (Tempe, AZ), second-year guard Nick Price (San Francisco, CA), fourth-year guard Danny Brown (Olathe, KS) and fifth-year forward Gyno Pomare (Oceanside, CA). Pomare will leave USD as the program's all-time leading scorer, and the only Torero in the 1600 point-800 rebound club... Pomare enters the Gonzaga game with 1,689 points and 855 rebounds.
WCC STANDINGS (thru Feb. 27th): #17 Gonzaga (13-0 wcc; 22-5), Saint Mary's (9-4; 23-5),Portland (9-4; 18-10), San Diego (6-7; 15-14),Santa Clara (6-7; 14-16), Pepperdine (5-8; 8-21), San Francisco (2-11; 10-18), Loyola Marymount (2-11; 3-26).
UPCOMING WCC SCHEDULE: (Sat., Feb. 28th) Gonzaga at USD (4:30 pm), SMC at LMU (5 pm), USF at Pepperdine (5 pm), Portland at SCU (7 pm). (Tue., Mar. 3rd) Gonzaga vs. USC (6 pm).
COACH GRIER (2ND YEAR): Coach Bill Grier (Oregon, 1990), 45, is in his second season at the helm of the USD program... He enters the Portland game with a season record of 14-14, and career mark of 36-28 (.563)... In his rookie year he guided the Toreros to an overall mark of 22-14 and 3rd place finish in the WCC race at 11-3... He guided the Toreros to three wins and the championship title at the WCC Tournament (hosted by USD) with wins over Pepperdine, Saint Mary's and No. 20 Gonzaga... The Toreros then upset No. 15 UCONN in the NCAA Tournament opener with a 70-69 overtime victory, before falling to Western Kentucky in the second round... His 11 WCC wins were the second most for league wins in a single season in program history... 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... His 22 wins were also the most by a Torero coach in his first season at USD - previous mark was 16 held by Hank Egan ('84-85) and Jim Brovelli ('73-74). In addition to knocking off Kentucky on the road, 81-72, the Toreros earned three wins over Top-25 teams: #21 Saint Mary's, #20 Gonzaga and #15 Connecticut... Prior to USD Grier spent 16 years at Gonzaga, including the last 8 seasons as Mark Few's top assistant. Bill and his wife, Nicole, have one daughter, Giselle.
TOREROS KNOCK OFF PORTLAND 66-60: The Toreros turned in their third straight solid performance with Thursday's 66-60 home win over the Porltand Pilots who came to town in sole possession of 2nd place in the WCC standings... Sophomore guard Matt Dorr scored a season-best 17 points to lead four Toreros in double digit scoring... Gyno Pomare (14 points, 5 blocks), De'Jon Jackson (13 points, 6 assists) and Rob Jones (11 points) rounded out the balanced attack... Although USD got outrebounded 38-26, defensively they tallied 7 blocked shots and 7 steals.... Portland was paced by guard Nik Raivio (13 points) and guard Jared Stohl (12 points).
TORERO TIDBITS: The Toreros are currently tied with Santa Clara for 4th place in the WCC standings with identical 6-7 marks... A win over Gonzaga Saturday would guarantee the Toreros a No. 4 seed in next week's WCC Tournament, and with it a first round bye... A loss to Gonzaga, coupled with a Santa Clara win over Portland, and the Toreros would finish 5th and be the No. 5 seed... USD has a 75% chance of being the No. 4 seed and earning the all-important first round bye at next week's WCC tourney... Over USD's last two wins, Torero shooting has seen a marked improvement - 47.8% overall (44-92), 50% from three-point (13-26) and 72.1% from the free throw line (31-43)... A trio of Toreros have netted double-digit averages over the past two games - Gyno Pomare (15.0 ppg), Matt Dorr (14.0 ppg) and De'Jon Jackson (13.5 ppg).
TOREROS IMPROVE TO 9-5 IN HOME GAMES: USD improved to 9-5 at home with Thursday's 66-60 win over Portland... USD has won its last three home games including its identical 66-60 win over Pacific on Feb. 21st, and its 73-63 win over USF on Feb. 7th... Thursday marked the 9th time USD has held its opponent to 60 or less points... USD's scoring margin at home is +7.2 ppg (66.1 ppg to 58.9 ppg)...In games played at the JCP the Toreros are converting 45.9% of their shots (334-728), 38.0% of its three-point attempts (76-200) and 69.3% of its free throws (181-261)... Gyno Pomare leads the Toreros in scoring at the JCP (13.9 ppg) and is followed by De'Jon Jackson (9.4 ppg) and Rob Jones (9.2 ppg)... Sophomore guard Matt Dorr has knocked down 50.0% of his threes at home (26-for-52)... In the 'Close but no Cigar' department, four of USD's five home losses are by a combined 12 points (64-62 to SCU, 56-52 to SJSU, 57-54 to New Mexico, 75-72 to Boise State)... Last year USD was 13-5 in home games; Coach Grier is now 22-10 at the JCP.
GINTY SELECTED TO WCC ALL-ACADEMIC SQUAD: Sophomore guard Devin Ginty (Alta, CA) has been named to the 2009 WCC All-Academic Basketball Team... The second-year performer carries a 3.31 grade-point average, but has yet to declare a major... This season he has appeared in all 29 games with 8 starts and is averaging 3.9 points per game and 20 minutes of action... In USD's 66-60 win over Pacific last Saturday, Devin scored a season-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the three-point line.
SCOUTING THE GONZAGA BULLDOGS: The 17th-ranked Zags come to town riding a 5-game winning streak and owning a 22-5 overall record... They improved to a perfect 13-0 in the WCC following Thursday's 81-73 win at Santa Clara... Forward Josh Heytvelt (29 points) and guard Matt Bouldin (23 points) led the way as four Zags finished in double-digit scoring... Heytvelt (15.5 ppg), Bouldin (13.6 ppg) and forward Austin Daye (13.0 ppg) lead a balanced offensive attack... For all games, Gonzaga is averaging 78.6 ppg while limiting its opponents to 62.8 ppg... Those numbers improve to 81.8 ppg in WCC play while league opponents are averaging just 61.4 ppg (a +20.4 scoring margin)... The Zags play USC on March 3rd prior to the WCC Tourney.
WCC TOURNAMENT HEADING TO LAS VEGAS: The Toreros will make a return trip to Las Vegas in March when they play in the WCC Tournament (Mar. 6-9)... This will mark the first time in WCC history that the conference's premier event will be held at a neutral site... The event will be held The Orleans Arena... Visit WCCSPORTS.COM or USDTOREROS.COM... Approximately 250 tickets out of 7,354 remain available for sale... Besides the championship game airing on ESPN, it will also be broadcast on Westwood One Radio for the first time.
UP NEXT FOR USD: The Toreros head to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2009 WCC Tournament Basketball Championships (March 6-9).
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