San Diego

2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: San Diego

Joel Welser — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:32:29 -0700

San Diego Toreros

West Coast Conference (21-13, 11-3)

Big Wins: 12/29 at Kentucky (81-72), 3/9 St. Mary’s (75-69), 3/10 Gonzaga (69-62)

Bad Losses: 12/31 at Marshall (60-76), 1/9 Cal State Bakersfield (72-80), 11/28 at Boise State (71-77)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2003, First Round loss to Stanford

Coach: Bill Grier (First NCAA appearance)

Probable Starters:

Brandon Johnson, Junior, Guard, 16.9 ppg, 3.5 apg, 4.1 rpg, 2.2 spg

Trumaine Johnson, Freshman, Guard, 5.5 ppg, 2.8 apg

De’Jon Jackson, Sophomore, Guard, 7.7 ppg, 2.3 apg

Rob Jones, Freshman, Forward, 8.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg

Gyno Pomare, Junior, Forward, 13.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.4 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

Chris Lewis, Sophomore, Guard, 5.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg

Devin Ginty, Freshman, Guard, 2.5 ppg, 1.4 apg

Why They Can Surprise:

San Diego may have saved their best basketball of the season for the conference tournament on their home floor, but this is still a team that has dangerous weapons despite what could be viewed as an undeserved NCAA Tournament bid. Brandon Johnson leads the team with 16.9 points per game and can be a dangerous threat from long range. The 6-2 junior is not just the team’s main scoring threat; he is also the point guard and dishes out 3.5 assists per game. The turnovers are a little high, but Johnson’s great defense almost makes up for it.

The other USD weapon is on the inside. Gyno Pomare, a 6-8 junior, is a superb interior scorer and a great rebounder. On the defensive end of the floor, Pomare is just as effective, averaging 1.4 blocks per game and altering countless others. With his presence in the paint, Pomare opens up space for the shooters on the perimeter, or more accurately the shooter on the perimeter.

Why They Can Disappoint:

Brandon Johnson is the only shooter on the team. Nobody else comes close to being a threat from long range and the Toreros could certainly use a third scorer. De’Jon Jackson and Trumaine Johnson are pretty much the only choices. Jackson was named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman team last season, but did not really explode during his sophomore season as many had hoped. Still, Jackson averages 7.7 points per game and has the potential to do a lot of scoring…like he showed during the conference tournament when he averaged 16.3 points per game.

Who To Watch:

Rob Jones has had a great freshman season and could be that third scorer USD is looking for. The 6-6 forward averages 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, but he has much more potential than that. Jones has shown some of that potential late in the season. In February Jones tallied 27 points and 13 rebounds against Loyola Marymount and scored 24 points a few weeks later in Santa Clara. If Jones is a threat and if Jackson or Trumaine Johnson can be a threat from outside to compliment Brandon Johnson, then the Toreros can be dangerous.

Three Stars of the Day: Johnson, Kisielius, and Stevenson

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:04:42 -0700

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Brandon Johnson - San Diego

Played all 50 minutes, scored 28 points, including 6 in the 2nd OT as San Diego knocked off St. Mary's in the WCC semis

Laimis Kisielius - William & Mary

Scored 23 points and hit the game-winner with 3 seconds left as the Tribe shocked VCU in the CAA semifinals

Perry Stevenson - Kentucky

The sophomore forward whose been getting more PT of late came up big with 18 points, 10 boards, and 5 blocks against Florida

Other Top Performers

Jamar Butler - Ohio State - After coming up big against Purdue, Butler followed it up with 20 points in an upset win over MSU

Sean Singletary - Virginia - The senior finished off a disappointing season with 27 points as UVA killed MD's tourney hopes

Jason Thompson - Rider - The dominant senior forward had 32 points and 18 boards in Rider's semifinal win over Marist

Previous Stars of the Day

March 5th - Marquis Weddle, UTM

March 4th - Joe Alexander, WVU

March 3rd - Kevin Love, UCLA

March 2nd - Tyrese Rice, BC

February 28th - Rob McKiver, Houston

February 26th - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt

February 25th - DJ Augustin, Texas

February 20th - OJ Mayo, USC

February 19th - Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

February 18th - John Bryant, Santa Clara

February 17th - Johnson/Teague, Wake Forest

February 15th - Tyrese Rice, Boston College

February 12th - J'Nathan Bullock, Cleveland State

February 10th - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

February 9th - Hasheem Thabeet, UCONN

February 7th - Ronald Ramon, Pittsburgh

February 6th - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

February 4th - Todd Golden, Saint Mary's

February 3rd - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

Games of the Night: #23 Gonzaga vs San Diego

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:52:07 -0700

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

San Diego (20-13) at #23 Gonzaga (25-6)

9:00 PM ESPN

Taking advantage of their home-court gift, San Diego knocked off St Mary's last night in double-OT. But the Torreros aren't just a fluke, as their 11-3 WCC record and Top 100 RPI attest (remember when they beat Kentucky in Rupp?) They have a true star in Brandon Johnson, who has been at the forefront of all their big wins, and who came up clutch last night. But after playing 50 minutes last night approaching midnight, it will probably be too much to ask Johnson to score 25+ once again. Gonzaga's the pick, but USD against the 7.5 spread looks good.

Prediction: Gonzaga

Rider (23-9) at Siena (21-10)

7:00 PM ESPN2

These two teams tied for the conference lead with 13-5 records, have both won 5 straight, and are very similar statistically.. but the Saints have the unfair advantage of playing the MAAC Championship on their home court. Oddly enough though, the road team won both matchups between these two teams giving the Broncs hope. The other thing Rider has going for it is Jason Thompson.. a senior forward coming off a dominant 32 point, 18 rebound game yesterday. Thompson owned Siena the previous two games and will put the Broncs on his back.

Prediction: Rider

William & Mary (17-15) at George Mason (22-10)

7:00 PM ESPN

I watch a lot of basketball games.. read a lot of game stories.. peruse a lot of box scores.. yet I know absolutely nothing about William & Mary. Seriously, when was the last time this program mattered? For the last decade, they have been one of consistently worst teams in the country.. and even this year at 17-15 with an RPI of 155, they're just mediocre. Yet W&M is in the CAA finals after upsetting VCU in the semis. Who knew.

Prediction: George Mason

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions, 87-51)

March 9th - Florida at Kentucky (1-2)

March 8th - UNC at Duke (2-1)

March 5th - Tennessee at Florida (2-1)

March 4th - UNLV at New Mexico (3-0)

March 3rd - Texas Tech at Kansas (3-0)

March 2nd - Clemson at Maryland (1-2)

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the WCC?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:48:11 -0700

San Diego 79 - LMU 74

Press Release — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles, CA (Jan. 15) - Loyola Marymount University fell in another down-to-the-wire affair, this one coming to the University of San Diego, 79-74, on Monday night at Gersten Pavilion. The Lions trailed by as many as 16 in the second half but cut USD's lead to three twice in the final five minutes but could not finish the comeback.

Senior Adoyah Miller led the Lions with 23 points, scoring 21 in the second half and hitting 6-for-13 from the three-point line. Junior Damian Martin set a career high for the second straight night with 18 points. Ross DeRogatis led all scorers with 25 points, including 6-for-10 from beyond the arc.

Martin had a monster weekend, averaging 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.0 blocks and 2.5 steals. He came into the weekend at 4.5 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game, 0 blocks and 1.9 steals per game.

LMU can't by a break as a slow start once again put them in a hole they couldn't recover from, dropping their seventh straight to fall to 8-12 on the season and 0-4 in the WCC. USD improves to 12-6 overall and 2-1 in the WCC.

"You can't come out slow to start the game and expect to come back every time," said Head Coach Rodney Tention. "They wanted it more at the start. We did well to come back but as we get in position to take over we mentally let down. We have to play 40 full minutes."

The Lions fell down by as many as 16 with 14:05 to play in the second. However, their defense once again got them back in it. LMU held USD without a field goal for over seven minutes (from 13:29 to 6:33).

In the USD drought, the Lions managed to cut the lead to four thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Miller, making it 62-58 with 6:50 remaining.
Pomare ended the Toreros' slump at 6:33 with a jump hook in the paint, making it 64-58.

Miller's fifth three of the game made the score 64-61 with 5:10 remaining. USD would separate once again, capped by DeRogatis' sixth three to make it 73-64 with a little more than four minutes remaining.

LMU wasn't through as Grubb made it 75-69 on yet another offensive rebound
putback with 1:45 on the clock. The Lions finished with 41 rebounds, 22 on the offensive end. USD had 31 rebounds and just eight offensive boards.

Grubb then hit a three-pointer after a USD turnover to put the lead back to
three, 75-72 with 59 seconds to play. The Lions played perfect defense and
forced Johnson to try a long three pointer. However, the Lions didn't get the
offensive board and had to foul Johnson who hit both free throws to make it a
five-point affair, 77-72, to ice it.

"We are not a good team at getting loose balls," said Tention. "It comes down to desire and heart. We just didn't have the heart to get the loose ball."

The torrid shooting pace for the Toreros was set early and often. Pomare and
DeRogatis hit their first 11 shots combined, including four three-pointer by
DeRogatis as USD hit 70 percent in the first half to take a 42-28 lead. They
shot just 40 percent in the second half to finish at 56 percent. LMU hit 39.1
percent.

Turnovers hurt the Lions as it has throughout the last seven setbacks. USD
scored 16 points off 10 turnovers for the 14-point edge at the break and
finished scoring 22 points on 16 LMU turnovers.