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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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