The nine-seed San Diego Toreros will play the eight-seed Portland Pilots in the first round of the West Coast Conference Tournament on Thursday at Orleans Arena. Tip-off from Las Vegas is at 6:00 p.m. PT. The Pilots are 3.5-point spread favorites and the game total is 159.5 points.
San Diego (11-19 SU, 10-18 ATS) lost to Santa Clara on Saturday. The Toreros are 0-5 straight-up in their past five and were 4-12 in WCC competition. Senior guard Eric Williams Jr. (14.5 PPG and 9.5 RPG) is out indefinitely with a foot injury.
Portland (13-18 SU, 13-16 ATS) lost to Pacific on Saturday. The Pilots are 1-4 straight-up in their past five and went 5-11 in WCC play.
Portland defeated San Diego twice in the regular season. The Pilots won 88-83 on January 19 and 80-61 on February 2.
The Toreros l ead the all-time series 60-34.
The Toreros ended the regular season on a five-game losing streak and dropped seven of their last eight games. It wasn't the conclusion San Diego hoped for, but it still has a shot at redemption in the conference tournament.
In the first meeting with Portland, San Diego was competitive throughout. The Toreros trailed 46-44 at halftime and nearly kept pace with the Pilots in the second half. However, Portland's scorching hot shooting was difficult to cool off, as it shot over 60 percent from the field and 10-for-17 (58.8%) from three-point range. San Diego shot 46.2 percent from the field and 40.7 percent (11-for-27) from long distance.
In its latest game versus Santa Clara, the Toreros were much less competitive, trailing for the entire game and by as many as 27 points. The Broncos shot 52.9 percent from the floor and held the Toreros to 33.9 percent shooting, including 3-for-25 (12.0%) from three. Santa Clara led 41-21 at halftime and coasted to victory in the second half.
.@DominicMuncey ?? @assassin_jt = 3?#GoToreros pic.twitter.com/rRuiEc6flZ
— San Diego Men's Basketball (@usdmbb) February 26, 2023
Senior guard Marcellus Earlington paced San Diego in scoring this season, averaging 17.3 points on 49.0 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds. Other key players to watch when the Toreros take the court are senior guard Jase Townsend (15.2 PPG, 39.5 3PT%), junior guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara (10.7 PPG), and sophomore guard Wayne McKinney III (7.7 PPG).
San Diego scored 77.2 points per game (52nd) and shot 45.1 percent (162nd), including 35.7 percent from behind the arc (93rd) this season. It converted 77.2 percent of its foul shots (19th) and averaged 30.5 rebounds (262nd) with a -1.9 rebounding margin. The Toreros were 76th in KenPom's schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency and 160th in effective field goal percentage (51.1%).
San Diego surrendered 80.1 points per game on defense (357th), and its opponents shot 49.3 percent from the floor (361st) with a 4 0.2 shooting percentage from long range (361st). The Toreros ranked 337th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 134th in assist-per-turnover ratio this season.
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