This Week in Toros Men's Basketball
January 23, 2006

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This Week in Toros Basketball: The Toros return home for CCAA contests this week, hosting co-CCAA champion Cal Poly Pomona on Wednesday, followed by Cal State Monterey Bay the next night. First tip for both contests is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Torodome.

Toros Drop Two on the Road: The Toros dropped both contests away from the Torodome last weekend, suffering a 79-46 blowout at UC San Diego on Friday night, followed by a 71-57 loss at Cal State San Bernardino the next night.

On Friday, Trevon Bryant was the lone Toro to reach double digits in scoring, but his 15-point production was not nearly enough as the hosts boasted four players with at least 12 points, and ran away with the game after taking a sizeable 22-point lead at intermission. UC San Diego shot nearly 60% from the field while the Toros connected for just 41.5% of their attempts from the floor. In addition to the Tritons’ balanced offensive attack, which included 10-of-22 from beyond the arc, CSUDH missed on all its 3-point attempts, the first time the Toros have been held scoreless from behind the arc this year.

The next night at CSUSB, Carlos Rivers’ 17 points paced three Toros in double-figure scoring, but the co-CCAA champion Coyotes used a 10-3 run to open the second half to stretch a six-point halftime lead to 45-32 with just 16:14 left in regulation. After CSUDH cut the deficit to 47-40 on a Nonso Nibo three-point play, CSUSB outscored the Toros 18-7 over the next seven minutes to push the lead to 65-47 with just under seven minutes remaining, and hung on for the 14-point win. Nibo finished with 15 points while Bryant added 13 points and a game-high seven boards.

Toros Amongst the CCAA’s Best: Here’s a quick look at how the Toros stack up against the rest of the CCAA, with games played through January 21:

• Steals - Mike Steed (5th, 1.6 spg), Carlos Rivers (7th, 1.6 spg);
• FG% - Mario Malave (6th, 55%), Shamont Brown (8th, 54%); Carlos Rivers (20th, 43%);
• Scoring - Mario Malave (6th, 16.0 ppg), Carlos Rivers (10th, 14.1 ppg); Shamont Brown (28th, 9.7 ppg);
• Assists - Carlos Rivers (9th, 3.9 apg), Shamont Brown (16th, 2.9 apg);
• Rebounds - Shamont Brown (9th, 6.1 rpg), Mario Malave (17th, 4.8 rpg);
• Assist/Turnover Ratio - Carlos Rivers (14th, 1.20);
• 3-Pt. FG Made: Jonathan Toliver (17th, 1.5 pg), Carlos Rivers (18th, 1.4 pg).

Hard to Guard: Junior point guard Carlos Rivers has been a man on a mission of late. After scoring a total of 15 points in his first two contests in Cardinal & Gold, Rivers has led the Toros’ offense in four of the past five games, exploding for 22-, 29-, 21- and 17-point respective outbursts. In those contests, he is shooting a solid 56% from the field (32-for-57), 53% from the 3-point land (8-for-15) and 90% from the free throw line (17-of-19). Additionally, the Long Beach native has put up two of his best assist performances over that stretch, dishing eight dimes against Cal State Stanislaus, and seven against Chico State.

In last week’s win against the Warriors, Rivers drained 10-of-13 shots from the field and all seven free throws attempted, following that effort with an 8-of-16 performance from the floor and a 3-for-4 effort from the charity stripe against the Wildcats.

The Streak Ends: Prior to last weekend’s contests at UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino, the Toros had suffered the burden of scoring 76 points in three of their last four contests, losing all three of those games. The good news for CSUDH after those two road games is that the streak was snapped at three games; the bad news is that the Toros lost both contests, scoring 46 and 57 points, respectively, in losses to UCSD and CSUSB.

What a Difference a Start Makes: Shamont Brown has come on strong as of late, earning a starting nod in the Toros past 11 games. In those contests, the 6’4” junior has established himself as a legitimate scoring threat, notching double-digits in six of those contests while averaging 11.5 points. Additionally, he has pulled down an average of 6.3 boards per contest, raising his season average on the glass to 6.1 per game.

On the season, Brown has tallied highs of 20 points and 12 boards while shooting for 54% from the field.

Rebound Central: After six games of being out-rebounded by 38 boards to start the season, the Toros’ hard work is starting to pay off on the glass. During the first six games, CSUDH had out-rebounded its opponents in only two games, each by one board, while tying in the rebound category one time. Alarmingly, in the three other contests in which CSUDH was out-rebounded, the Toros were bested by eight boards in one contest, and by 14 and 18 in the other two.

However, CSUDH has taken charge of the boardroom in its past eight contests, collecting a total of 54 more boards than their opponents to give CSUDH an overall rebounding edge for the year (33.8 to 32.6).

Making His Case: After seeing action in two games off the bench to begin the 2005-06 campaign, Durwin Williams made his first five starts in Cardinal & Gold the last eight games played, and the Compton native has not disappointed. In those five starts, the 6’7” forward has averaged 10.4 points per game on 18-of-35 shooting from the field (51%), including two makes from behind the 3-point arc. Additionally, Williams has been solid from the line, sinking 14-of-15 from the charity stripe, and steady on the boards, tallying 5.8 rebounds per game as a starter.

On the season, Williams is averaging 8.1 points and 5.0 boards per game, including a season-high 10 rebounds twice, in the Toros 91-65 win over Hope International on December 17 and in the 80-76 loss against Chico State.

A Tale of Two Teams: Continuing the strong offensive effort that began 2006, CSUDH has maintained its solid production on the offensive end as it hosts Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Monterey Bay this week. The Toros are shooting nearly 50% from the field (47.7%), and boast six players whose percentages from the floor are at least 45%: Trevon Bryant (66%), Mario Malave (55%), Shamont Brown (54%), Durwin Williams (52%), Murphy Cooper (46%) and Mike Steed (45%).

Defensively, however, the Toros are allowing teams a 48% success rate from the floor, including a 39% clip from behind the 3-point line. Additionally, the charity stripe has not been so charitable for the Toros as CSUDH has drained just 68% of its shots from the foul line, while the opponents are connecting on 71% of their free throws.

Thank You. No, Thank You: If there’s one glaring stat in the Toros 4-3 home record compared to their 1-4 road record, it’s the different in assists and turnovers. At home, CSUDH is enjoying a +5 in that category (117 assists / 112 turnovers) while suffering a -16 differential on the road (61 assists / 77 turnovers).

Where Have You Gone, Mr. K. Crockett: Following a remarkable 28-point performance in which he shot 10-of-13 from the field and 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point line, adding four assists, two boards and one steal in the 99-49 trouncing of Dominican University on December 30, sophomore guard Kevin Crockett has all but disappeared in 2006. In the six games since that offensive display, Crockett has averaged just 10 minutes a contest, connecting for just 2-of-11 from the field and 1-of-7 from behind the arc. Additionally, Crockett’s points per game average plummeted from a season-high 5.8 points per contest after the win to a current average of just 3.6 points per game.

Toros Continue 2005-06 Basketball Web Cast Schedule With Waldcast.net: CSUDH and Waldcast.net continue their broadcast schedule for the Toros 2005-06 men’s basketball seasons. A total of 15 men’s games will be web cast, including two preseason exhibition contests, all of which can be heard here on the Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics Website.

The next web cast is scheduled this week as the Toros host last year’s co-CCAA Champs, Cal Poly Pomona, on Wednesday, followed by a showdown against Seaside’s finest, Cal State Monterey Bay, on Friday.

Longtime southland broadcaster Ronnie Wald, who begins his third year as the basketball broadcast voice of the Toros, will be calling the play-by-play.