CSUDH Men's Basketball Weekly
January 8, 2007

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On Tap: The Toros conclude their five-game road trek this week with contests at Cal State Bakersfield and crosstown-rival Cal State L.A.. CSUDH then returns for its only two home games in January before another stretch of five-consecutive games away from the Torodome.

Last Week’s Recap: The Toros fell victim to the road last week, dropping hard-fought contests at Sonoma State last Thursday, and then at Humboldt State two nights later.

Against the defending CCAA champion Seawolves, SSU surged to a 6-0 lead in the first minute of the game, increasing its margin to as many as 15 before the Toros pulled to within 53-49 on a Jonathan Toliver 3-pointer with 4:25 to go. The Seawolves, however, would hold off the off the Toros by sinking their foul shots down the stretch in the 68-62 win. Toliver led a quartet of Toros in double figures with 15 points, while Shamont Brown garnered the team’s lone double-double with 11 boards and 10 points.

Two days later in Arcata, Mike Steed gave the Toros a 3-point lead with just 2:37 left in regulation, but a Devin Peal lay-up 40 seconds later brought HSU to within 64-63, and a Grayson Moyer running jumper as time expired gave the ‘Jacks a thrilling 65-64 victory after trailing by 12 at the half, sending the Toros home with two losses to kick off 2007. Jamaal Barnes led all scorers with 18 points while Steed contributed 15 in the loss.

Toros Amongst the CCAA’s Best...: Here’s how the Toros compare with the CCAA’s with games played through January 6:

• Blocks - Trevon Bryant (2nd, 1.2 bpg), Demetrius Love (T8th, 0.7 bpg), Gabe Bernard (T13th, 0.5 bpg)
• 3-Pt. FG% - Jonathan Toliver (5th, 42%)
• FG% - Shamont Brown (7th, 55%)
• Rebounds - Jamaal Barnes (6th, 6.6 rpg), Shamont Brown (12th, 5.7 rpg)
• 3-Pt. FG Made - Jonathan Toliver (6th, 2.3), Carlos Rivers (T13th, 1.7)
• Scoring - Shamont Brown (16th, 12.9 ppg)
• Assists - Jonathan Toliver (16th, 2.9 apg), Carlos Rivers (19th, 2.7 apg)
• Steals - Carlos Rivers (17th, 1.3 spg).

...And as a Team:

• Blocked Shots - T1st (4.0 bpg)
• FG% Defense - 2nd (42%)
• Rebounding Margin - 2nd (+2.8)
• Scoring Defense - 3rd (67.6 papg)
• Rebounding Defense - 5th (33.0 drpg)
• Rebounding Offense - 6th (35.4 orpg)
• Scoring Margin - 6th, (+2.2 ppg)
• Steals - 6th (6.0 spg)
• Assists - 7th (14.4 apg)
• Assist/Turnover Ratio - 7th (0.97)
• Turnover Margin - 8th (+0.9)
• 3-Pt. FG% - 8th (34%)
• FG% - 8th (45%)
• Scoring Offense - 9th (69.8 ppg)
• FT% - 9th (66%)
• 3-Pt. FG% Defense - 9th (37%).

Eighty-sixed by the 60s: Not surprisingly, four of the Toros’ five losses have come when CSUDH has scored in the 60s. The Toros opened the season scoring 67 and 65 points in respective losses to then top-5 ranked University of Montevallo and Seattle Pacific, and dropped its last two games at Sonoma State and Humboldt State after scoring 62 and 64 points last week.

Ironically, the Toros have also won two games when scoring in the 60s, taking a 68-60 win over Chico State on December 2, and a 60-51 win over UC San Diego two weeks after, with 60 marking its season-low offensive output of the year.

Planting the “Steed”: After missing CSUDH’s first five games with an injury, junior Mike Steed has begun 2007 where he left off in 2006. Providing stability, scoring and defense, Steed has made his settling presence felt as the Toros have won three of five games since his return.

After chipping in nine points in his season debut against The Master’s College on December 16, Steed contributed 12 points in wins over UC San Diego and Grand Canyon, following those efforts with 14-point and 15-point efforts in road losses last weekend.

Over a span of five games into his junior season, Steed is averaging 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.8 blocks per contest, better overall numbers than the 7.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.3 blocks Steed posted during his sophomore season.

Assist to Toliver: After posting the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio on the 2005-06 squad, sophomore sensation Jonathan Toliver has one-upped himself this season, boasting 29 assists to just 13 turnovers, good for a team-best +2.23 ratio.

In fact, had Toliver notched just one more assist on the year to meet the league’s minimum of 3.0 assists per contest, Toliver’s efforts would put him 2nd in the league behind Cal Poly Pomona’s Billy Hofman, who boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio of +2.50.

What a Difference a Month Makes: After posting a 5-1 record in December, the Toros have gone winless in 2007 after dropping contests at Sonoma State and Humboldt State last week.

In posting 5-consecutive wins after an 82-72 loss to Cal State Stanislaus on December 1, the Toros shot over 50% from the field in victories over Chico State (51%), Hawai’i Hilo (51%), The Master’s College (53%) and UC San Diego (50%), and used a stifling defensive effort to scrape out a 70-69 overtime win at Grand Canyon in which CSUDH held the ‘Lopes to 35.7% shooting in the 2nd half, and 33.3% in the extra period.

In 2007, however, Sonoma State connected for 46% of its shots, including JT Tipton’s 8-for-15 effort en route to 26 points (10-of-11 FTs), while Humboldt State, after shooting just 31.3% in the first half, came all the way back from its 12-point halftime deficit with a 51.9% second half shooting effort to take last Saturday’s thriller.

A Marked Improvement: After draining just over 60% of their free throws over their first six games, the Toros’ hard work in practice at the charity stripe has paid huge dividends lately as CSUDH has converted a much-improved 74.5% of their shots from the line over the last four games to bring their season average up to 65.6% for the year.

While still trailing their opponents’ collective of 77.1% from the foul stripe, CSUDH connected for 16-for-22 free throws in the victory over UC San Diego (12/20) and a perfect 12-for-12 at Grand Canyon (12/28) to close the calendar year, needing each and every one of those points in the 70-69 overtime win.

In CSUDH’s two most recent contests, the Toros have slipped a bit, hitting just 58.8% (10-for-17) in dropping both games on the road.

Home Sweet Home: After posting a 7-7 record at home last season, the Toros have defended their home court 80% of the time thus far on the young season, winning four of five games. In Carson’s friendly confines, the Toros are averaging 74 points versus 64 for their opponents, while scoring just 65.6 points on the road compared to 71.2 points for their opponents on their home floor.

An even more startling set of numbers can been seen at the free throw line where CSUDH has gone to the line 103 times (67 made) in the Torodome, reaching the charity stripe just 60 times (40 made) on the road, a difference of 41.7% less free throws attempted by the Toros away from home.

Conversely, opponents have gone to the free throw line 85 times in both Carson as well as on their home court, draining 80% of their throws in the Torodome (68) and 74% away (63).

The Bryant Watch: After destroying the CSUDH single-single mark with 52 blocked shots last season and needing just 44 to establish himself as the Toros’ all-time career blocked shot leader entering the season, senior Trevon Bryant has collected 12 blocks in the Toros first 10 games, bringing him to within 32 for the record.

Last season, Bryant tallied his 38th block on February 24, against Cal State San Bernardino, surpassing the previous mark of 37 blocks set by former Toro great Anthony Blackman during the 1988-99 campaign.

Around the CCAA Conference: Here’s a look at the rest of the conference schedule for this week: Thursday - Cal State Monterey Bay @ Sonoma State, San Francisco State @ Humboldt State; Friday - Cal State L.A. @ UC San Diego, Cal State Stanislaus @ Cal State San Bernardino, Chico State @ Cal Poly Pomona; Saturday - Cal State Stanislaus @ Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State @ Cal State San Bernardino, UC San Diego @ Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Monterey Bay @ Humboldt State, San Francisco State @ Sonoma State.

Craig on the Mic: The voice of the Toros online, veteran broadcaster Craig Dunkin will web cast two games to begin 2007 in the January 19 game against Cal Poly Pomona, and the February 9 contest against Humboldt State. Tune in at www.TorosLive.com for all the play-by-play action.

What the Coaches Said: In a preseason poll conducted by the CCAA coaches, Cal State Dominguez Hills was predicted to finish 7th in the highly-competitive conference. CCAA-newcomer Humboldt State, which was tabbed by Street & Smith as No. 6 in its preseason poll but fell in its first two CCAA contests two weekends ago, was given 9 first-place votes to top the conference list, and was followed by Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Bakersfield and Sonoma State, which received 1 first-place nod apiece.

Cal State San Bernardino and UC San Diego preceded the Toros in 5th and 6th, respectively, while Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, Cal State L.A., San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay rounded out the 12 CCAA schools.

The Time is Now: From the 2006-07 season preview: The 2006-07 Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s basketball team is ready. Ready with eight returning players on a team that improved by two wins in conference and four overall after welcoming 10 newcomers and a coach in just his second year with last season’s squad. Ready after winning its last two regular season games of the year. And ready after five of its losses on the year were by three points or less.

In 2005-06, juniors Carlos Rivers and Shamont Brown, who was named to the 2nd-team All-CCAA, led the Toro offense, averaging 13.4 and 12.0 points per game, respectively, while fellow junior transfer Trevon Bryant anchored a revamped defense that saw him establish the CSUDH record for blocks in a single-season with 52, with his 2.36 blocks per game average placing him 15th in the NCAA, giving head coach Damaine Powell (right) ample reason to smile as the season kicks off this week at the SPU Thanksgiving Classic.

“For the first time since I’ve been here, I know my personnel,” says Powell confidently. “We kind of got on a roll toward the end but by that time, the season was over. But we felt good about ourselves. Now, we’ve got some talent and experience, and we’re playing to that. We have the potential to have a breakthrough year.”