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CSUDH Men's
Basketball Weekly |
This Week’s Opponents:
On Tap: The Toros begin this week with their final of 5-consecutive road games on Tuesday at UC San Diego, before coming to the host nationally ranked Humboldt State on Friday, followed by the defending CCAA Champion Sonoma State Seawolves the next night. Last Week’s Split: The Toros split their pair of road games in northern California last week, taking a 66-56 victory at Chico State to sweep the season series from the Wildcats before squandering a 12-point lead with 6:33 remaining in the game to drop an 83-81 heartbreaker to Cal State Stanislaus, who swept the season series from the Toros. In Chico, the Toros clamped down on a Wildcat offense that had outscored them 43-34 in the first half, limiting CSUC to 13 second-half points en route to the 10-point win. In that pivotal second half, CSUDH outscored Chico State 20-4 to begin play as Mike Steed paced CSUDH with 17 points while Jamel Ward contributed 11 in the win, including 5-of-7 from the charity stripe. The next night in Turlock, CSUS outscored the Toros 25-11 over the game’s final 6:33, winding up with 19-of-23 from the foul line, including 18-of-21 in the second half, compared to 13-for-20 for the Toros in the Warrior win. Carlos Rivers led the Toros with 19 points while Jamaal Barnes added 18, followed by Steed’s 17. Toros Amongst the CCAA’s Best...: Here’s how the Toros compare with the CCAA’s with games played through February 3:
...And as a Team:
Finally, a Friday Night Win: After sporting an 0-5 record on Fridays thus far in 2006-07, the Toros picked up their first Friday win last week at Chico State in a 66-56 victory. In the five Friday losses, CSUDH averaged 67 points a contest compared their opponents’ average of 73.2 points a game, connecting for over 50% shooting in just one game, a two-point loss at Cal State Monterey Bay in which CSUDH nailed 52.8% of its shots and had a chance to tie the contest in regulation. Last season, CSUDH went 5-6 on Fridays, losing three of their last four Friday night games. Good Riddance, January: The Toros suffered through a miserable January, winning just 2 of 8 games in the month, but already have one win after two games in February. Last month, Sonoma State’s JT Tipton drained 8-of-15 shots from the field en route to 26 points, while Humboldt State drilled 51.9% second half shots in its comeback win as the Toros began 2007 at 0-2. After Cal State Bakersfield enjoyed a 16-point win to drop CSUDH to 0-3, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Monterey Bay gave CSUDH losses 4, 5 and 6 on the month. In those six losses, however, four have been by six or less points, including a 1-point loss at HSU, a 2-point loss at CSUMB and a 3-point loss at CPP. Eighty-sixed by the 60s: Not surprisingly, seven of the Toros’ 10 losses have come when CSUDH has scored in the 60s or below, with its most recent 60+-point loss coming in the 69-67 heartbreaker at Cal State Monterey Bay. 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 games at Sonoma State and Humboldt State after scoring 62 and 64 points to open the 2007 calendar year. Ironically, the Toros have also won three games when scoring in the 60s, taking a 68-60 win over Chico State on December 2, a 60-51 win over UC San Diego two weeks later, and a 66-56 win at Chico State last Friday. Not So Free, After All: After draining just over 60% of their free throws over their first six games, the Toros’ hard work in practice at the charity stripe was paying huge dividends as 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 10 most recent contests, however, the Toros have regressed to their early season form, hitting just 62% (116-for-187) in dropping seven of those 10 games. On the year, the Toros are sinking just 64% of the foul shots compared to 73% for their opponents. Although the Toros shot just 65% in the win at Chico State last Friday, Jamel Ward (pictured) drained 5-of-7 from the charity stripe as CSUDH swept the season series from the Wildcats. Home Sweet Home: After posting a 7-7 record at home last season, the Toros have defended their home court 57% of the time thus far on the young season, winning four of seven games. In Carson’s friendly confines, the Toros are averaging 72 points versus 68 for their opponents, while scoring just 68.3 points on the road compared to 67.9 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 143 times (92 made) in the Torodome, reaching the charity stripe just 190 times (121 made) on the road in four more games played than at home. Conversely, opponents have gone to the free throw line 138 times in Carson and 201 times on their home court, draining 75% of their throws in the Torodome (104 makes) and 72% away (144 makes). 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 25 blocks on the year, bringing him to within 19 for the record. After playing limited minutes in four games from December 28 through January 12 due to injury, Bryant regrouped with three blocks in the win at Cal State L.A., the fourth game in which he’s had 3 blocks in a single contest, a season-high 4 blocks in the heart-breaker at Cal State Monterey Bay on January 26, and five blocks last weekend. 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. Coaches on Point: 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, 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 one 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. Just how accurate have the coaches predictions actually been, you ask? Two games into the second round of conference play, the Lumberjacks sit at the top of the conference, and are followed by the Coyotes, the ‘Runners, the Broncos and the Seawolves rounding out the top 5. Around the CCAA Conference: Here’s a look at this week’s conference schedule: Tuesday - Cal Poly Pomona @ CS San Bernardino, Cal State L.A. @ CS Bakersfield; Thursday - Chico State @ CS Bakersfield; Friday - CS Monterey Bay @ Cal Poly Pomona, San Francisco State @ CS San Bernardino, Cal State Stanislaus @ Cal State L.A., Sonoma State @ UC San Diego; Saturday - Humboldt State @ UC San Diego, Chico State @ Cal State L.A., CS Monterey Bay @ CS San Bernardino, San Francisco State @ Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Stanislaus @ CS Bakersfield. |
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