Strong defensive effort propels USD

By: TOM SHANAHAN - For the North County Times | Sunday, December 2, 2007 9:48 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- Three weeks ago Hawaii played without one of its leading scorers when the University of San Diego men's basketball team escaped Oahu with a one-point season-opening win.

So what happened when the teams met on the mainland with 6-foot-5 senior guard Matt Gibson healthy and back in the Warriors' lineup? The Toreros turned up their defensive pressure en route to an 81-67 win Sunday afternoon before 1,921 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion as USD (4-5) swept Hawaii (2-4) in the nonconference home-and-home series.

"We had good ball movement and we were clicking offensively in the first half, but I thought the biggest key was at the defensive end," said first-year USD coach Bill Grier. "That's the best 20 minutes of defense we've played this year."  

Junior point guard Brandon Johnson led the Toreros with 25 points and four assists. Johnson, who is splitting time at shooting guard this year, hit 4-of-7 3-pointers when true freshman Trumaine Johnson (no relation) played point. Trumaine Johnson contributed two points and four assists.

"This was our best game of executing the offense," Brandon Johnson said. "This was probably our biggest win of the year."

USD junior Gyno Pomare, a 6-8 forward/center from El Camino High, added 18 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Chris Lewis had his second straight double-double ---- the first two of his career ---- with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Toreros turned up the heat on defense just four days after Grier questioned their lack of hustle in Wednesday's 77-71 loss at Boise State.

"The Boise performance is on me, because I had us playing too many games in a short stretch," Grier said. "We had tired legs, but that's an excuse. We gave (Boise) 55 percent shooting. We talked about how we have to hang our hat on the defensive end of the floor."

USD had lost three of four games in a six-day span that included three in the Anaheim Classic and the trip to Boise.

But against Hawaii, the Toreros took away the shooting of Gibson and Bobby Nash en route to a 49-33 halftime lead. Nash, averaging 18.6 points, was plagued by foul trouble and finished the game with 15 points. Gibson, averaging 18.0, scored only six.

Grier's philosophy is defensive pressure will provide easy transitions baskets that ease the grind on the half-court offense.

USD trailed 12-6 early before the Toreros went on a 13-2 run. USD led 28-19 when a 19-4 run bumped the lead to 49-26.

The Toreros had to survive a 16-2 run by Hawaii in the second half, but the Warriors got no closer than 72-62 with 4:37 left in the game.