Men's basketball 2-0 for the first time under Bill Grier

USD is 2-0 for the first time in the Bill Grier era, accomplishing this feat with the youngest team Grier has ever fielded. The Toreros' 89-63 defeat of the San Diego Christian College Hawks on Wednesday night was, according to Grier, a huge confidence booster for such an inexperienced team. 

"It [being 2-0] is huge," Grier said. "I mean, especially if you look at how we lost games last year, it will only us help us grow and get better. Winning can be contagious. If you win a few games in a row it starts to become a habit."

The Toreros hope to maintain this habit through the rest of the season. Before they do though, they need to learn how to play consistently through the course of a game. 

"I was concerned how our mental approach would be playing this game and it was kind of where I thought it would be," Grier said. "I didn't think we had the same way about us that we did two nights ago against Steven F. Austin. A big part of that is youth and part of that is a couple of our veteran guys didn't show up tonight."

Nonetheless, the Toreros have had the talent to overcome this inconsistency in the first two games of the season. 

The Hawks kept the game close in the first half until the Toreros closed out strong, going to the locker room with a 32-20 lead. But once the second half started, flashes of last season began to resurface, with the Hawks going on a 10-0 run, cutting the lead to 32-30 at the 17 minute mark. 

"In the first half we guarded pretty well," Grier said. "We only allowed 20 points in the half. But the first five and six minutes of the second half we didn't guard very well and we didn't execute very well offensively."

Junior Cameron Miles then came off the bench to provide the Toreros what they needed to end their scoring drought by hitting a much needed jump shot. 

"I thought what turned the game for us was [freshman] Chris Anderson and Miles were sparks off the bench," Grier said. "They got their hands on some loose balls and got some run-off baskets that got the energy level up."

This energy did not transfer throughout the team until the game was tied 42-42 with 12 minutes left in the second half. 

Again, it was Miles who came through at this point in the game when he was solely responsible for a 7-0 run that initiated a 40-21 run to end the game for the Toreros. He hit a 3-pointer and had back-to-back steals that gave the Toreros the lead for good. 

"At the end of the game on Monday coach brought me and little Chris Anderson in his office and told us we needed to be the spark plugs for the team," Miles said. "So we kind of talked to each other and said we got to play as hard as we can to try to pick everybody up."

Miles and Anderson certainly picked their team up by providing some much needed fast-paced play. Miles earned a career high in points with 13 and Anderson, although his 8 points might not be glamorous, provided intangibles that were invaluable to the Toreros.  

Freshman guard Johnny Dee was the leading scorer for the Toreros, bringing in 23 points, one more than he had on Monday night against Stephen F. Austin. 

Junior Chris Manresa also turned in a solid game, grabbing a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. 

Guard Darian Norris, the lone senior on the team, had 6 points and 4 rebounds on the night.

Just two games into the season, the Toreros already look like they are playing team basketball. This team aspect has been exemplified in their ability to close out games, something that was missing much of last season.

"After the game, coach [Grier] told us we need to play together and we got it done," Miles said.

USD looks to maintain this team play when they take the court on Sunday against the University of Montana Grizzlies at 5 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.