San Diego looks to hold down Pacific
By James Pigott
Nov 23, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Pacific Tigers guard
Sama Taku(3) makes a shot while defended by St. Mary
San Diego Toreros (13-10, 4-6) vs. Pacific Tigers (11-9, 2-7)
Date: Saturday, February 1, 2014Location: Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, CA
Time: 1:00 PM PST
TV: TWC SN, ROOT, CSN CA
Video: theW.tv
LiveStats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=33941
PROJECTED STARTERS
San Diego
Christopher Anderson , 10.1 PPG, 5.7 APG
Johnny Dee, 17.1 PPG
Duda Sanadze, 12.7 PPG
Jito Kok, 4.2 PPG, 1.7 BPG
Dennis Kramer, 11.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG
Pacific
Andrew Bock, 12.0 PPG, 2.8 APG
Sama Taku, 12.2 PPG
Trevin Harris, 6.5 PPG
Ross Rivera, 9.8 PPG
Khalil Kelley, 6.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG
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KEYS TO THE GAME
San Diego
Hold Pacific under 65 points: The Toreros win games with defense, and they will need their defense to be stout once again when they face the Pacific Tigers, who feature 7 different players who average over six points per game. Christopher Anderson will need to be a pest on defense to disrupt the offense of guards Andrew Bock and Sama Taku.
Pacific
Feature Tony Gill when he enters the game: Gill has averaged over 15 points per game over the last 4 games when he was coming off the bench. This illustrates Pacific’s frontcourt depth as they have the luxury of putting someone as talented as Gill (11.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG) on the bench, and the switch caused his numbers actually improve. Pacific needs to make the most of his minutes as San Diego gets almost nothing off of their bench.
KEY MATCHUP
Johnny Dee vs. Sama Taku: Two prolific scorers who score in different ways. Taku is more of an interior scorer who slashes to the basket, while Dee’s best feature on offense is his three point shooting. Whoever can win while playing their game will tremendously impact their team’s success.
PREDICTION
San Diego will play too much defense for Pacific to handle and score just often enough to keep their team ahead at home. I predict a 65-62 victory for the Toreros.