USD Opens League Against Pepperdine

The University of San Diego basketball team hopes to put the inconsistency of recent weeks behind it as the Toreros open play in the West Coast Athletic Conference with tonight’s 7:30 game against Pepperdine in the USD Sports Center.

USD Coach Hank Egan guessed that the Toreros (11-4) have had trouble getting ready for their past few games because of the quality of opponents. Egan said the opening of league play should be a good motivator for his team.

USD is the defending conference champion after finishing 9-3 in the WCAC and receiving the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA playoffs last season. The Toreros enter the game with a six-game winning streak and have won 10 straight at home.

Pepperdine (12-6) opened league play Thursday with a 77-62 victory at Loyola Marymount. Junior guard Dwayne Polee, Pepperdine’s leading scorer, and freshman center Levy Middlebrooks led the Waves with 20 points each in the game. Middlebrooks also grabbed 12 rebounds.