The lights dimmed at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, and USD’s new pregame hype video began playing on the scoreboard.
It didn’t show players dunking and or draining 3s or swatting shots. It showed new coach JR Blount at practice surrounded by an almost entirely new roster.
“We’re going to do what we do,” Blount tells them. “We’re going to impose our will and break their spirit.”
Bold words from a program that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament in nearly two decades and has had only one winning season in the last seven.
Darned if the Toreros didn’t come out and do exactly that.
It was merely a preseason exhibition, but Blount’s Toreros made believers out of Colorado State in their first public appearance, never trailing and leading by as many as 21 before dispatching what was supposed to be an NCAA Tournament-caliber team 73-58.
“I wouldn’t say we sent out any statement,” said Jevon Hill, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Division II Central Missouri. “I feel like all of us in the locker room, we expect to play like this. This is our standard. We’re just setting the standard.”
Hill led the Toreros with 18 points after shooting 5 of 10, all of it behind the 3-point arc. Davion Hill, a 6-2, 225-pound Ball State transfer, added 15 points in 19 minutes on just seven shots.
The real story, though, was told in other areas of the box score.
A Rams team that ranked 11th nationally last season in 3-point accuracy at 38.5% was 6 of 30 beyond the arc and had 20 turnovers.
Points off turnovers: 20-4, Toreros.
“I think we did a good job, especially in the first half, of pressuring the basketball and taking them out of some of their actions,” said Blount, who is close friends with Colorado State head coach Ali Farokhmanesh from their years together on Niko Medved’s staff in Fort Collins. “They run such good offense, and he’s such a good offensive mind. We were able to take them out of some things and disrupt them.”
University of San Diego coach JR Blount directs his team during an exhibition game between the Colorado State Rams and the University of San Diego Toreros on Sunday, October 25, 2026, in San Diego, CA. (Brandon Pollard / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The Toreros won the opening tip, and Jevon Hill promptly drained the first of his five 3s. And the onslaught never stopped.
After trailing 10-2, the Rams got within 22-21 with 8½ minutes left in the first half … then scored only one basket over the ensuing 12 minutes. Midway through the second half, the margin was 20.
The most surprising part was that it was supposed to be the other way around in October.
The Rams returned four starters from a 21-win team, the highest player retention rate in the Pac-12 and one of the highest in the nation in an era of unlimited free agency. USD has only one player who got meaningful minutes under Steve Lavin last season, and he’s currently injured.
Colorado State is 81st in the preseason Kenpom metric. USD is 181st.
But Blount immediately set his hard-work culture with 6:30 a.m. summer practices and a defense-first mentality inspired, in part, by San Diego State’s success a few exits down the freeway. And he doesn’t shy away from it, no matter USD’s recent basketball history.
“Our mindset and mentality will be to try to break our opponent,” Blount said. “That’s what we want to do. We know we play a high-octane style, especially on the defensive end, where we want to dictate and disrupt on that end.
“Our guys have the mentality to do that. We’re going to face really good opponents and we respect them all, but we’re going to go after and attack all of them.”
Next up is a whole other beast: No. 22 UCLA in a Tuesday night exhibition at Pauley Pavilion (7 p.m. on Big Ten Plus).
Jevon Hill was asked if he’s excited.
“Of course, of course,” he said. “Can’t wait.”