GAME NOTES: As luck would have it, the two teams that lost during opening night while taking part in the LMU Classic are matched up against each other on Saturday, as the San Diego Toreros clash with the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State at Gersten Pavilion.

The Redhawks, who also lost their 2013-14 season opener to Saint Louis (87-64), came up short versus host Loyola Marymount last night in a 76-66 decision. Following today's contest, SEMO will be back home awaiting the arrival of Hannibal-LaGrange University, an NAIA program, for the home opener on Nov. 18.

As for the Toreros, their short trip to Los Angeles to begin the new season was met with an 81-75 setback versus Boise State. The team will be heading home for a pair of dates versus Florida A&M and Western Michigan in the coming days before traveling to test the likes of Xavier, San Diego State and UCLA, the latter having scored a whopping 113 points in its opener on Friday versus Montana State.

In terms of an all-time series between these two programs, this game is the first ever between the squads.

SEMO led by as many as four points in the first half against the Lions, but the team shot just 2-of-10 behind the 3-point line in the period and allowed the hosts to convert 53.8 percent from the floor through the first 20 minutes, resulting in a 40-34 deficit at the break. In the second half, the Redhawks again converted only 2-of-10 out on the perimeter, preventing them from making a strong comeback bid.

Nino Johnson was the top scorer for the visitors with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, filling his stat line with six rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and three steals while playing 39 minutes. Antonius Cleveland was responsible for 16 points as he converted 8-of-16 attempts from the floor, but missed all four of his 3-point tries. Isiah Jones tacked on 11 points, but he too had his issues from long distance (3-of-9) for a team that turned the ball over a mere three times and was still saddled with the defeat.

Johnny Dee scored the first points of the game between San Diego and Boise State, a 3-pointer in fact, but the team could not keep up the pace even as it led by as many as seven in the first half. With a mere 3-of-13 showing out on the perimeter following intermission, the Toreros prevented themselves from keeping up with the Broncos in the opener.

Dee finished with a game-high 25 points, hitting 7-of-15 from the floor overall, including 4-of-9 beyond the arc, but that means the rest of the team converted a combined 1-of-10 on the outside. Chris Anderson, who accounted for the only other triple, tallied 14 points and handed out seven of the unit's nine assists before fouling out, while Thomas Jacobs dropped in 10 points and cleared a team-best seven rebounds.

In a game decided by just six points, USD could have reversed its fortunes had it not turned the ball over 14 times or shot just 30-of-44 at the free-throw line.

Both of these teams have star talent, the Redhawks boasting Johnson and USD leaning on Dee, so while those two players cancel each other out it will be the supporting casts that determine the outcome and if that's the case, expect the Toreros to come out on top.