Feb. 21, 2004
Box Score
(San Diego, CA) -- The host USD Toreros, playing without leading scorer Brice Vounang and starting guard Mike McGrain due to injuries, gave the USF Dons everything they could handle but came up short in a 85-75 defeat. Behind a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds from forward Brandon Gay and 16 points/13 rebounds from Nick Lewis the Toreros had numerous chances to put this game away tonight. The difference in the game was at the foul line where USD converted just 16-of-31 attempts (.516) while the visiting Dons cashed in on 91.7% (22-24). USF's Tyrone Riley led six Dons in double digits with 16 points while they improve to 6-6 in WCC play and 16-12 overall. USD falls to 1-11 in league play and 4-23 overall.
In the first half USD fell behind 25-19 with 8:47 to go before battling back to take a 42-37 intermission lead. It was all Brandon Gay in the first half as he totaled 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting (3-3 in treys). The Toreros made 15-of-28 shots in half on their way to converting 53.6% of their shots. In the 2nd half USD worked its way to an 8-point lead at 59-51 with 11:33 to go, but the Dons stormed back to tie it at 64-64 with 5:50 to go with Tyrone Riley connecting on a three-pointer and jumper to knot the score. It was all USF down the stretch as they converted 9-of-10 charities inside the 5:00 minute mark.
The Toreros outrebounded the Dons 37-33, but had more misques (19 to 14). Brett Melton chipped in with 10 points for USD which closes out its regular-season schedule next week at Gonzaga (Thursday, ESPN2 TV game, 8 pm) and Portland (Saturday).
