Dec. 8, 2007
Final Stats
(Albuquerque, NM) - Playing on the road in one of the toughest college basketball venues in America, The Pit, the Toreros dropped a 57-47 decision to the University of New Mexico Lobos. With the loss the Toreros fall to 5-6 while UNM improves to 8-2 on the year. Freshman forward Rob Jones led USD with 12 points, but leading scorers Brandon Johnson (10 points) and Gyno Pomare (4 points) were plagued with foul trouble the entire game. New Mexico received a game-high 19 points from Darren Prentice off the bench. USD will play their next tough road contest this coming Wednesday at the University of Nevada.
The Toreros suffered through another cold shooting game making just 16-of-50 shots on the day. In fact, USD's first basket and points didn't come until the 14:11 mark on a Rob Jones basket. USD managed just 8-of-25 shooting in the first half (32%), and that is where they finished for the day, converting just 32%. Despite their shooting woes, the Toreros continued to play hard and stay in the game. UNM was up by as many as 16 in the 2nd half, but USD battled back to single digits at 51-42 with 3:46 to go. That would be as close as they would get against the Lobos.
USD's Jones finished with team highs of 12 points and 7 rebounds. Clinton Houston came off the bench to grab 6 boards, and numerous times the Toreros found themselves with three freshmen playing at the same time - Jones, Houston and Trumaine Johnson. One bright point for USD was their free throw shooting; they made 12-of-16 for 75%. USD also outrebounded the Lobos, 33-30, and outscored them in the final 20 minutes, 27-24.
