Jan. 10, 2010
Box Score
San Francisco, Calif.- The University of San Diego men's basketball team was unable to match the University of San Francisco's 63.3% (31-of-49) shooting percentage and fell to their WCC counterpart 87-71 on Sunday evening at the War Memorial Gymnasium. The loss was the first for USD (8-10, 1-1) in the young conference season.
Brandon Johnson led the Toreros in scoring with a game-high 25 points, while recording six assists and three steals. De'Jon Jackson reached the 20-point plateau as well as he scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half. The senior guards accounted for 14 of USD's 23 successful field goals, including a combined 9-of-18 from beyond the arc. Only senior forward Roberto Mafra, with 10 points, reached double-figures for the Toreros in addition to Johnson and Jackson.
The Toreros were never able to gain the lead in the first half, as they only managed to tie it on two different occasions. USD did convert nine of its 10 free throws in the opening half in an attempt to balance their 41.7% field-goal shooting percentage, but USF (6-11, 1-1), with its 60.7% (17-of-28) first-half shooting percentage, staved off any potential Torero rally.
After opening up the game 4-of-13 from the field, the Toreros were sparked by a Johnson three at the 9:17 mark, setting a trend of precision shooting for San Diego as they drained six of their next nine field-goal attempts to end the first half.
The Johnson three trimmed USD's deficit to 23-16, but the Toreros were unable to narrow the gap any closer than six in the final nine minutes of the half. USF entered halftime with a 41-32 advantage.
With USD trailing 48-35 under 17 minutes left, Mafra ignited an 11-2 run for the Toreros with a lay-up at the 16:37 mark. The following back-to-back USD possessions yielded threes, one by Jackson and the other by Johnson, pulling the Toreros within four. A subsequent 7-0 USF run, however, that stretched over a span of 52 seconds expanded the Dons' lead to 57-46 with 12:48 left.
Jackson halted the Dons' outburst by draining a three over a minute later, setting off a brief 7-1 run for San Diego. Mafra hit two free throws and finished a follow-up lay-up during the stretch, placing the Toreros behind 58-53 with less than 10 minutes to go.
The Toreros were only able to cut the deficit to six thereafter when Johnson registered a steal when the Toreros desperately needed a defensive stop, completing the play with a reverse lay-up and setting the score at 63-57.
The Dons would use their fine shooting and rebounding advantage, 38-21 for the game, over the course of the final minutes to close out the victory.
With the first conference test on the road behind them, the Toreros will return to San Diego to host the Portland Pilots (9-6, 0-1) on Thursday, January 14th at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Gonzaga Bulldogs (12-3, 1-0) on Saturday, January 16th at 6 p.m.
