Dec. 1, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery
(San Diego, CA) - The USD Toreros were not able to overcome the hot shooting hand of UC Irvine's Darren Moore as they dropped a hard-fought 90-82 decision to the visiting Anteaters (4-3). Moore converted all nine of his shots from the field, including three treys, and cashed in on 9-of-12 free throws to finish with a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds. The Toreros (1-5) were paced by sophomore center Chris Manresa who led five USD players in double digits with a new career-high of 18 points.
It was a game of runs as UCI jumped out to a 9-2 lead before the Toreros got their own game going. The Toreros battled back, on the strength of three Devin Ginty three-pointers, and led by as many as 5 points (31-26) with 5:42 to go in the half. From there it was all Anteaters as they closed the final six minutes on an 18-4 run for a 44-35 intermission lead. Green had 15 points and 5 rebounds at the break, while Manresa and Ken Rancifer each went to the locker room with 10 points.
In the second half UCI's Patrick Rembert buried a three at the 16:12 mark to give UCI another solid start to the half; this time with an 8-2 run that pushed their lead to 15 points (52-37). UCI would go up by as many as 16 (64-48) with 11:44 to go before the Toreros mounted another rally.
During one four minute stretch sophomore center Chris Gabriel sparked USD's comeback with three buckets and a free throw to get USD to within 71-67 with 4:46 left. A three-pointer from freshman Jordan Mackie pulled the Toreros to within two at 72-70 at the 3:55 mark, but Moore quickly answered at the other end for a 74-70 advantage. Torero guard Darian Norris missed two free throws with 3:25 left, and from there UCI extended their lead by as many as 13 (85-72) with 1:02 left. Four straight free throws, two each by Devin Ginty and Matt Dorr, followed by a Ginty layup got USD to within 7 in the final minute, but that would be as close as the Toreros would get.
For UCI, guard Patrick Rembert followed Moore's 30 points with 18 of his own. For USD, Manresa was followed in the scoring department by Dorr and Ginty (13 points each), Norris (11) and Rancifer (10). For the first time in five games the Toreros came out on top in the rebounding department (37-32), but struggled behind the arc (8-27) and from the free throw line (14-23).
USD plays a return game at Cal State Fullerton this coming Saturday, December 4th (6:05 p.m. at Titan Gym). Fullerton won the first meeting this year back on Nov. 21st (62-59).
