Jan. 19, 2011

Final Stats

MORAGA, Calif.- The University of San Diego men's basketball team dropped a West Coast Conference matchup to the 21st-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels on Wednesday night by a score of 67-56 from SMC's McKeon Pavilion. With the loss, the Toreros fall to 3-16 and 0-5 in the WCC, while the Gaels improve to 17-2 and a 5-0 mark in conference play.

Junior point guard Darian Norris led the Toreros with 14 points on the night while adding a pair of rebounds and assists. Norris was 5-15 from the field, but 4-5 from the free throw line. Senior guard Matt Dorr chipped in with 13 points, four rebounds, and three steals for the Toreros. Dorr's three-pointer at the 18:03 mark in the second half tied the game at 30 and led to a Ken Rancifer three that gave USD their only lead of the game, a 33-30 edge with 17:14 in the game. Rancifer tallied nine points in the contest.

As a team the Toreros shot 36.4% from the field but struggled to convert free throw opportunities, going 13-23 and posting a 56.5% percentage from the line.

The Gaels were led offensively by Rob Jones, who had a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Mickey McConnell added 17 points and Matthew Dellavedova contributed 12 points. Saint Mary's shot 47.1% overall on the night, including 56.5% in the second half.

Saint Mary's opened the game with a 6-0 run and held the lead until Dorr's three in the second half, which came at the tail end of a 21-2 USD run that started with a Dorr jumper with 3:39 remaining in the first half and carried until Rancifer's three gave the Toreros the lead. The Gaels promptly mounted their own offensive run, outscoring the Toreros 21-8 over the ensuing 10 minutes, giving Saint Mary's a 54-38 lead with just over seven minutes remaining. USD cut the lead to nine on a Norris jumper with 1:11 left, but it was too little too late for the Toreros.

USD returns to Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 22nd for a non-conference matchup with Cal State Bakersfield set to tip at 4:30 p.m.