Nov. 14, 2016 Box Score
USDvsSamfordbox 
(San Diego, Calif.) -- In USD's season opener at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, the USD men's basketball team dropped an 83-65 decision to the visiting Samford Bulldogs. Olin Carter III paced the Toreros with 15 points and freshman guard Nassir Barrino chipped in 14, but it wasn't enough as Samford's Demetrius Denzel-Dyson scored a game-high 20 points and was one of five Bulldogs to reach double-digits.
In the first half, the Toreros trailed 14 -3 early as Samford's Demtrius Denzel-Dyson connected on his first four three-point attempts in the first four minutes of action. A Brett Bailey three would end a Bulldog 8-0 run and Olin Carter's second trey would pull USD to within 20-11 at the 11:22 mark. Back-to-back threes from freshman guard Mark Carbone would get USD within 27-20 with 5:28 left in the half, and two free throws from freshman Nassir Barrino made it 27-22. The Bulldogs would use another 8-0 run to jump ahead 35-22 before Carter's third trey ended the run.
Samford would take a 37-25 lead into the halftime break. Denzel-Dyson would finish with 12 points, and center Wyatt Walker would be close to a double-double with 8 points and 11 rebounds. For USD, Carter would have 10 points in the first 20 minutes of action, followed by Carbone's 6 points.
In the second half Cameron Neubauer and Barrino connected on back-to-back lay-ins to make it 37-29, but Denzel-Dyson would cash in on a jumper and the Bulldogs would hold a double-digit lead the rest of the way. Samford's largest lead would be 21 points in the closing minutes before settling for the 18-point victory.
For the game Carter and Barrino were followed by Cameron Neubauer (9 points, 5 rebounds) and freshman guard Mark Carbone (8 points, 2 steals). USD was outrebounded 43-29 and finished the game converting 41.2% from the field (21-51). For Samford, center Wyatt Walker notched a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, and forward Alex Thompson added 17 points.
USD returns to action this Thursday with a road contest at UCLA (2-0). The game is at 8:00 p.m. and will be televised on Pac-12 Networks, as well as air on ESPN 1700 AM with Jack Cronin bringing you all the action.
