Final Stats

USD vs. NAU Box

SAN DIEGO -- Defense is quickly becoming San Diego's signature and it was the X-factor in tonight's 79-51 win over Northern Arizona. With the win the Toreros improve to 7-2 on the season matching the 2013-14 start. USD put the clamps on the Jacks' over the first eleven minutes of the contest in jumping out to a 26-3 advantage. Cameron Neubauer scored a season-high 17 points and was followed by Isaiah Pineiro (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Tyler Williams (11 points, 7 rebounds).

"We talked about how we would approach this game coming off a big win at New Mexico State," said head coach Lamont Smith. "Would we be eager for competition and have a high energy to our approach? It showed a sign of maturity for our ball club. We respect all of our opponents and I thought our guys came out and competed and did it the right way on both sides of the ball."

Head coach Lamont Smith discussed the team's defensive effort against NAU and Cameron Neubauer's big night.

At the start of the first half the Toreros used tenacious defense and threes from Cameron Neubauer and Olin Carter III to jump out to a 6-0 lead. A steal and fast break dunk by Isaiah Pineiro, and a second steal that led to a three-ball from Carter in the left corner extended USD's lead to 11-0 with 14:51 left in the half. A Juwan Gray reverse lay-in would make it 15-0 before NAU would end their scoreless skid with a three-pointer from Gino Littles with 11:32 to go. A second Pineiro dunk would make it 26-3 at the 9:01 mark and that 23-point margin would be matched on a three-pointer from Tyler Williams for a 32-9 lead. USD would head into the break with a 38-18 lead behind 11 points from Neubauer and 10 from Pineiro. The Toreros also canned 9-of-18 three-pointers.

In the second half the Toreros quickly extended their lead to 29 points at 47-18 with a 9-0 run. The lead would crack 30 points at 53-22 following three free throws from Neubauer and San Diego's biggest lead would reach 33 (55-22). The closest the Jacks' would get from there was within 20 points at 58-38 following a 16-3 run.

For the game the Toreros made a season-high 13 three-pointers and were a solid 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. USD shot 48.1% from the floor (26-54) and outrebounded the Jacks' 39-27. Coach Smith had the luxury of clearing the bench with all fourteen players seeing action. Hunter Summy (5 points), Jake Gilliam (4 points) and Vinny Ferrari (3 points) all contributed points down the stretch. NAU (2-8) was paced by three players each with 11 points -- Gino Littles, JoJo Anderson and Torry Johnson.

The Toreros hit the road for a Tuesday matchup at the University of Colorado in Boulder against the 7-2 Buffs. Game time is 5:00 p.m. (PST) and will air on ESPN 1700AM and the Pac-12 Networks.