Final Stats

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO - A steal by Isaiah Pineiro with 40 seconds remaining and a put-back basket by Juwan Gray with 13 seconds on the clock propelled San Diego to a 64-61 comeback victory at San Francisco on Saturday night.

After a slow start in the first half that left the Toreros (18-12, 9-9 WCC) down by 10 at halftime, USD regrouped and outscored the Dons (17-14, 9-9 WCC) by 13 points in the second half.

Olin Carter III and Gray led the second-half charge with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Gray led the Toreros on the game with a career-high 18 points. Carter III finished with 16 points.

Pineiro heated up in the second half as well, scoring eight of his 12 points in the second period. He also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and dished out three assists.

Overall, it was a sloppy game with the Toreros committing 18 turnovers and the Dons committing 17. USF capitalized on the turnovers and turned the extra possessions into 27 points, while USD managed just 12 points from the free possessions.

The Toreros battled through foul trouble throughout the game and faced additional adversity when Isaiah Wright went down late in the first half and did not return to the game.

Both teams shot well with USF at 51 percent and USD at 50 percent from the field. The Dons were better from behind the arc at 44 percent to the Toreros' 25 percent, but USF struggled at the free-throw line, hitting just 6-of-14 attempts.

USD's bench provided big minutes and outscored USF's second unit, 38-11.

The first half featured both teams trading long runs. The Dons scored the game's first six points but the Toreros reeled of the next seven to take an early 7-6 lead. USF responded with a 9-0 run to go up, 15-7. The Dons finished the half on a 9-2 run and hit a three-pointer as time expired in the half to extend its lead to 31-21.

USD came out hot in the second half and hit each of its first three shots. The Toreros went on a 14-2 run to take a, 39-38, lead with 12:59 to play. USD also tightened up on defense and held the Dons scoreless for a five minute stretch from 16:31 to 11:31.

Just as the Toreros seemed to be in control and stretched its lead to five points with 8:11 to play - its biggest of the game - USF hit a pair of three-pointers to retake the lead, 55-54. Then, USD went into a 5:29 minute scoring slump.

Gray eventually snapped the Toreros out of the slide with a pair of free-throws with 2:42 left on the clock to pull USD to within one point, 57-56.

With the clock winding down to under a minute, Pineiro got his hand in a passing lane on defense and deflected a pass just enough to come up with a steal. He drove to the basket on the ensuing possession but missed the layup.

Gray was under the basket waiting for the rebound and banked it in off the backboard with a foul, to give the Toreros a 62-61 lead. He converted the and-one to extend the lead to 63-61.

The Toreros forced a turnover on USF's next possession and the Dons were forced to foul Carter III who hit one-of-two free throws with one second on the clock to seal the victory for USD.

The Toreros' 18 wins is their most since the 2013-14 season and it is the first time USD has finished .500 or better in conference play since 2007-08.

The Toreros head to the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas as the No. 6 seed and will take on No. 3 BYU on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.