SAN DIEGO – San Diego made four of its six shots and nine of 11 free throws in overtime to pull away from Fresno State and win 72-66 on Tuesday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
The Toreros (1-2) had 17 assists on their 24 field goals as the offense bounced back from its performance in the first two games of the season. Seven of the eight Toreros who logged minutes had at least one helper, led by redshirt senior Alex Floresca's four and three apiece from junior James Jean-Marie and redshirt freshman Marion Humphrey.
 
"We have an inexperienced group, and we're going to deal with some extremes," said USD head coach Sam Scholl. "Tonight was nice to see us level it out, have guys learn from those lessons and be better the next day, which we certainly did. And just find a way to win."
 
Redshirt sophomore Joey Calcaterra scored a career-high 21 points to lead a quartet of Toreros in double-digit scoring. Redshirt junior Braun Hartfield turned in 17 while Humphrey had a career-high 17 on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three-point range.
 
Jean-Marie had USD's first double-double of the year as he scored 11 (4-of-7 FG) and grabbed 11 rebounds.
 
All five USD starters played 35 or more minutes and combined for every point. Floresca had six and seven rebounds to go with the four assists in 39 minutes.
 
While the offense was in sync, it was the Torero defense that held strong by forcing Fresno State (1-2) into a 35.9% shooting night and 18 turnovers. In the second half, the Bulldogs were limited to a 26.9% from the field.
 
"I really like that we won the game with our defense," said Scholl. "Our defense is way ahead of our offense, and I'm fine with that because when it comes down to it, when you're not making shots or having turnovers, our defense can gut it out. I'm excited for our guys for being rewarded for the process of being better."
 
In addition to being their first win of the season, the victory was the Toreros' first in overtime since February 18, 2017 at Santa Clara.
 
Fresno State was hot out of the gates, shooting 6-of-7 to start the game and opening up a 12-4 advantage six minutes in. Sparked by a Humphrey three, though, the Toreros went on a 15-2 run over the course of five minutes to take a five-point lead. Calcaterra had a long-range shot to cap the stretch that saw the Toreros shoot 5-of-7 from the field.
 
San Diego held onto the lead for the rest of the first half and eventually opened it up to double-digits when Hartfield hit his only three-pointer of the night at the 2:26 mark to make it 34-23.
 
The Toreros stretched their advantage to as much as 13 when Calcaterra, who was 9-of-9 from the charity stripe, sank a pair of free throws to make it 42-29 four minutes into the second half. However, Fresno State chipped away until it tied the game at 53-all with free throws of its own at the 2:26 mark.
 
After trading baskets to make it 55-55, Jean-Marie turned the ball over with under 30 seconds remaining and gave the Bulldogs the final look in regulation. Jarred Hyder, who had a game-high 23 points, narrowly missed his short jump shot to send it into overtime.
 
In the extra period, the Toreros pulled away when they made three straight shots to take a 67-59 lead. Floresca's three-point play with 1:15 left made it 67-59 and provided the necessary margin to win the game.
 
USD continues its busy week when it takes a two-game road trip, starting with a game at Weber State on Thursday.
 
 
NOTES
Calcaterra, after scoring 20 at Long Beach State last Saturday and the 21 against the Bulldogs, became the first Torero to have consecutive 20-point games since Isaiah Pineiro had 20 in three-straight games from February 14-21, 2019 (Portland to BYU).