BOULDER, Colo. – San Diego was within four halfway through the second half on the road at #25 Colorado, but an 18-0 run by the Buffs allowed them to pull away as the Toreros lost 71-53 on Saturday at the CU Events Center.
 
The Toreros (2-3), who trailed by as little as one early in the second half, suffered their first loss of a three-game week. It also snapped a two-game winning streak against the Buffs (2-0).
 
Trailing by nine at the 12:57 mark, USD used baskets by Finn Sullivan and Joey Calcaterra to make it 46-42 Colorado two minutes later.
 
However, the Toreros missed eight straight shots after the Calcaterra three-pointer while the Buffs made five of their seven over a five-and-a-half minute stretch to open a 22-point advantage at 64-42 with just over five minutes remaining. USD never pulled any closer than 16 to end the game.
 
While the Toreros were close during the early part of the second, they led by as much as four with five minutes remaining in the first when Calcaterra drained the first of his two three-pointers to make it 22-18 USD. San Diego led four different times in the first half.
 
Freshman Noel Coleman had a career-high 10 points after going 4-of-5 in field goals to tie Calcaterra for the team lead in scoring. The first-year guard was big for the Toreros late in the first half when he had a three-pointer to tie the game at 25-25 with two minutes ago. He later tied the game again at 27-27 when he hit a short jumper with a minute remaining.
 
Calcaterra and Coleman combined for eight of USD's 19 shots made and three of the seven three-pointers as the Toreros finished the night shooting 34.5% from the field (19-of-55) and 26.9% from three (7-of-26).
 
Defensively, the Toreros limited Colorado to a 34.4% shooting percentage in the first half to keep the game at three points in favor of the Buffs at halftime. In the second half, though, Colorado hit half of its field goal attempts, including 6-of-11 three-pointers, to finish the game 41.1% from the field and 45.8% from beyond the arc.
 
Eight of the 10 Toreros who appeared in the game scored points, including six by Sullivan in his 2019-20 debut. The sophomore had three rebounds, two steals and an assist in 11 minutes.
 
USD returns home for its next game, a cross-town rivalry matchup at home against SDSU on Wednesday (8 p.m.).
 
 
NOTES
Joey Calcaterra has reached double-figures in points in each of the five games this year.
 
Alex Floresca stuffed the stat sheet as he had eight points, five rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 30 minutes.
 
Braun Hartfield led the Toreros with two blocks and two steals. He also added seven points, seven rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes.
 
USD had nine steals, which makes Saturday the third straight game in which it had eight or more steals. It is averaging 7.6 steals per contest this season.
 
A season-high 10 Toreros played on Saturday. In addition to Sullivan, redshirt freshman Reggie Parris made his Torero debut when he subbed in late in the game.
 
The Toreros' 34.5% field goal percentage was their lowest in a game this season.