SAN DIEGO – Isaiah Pineiro scored 20 points and Olin Carter III added 14 but it was not enough for San Diego to keep pace with No. 3 Gonzaga as the Toreros fell 79-67 on Saturday night in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
USD (16-11, 5-7 WCC) played well but ran into a Bulldogs (25-2, 12-0 WCC) team that caught fire in the second half. Gonzaga shot 69 percent from the field in the second period and finished the game at 58 percent on the night.
 
After going into halftime tied 30-30, Gonzaga hit 10 of their first 12 shots in the second half to take its largest lead of the night, 51-42. The Bulldogs led by as many as 15 with 8:29 to play.
 
The Toreros closed the gap to nine points twice in the final 1:07 but that was as close as they would get.
 
USD kept itself within striking distance throughout the night behind offensive contributions from a variety of players and quality defense against the Bulldogs second unit. The Toreros held Gonzaga's bench to two points.
 
Pineiro scored at least 20 points for the 13th time this season to lead USD. His minutes were limited in the first half due to foul trouble and did not play the final 6:26 of the half.
 
Carter III carried the Toreros offensive in the opening half, contributing 12 of his 14 points. Tyler Williams connected on 4-of-6 attempts from behind the arc for 12 points.
 
USD rebounded well despite Gonzaga finishing with a 35-26 edge. Yauhen Massalski led the Toreros with eight rebounds.

---

---

The Toreros did not have an answer for Rui Hachimura who scored a game-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He was one of four Bulldogs starters to reach double-digits in scoring.
 
Gonzaga dominated inside with 50 of its 79 points coming inside the paint.
 
It is the first time USD has lost three consecutive games since a five-game losing streak from Feb. 2-16, 2017.
 
USD will look to break the streak when it continues its four-game homestand against Portland on Thursday at 7 p.m.