PORTLAND – Jared Rodriguez scored 17 points, Joey Calcaterra had 16 and Yauhen Massalski tied his career-high in rebounds with 14 as San Diego earned its first conference win of the season by topping Portland 77-67 on Saturday at the Chiles Center.
 
USD (8-13, 1-5 WCC) snapped its five-game losing streak by turning in a dominant second half on the glass and shooting 57%. The Toreros, who were outrebounded 22-14 in the first half by the Pilots (9-11, 1-4 WCC), grabbed 24 boards and were led by Massalski's 11. Of the 24 second-half rebounds by USD, 17 were on the defensive end. It was also +10 in the rebounding battle.
 
Three Toreros had 11 points each in the second, including Rodriguez, Calcaterra and Braun Hartfield.
 
USD made a 22 percentage point improvement in its field-goal shooting between the first and second half, helping it score 70+ points for the third game in a row – a season-first.
 
Rodriguez and Calcaterra combined to go 13-of-24 from the field and 6-of-9 from beyond the arc to score their 33 points. Rodriguez, whose 17 points were his second-most in a Torero uniform, had a season-high three three-pointers and finished 7-of-12 from the field while also grabbing five rebounds. Calcaterra was 50% or better shooting for the fifth time this year (6-of-12).
 
Massalski matched his career-high in rebounding, previously set last season against Colorado, and contributed nine points on the offensive side, seven of which were scored in the second half.
 
Hartfield also had double-figures in points, scoring 13. The redshirt junior was 6-of-8 from the free throw line, all of which took place in the final 2:42 of the game.
 
As a team, the Toreros went 13-of-18 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes.
 
USD held Portland to 27 points in the first half, but the Toreros shot 35.5% and were -8 in rebounding to enter the break down by two. The Toreros allowed the Pilots to grab nine of their 22 first-half rebounds on the offensive side and were outscored in the paint, 18-8.
 
Early on in the second half, though, the Toreros flipped the rebounding battle by going 13-1 on the glass in the first nine minutes, which helped them take a double-digit lead. The Toreros also used a 15-2 run over a four-and-a-half minute stretch midway through the second to take a 15-point advantage at 54-39. Rodriguez and Calcaterra combined for 13 of the 15 points, with Rodriguez knocking down two three-pointers to help make up his eight points.
 
The lead stretched to as much as 16, and the Toreros kept it at 10 or more points for all but 33 seconds of the final 9:40 of the game.
 
While the two sides combined for 52 points in the first 20 minutes, the Toreros scored 52 points on their own in the second half as the two sides combined for 92 in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Toreros will have their first bye of the season on Thursday before hosting Santa Clara on Saturday, January 25 at 3 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
 
NOTES
USD took 12 three-pointers in the first half, only hitting three, as it shot 35% from the field (11-of-31) to start the game. Portland, meanwhile, only had six three-point attempts among its first 28 attempts and finished with a 43% first-half shooting percentage.
 
USD outshot Portland, 45.6% to 43.8%, for the game.
 
The Toreros finished 10-of-22 from three-point range. It was their second straight game with 10 three-pointers and third in the last five contests.
 
USD has four consecutive games of 20+ three-point attempts.
 
The Toreros have won the rebounding battle in three straight games. They are 6-4 this season when they outrebound their opponent.
 
All eight Toreros who logged minutes scored three or more points. Five of the eight had at least one three-pointer made.
 
Seven of the eight Toreros had multiple rebounds.