SAN DIEGO – San Diego limited San Francisco to only 27 points in the first half, but the Dons shot 54.8% from the field in the second as the Toreros lost 69-44 on Thursday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
USD (8-15, 1-7 WCC) held one of the WCC's top scoring teams at bay to open the game but it remained winless at home in conference play after USF (16-7, 5-3 WCC) outscored the Toreros 42-22 in the second half. The Dons were 17-of-31 from the field in the last 20 minutes while USD was 9-of-27.
The Toreros finished the game shooting 29.6% from the field (16-of-54), its lowest shooting percentage in a game since February of last season. They also had one three-pointer made in 12 attempts.
Braun Hartfield, who was 5-of-15 from the field, was the only Torero with double-digit points as the redshirt junior had 11. He also paced the team in rebounds with eight, his most boards in a game this season since grabbing nine against Stanford in December.
The Toreros narrowly lost the rebounding battle, 37-35, but were outscored in the paint, 38-20. Three different Dons reached double-figures in points, led by Charles Minlend's 21. He scored 19 in the second half.
USD was stingy defensively in the first half, holding the Dons to 8-of-25 from the field, including 3-of-15 to start, and forcing 11 turnovers. In the first three minutes, San Francisco missed three shots and committed two shot clock violations.
While the defense slowed down the Dons at the start, the Toreros did lead by four after just over seven minutes in – thanks to four early points from Hartfield – but a lay-up by Khalil Shabazz at the 12:00 mark opened up a 9-2 run for USF that gave it a three-point advantage.
USD cut the lead to one on a pull-up jumper by Hartfield, but the Dons kept the Toreros away by holding them without a field goal for the final seven minutes of the half. USD was 0-of-7 from the field going into the break and trailed 27-22.
After neither side registered a point through nearly the first three minutes of the second half, a Massalski-to-Jean-Marie connection pulled the game to 27-24 with 17 minutes remaining. However, Minlend scored nine straight points on six consecutive shots (four made) to give the Dons a 10-point lead with 14 minutes left.
The Toreros closed out the game committing five turnovers and going 5-of-17 from the field.
The Toreros quickly hit the road and play at Pacific on Saturday at 7 p.m. It is the first matchup of the season between USD and the Tigers.
NOTES
Neither team was effective from the field in the first half, combining to go 15-of-52 (28.8%).
USD's 27 points allowed marked the fourth time this season it held an opponent under 30 points in the first half and second time in the last three games (Jan. 18 at Portland).
Thursday was USD's lowest shooting percentage since February 23, 2019 vs. Saint Mary's (29.4%; 15-of-51).
USD started 0-of-10 from three-point range before Hartfield made the first three-pointer with 5:32 left in the game. The one three-pointer was USD's fewest in a game since January 2017 vs. Saint Mary's (1).
The 44 points scored were also the Toreros' fewest since the 2017 contest against Saint Mary's (38).
After forcing USF into 11 turnovers in the first half, the Toreros only drew four in the second.
