SAN DIEGO – San Diego climbed back to a tie with under 10 minutes remaining, but Pacific closed out the game by making seven of its last nine shots to deal the Toreros a 71-64 loss in the regular season finale on Saturday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
USD (9-22, 2-14 WCC) missed seven straight shots after tying the game at 49-49 at the 9:52 mark and finished the night making three of its last 13 attempts from the field to fall to the Tigers (23-9, 11-5 WCC). The Toreros were outshot 42.6% to 39.1% in the game and matched their season-low in three-pointers made with one.
 
With the regular season complete, the Toreros now move on to the first round of the WCC Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas on Thursday.
 
On senior night, redshirt senior Alex Floresca – the team's lone senior – had nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. He also had four rebounds and an assist in 30 minutes before being pulled to a standing ovation with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
 
Braun Hartfield had 15 points in the first half and finished with a team-high 17 while James Jean-Marie (12) and Finn Sullivan (11) joined him in double-digit scoring. For Jean-Marie, it was his second straight game with 10+ points while for Sullivan, it was his fifth in the last eight contests.
 
The Toreros never led in the game, due in part to falling behind 10-0 after committing four turnovers in the first four minutes of the night.
 
However, despite the early hole, USD pulled within one at 20-19 after Sabry Philip entered the game and provided a boost off the bench. The freshman guard finished a tough lay-up along the baseline to make it 20-17 and then made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one with 7:23 to go in the first half.
 
Pacific answered, though, by scoring 12 of the next 16 points and regaining a nine-point lead at 32-23.
 
Hartfield led the Toreros in the closing moments of the first half by scoring seven points in the last four minutes to make it a 36-33 deficit at the break. Hartfield finished the opening 20 minutes by going 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line to total his 15 points.
 
In the second half, both sides attempted 23 field goals and had nearly identical free throws – Pacific had 16 while USD had 18 – but the Tigers' 47.8% shooting bested the Toreros' 34.8% to help fill out the seven-point final margin.
 
Pacific started 4-of-14 from the field in the second to help USD claw back to the tie game halfway through the half.
 
Jean-Marie scored all 12 of his points in the second half as he played 18 of the 20 minutes while Sullivan had eight of his 11 points in 14 minutes.
 
The Toreros open the WCC Basketball Tournament against LMU in the first round's 8-9 seed matchup. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 5.
 
 
NOTES
The Toreros were 1-of-10 from three-point range, their second game with one three-pointer in the last three.
 
USD lost the rebounding margin, 38-27.
 
Hartfield finished the month of February averaging 17.6 points on 47.1% shooting (49-of-104). He also had 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
 
In the last three games, Jean-Marie is averaging 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds. He is 12-of-20 (60%) from the field over the stretch.