SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Joey Calcaterra recorded a career-high 23 points to propel San Diego to a 71-60 victory over Santa Clara on Thursday night in the Leavey Center.
 
The Toreros (3-7, 2-4 WCC) had three players score double-digits, including Calcaterra's 23 points, Ben Pyle with 15 and Vladimir Pinchuk with 13. Pinchuk also finished the night with a double-double for USD, collecting 10 rebounds. USD saw all 10 players put points on the board against the Broncos (9-6, 3-4 WCC) in its first competition since Jan. 28 and first game with a full squad since the season opener on Dec. 9.
 
San Diego shared the ball well, racking up 15 assists on 24 made field goals. Individually, Josh Parrish dished out the most for the Toreros with five assists.
 
The San Diego defense caused its share of mistakes in Thursday's game, forcing 16 Santa Clara turnovers while committing 11. Those takeaways turned into 12 points on the other end of the floor.
 
After jumping out to a 12-8 advantage behind 10 points from Pyle, San Diego went on an 11-0 run with 13:23 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Finn Sullivan, to increase its lead to 23-8. The Toreros then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 36-24 advantage. San Diego did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 18 of its 36 points close to the basket.
 
The Broncos proceeded to tie things up at 53-53 early in the second half before San Diego went on a 9-0 run, finished off by Calcaterra's jumper, to seize a 62-53 lead with 3:34 to go in the contest. Calcaterra scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half. The Toreros kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 71-60 win.
 
The Toreros are back in action on Saturday, when they travel to Spokane to face No. 1 Gonzaga at 5 p.m. PT. The game will air on ESPN2.
 
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.