SAN DIEGO—Yauhen Massalski scored a career-high 30 points, but San Diego fell to Pepperdine, 90-84, in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
Massalski added five rebounds and three assists to his 30-point game to lead the Toreros (3-10, 2-7). Joey Calcaterra helped out with 17 points, four assists and three steals and Finn Sullivan chipped in with eight points, four assists and two steals.
 
Led by Massalski's four offensive rebounds, San Diego did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 10 boards that resulted in 10 second chance points.
 
The San Diego defense caused its share of mistakes in Saturday's game, forcing 17 Pepperdine (11-11, 7-6 WCC) turnovers while committing 13. Those takeaways turned into 26 points on the offensive end of the floor. Calcaterra's three steals led the way individually for the Toreros.
 
USD took the early 15-8 lead behind a nine-point run sparked by six from Massalski. The Waves quickly answered with an 11-point run of their own to take the lead, 19-15. San Diego pulled within two at 27-25 with under five minutes remaining in that half. Massalski scored eight of USD's 10 points in the rally but the Waves responded again with a 12-0 run down the stretch and took a 41-29 lead into halftime.
 
Pepperdine kept the lead in double-digits for the majority of the second period. After trailing 88-77, San Diego went on a 7-0 run to shrink the deficit to 88-84 with 19 seconds to go in the contest. Pepperdine sank both free throws with 12 seconds left to ice the comeback, 90-84. San Diego capitalized on 11 Pepperdine turnovers in the period, collecting 20 points off those turnovers.
 
San Diego outscored the Waves in the paint 46-8 but Pepperdine held the advantage beyond the arc, hitting 12-of-22 compared to 6-of-24 for USD. The Waves finished 18-of-21 from the free throw line compared to 8-of-13 for USD. The Toreros moved the ball well, tallying 20 assists in the contest.
 
Next up the Toreros will head to Las Vegas for the 2021 UCU West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament, set to take place March 4-9.
 
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.