PROVO, UT – Shooting 69.2 percent (18-of-26) in the second half, BYU (16-4, 4-1 WCC) edged the San Diego men's basketball team (10-8, 3-2 WCC) on Thursday, 79-71.
Returning from injury after missing seven games, senior
Jase Townsend led the Toreros with 14 points, including 2-of-4 from long range. Townsend also dished a team-high three assists.
Senior forward
Marcellus Earlington added 12 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in the loss.
Junior
Yavuz Gultekin went into double-figures for the fifth straight game, ending with 11 points and six rebounds.
Redshirt senior
Joey Calcaterra scored 10 points in the loss to go along with three rebounds.
San Diego drops to 10-8 (3-2 WCC) on the season, and will remain on the road to face Pacific on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- San Diego jumped out to a 6-2 lead behind jumpers from Calcaterra and Brown-Soares in addition to two Earlington free throws.
- Shortly after, Calcaterra buried two triples to put USD up 12-7.
- BYU battled back with eight straight points from Seneca Knight.
- San Diego used a 6-0 run, including two jumpers from Gultekin and one from Pinchuk, to move back ahead 25-23.
- The Toreros built another 6-0 run with two Townsend layups and an Earlington bucket for a 31-27 lead, but the Cougars answered with four-straight to end the half. At the break, the game was knotted at 31-31.
- The Cougars built a seven-point lead over the first 7:30 of the second half, but Wayne McKinney answered with four straight points, including two free throws and a layup.
- BYU extended its lead to 12 with 7:09 left. A Parrish layup and back-to-back triples from Gultekin and Berger quickly cut the deficit to four.
- After another Gultekin layup to make it 65-60, BYU went on a 10-3 run to put the game out of reach. Four free throws over the final minute sealed the win for the Cougars.
TORERO TIDBITS
- Earlington went into double-figures for a team-leading 14th time this season. He is averaging 13.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
- Gultekin has scored at least 11 points in every WCC game thus far.
- Townsend is second on the team with 11.9 points per game.
- San Diego went 8-for-20 from three-point range.
- BYU won the rebounding battle, 38-28.
- USD scored 22 points off of 12 BYU turnovers.
UP NEXT
USD will travel to Pacific on Saturday at 5:30 PM PT. The Tigers hold a 16-8 lead in the all-time series, including three straight wins.
