SAN DIEGO – San Diego Men's Basketball came up short against Southern Utah in the home multi-team event opener, falling by a final score of 67-72 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Friday night.
Despite an unfavorable final slate, the Toreros had several individual performances shine through the clouds, fronted by junior guard
Kjay Bradley Jr.'s 27 points, his third 20-plus point game in his first five games at the DI level.
In his career debut, freshman guard
Tony Duckett scored six points and finished plus-11. Senior forward
Colby Brooks made his USD debut and finished a team-high plus-12. Senior forward
Bendji Pierre made his season debut and tacked on six points and six rebounds.
How it Happened
- USD Head Coach Steve Lavin rolled out an all-California starting five as freshman forward Gavin Ripp got his first career start and senior guard Dominic Muncey made his first start of the season
- It was a slow start for both teams, 2-7 from the field on each end in the opening five minutes
- Duckett entered the court for the first time in his career and quickly made a spinning fadeaway to snap the Toreros two-field goal first 7:19
- The Toreros entered the locker room at the half trailing 30-32 on 38.5% shooting from the field
- USD had a slow start to begin the second period, too, an 0-5 stretch in the first 3:26
- The Thunderbirds would go on a 14-0 tear on 4-5 from three (finished the game 9-26) to take a game-high 16-point lead
- San Diego answered with a run of their own, scoring nine unanswered in a span of 3:25
- From there, the Toreros continued to chip away, led by Pierre and Brooks who helped USD to a 30-22 points-in-the-paint final margin
- USD got within four of the opposition multiple times, including after a Bradley Jr. four-point play with 30.7 seconds remaining but would get no closer
Up Next
San Diego will take on the Idaho Vandals in the second leg of the home MTE on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2 p.m. in the JCP. Idaho takes on Southern Utah for a neutral site matchup Saturday on America's Most Beautiful Campus at 2 p.m..
