TEMPE, Ariz. – San Diego led for over 14 minutes and by as much as 12 points against NET No. 33 Arizona State on the road Tuesday night, however, falling by a final score of 54-90 at game's end.
 
Following their first road game of the season and defeat to their first quad one opponent, the Toreros now fall to 3-5 on the young season ahead of a Saturday night matchup against cross-town rival San Diego State.
 
USD was again led junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr., who tallied 15 points. Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet continued his run of double-digit scoring in his first three career starts with 10 points.
 
Graduate guard and Phoenix native Deven Dahlke had a game-high three steals and four assists in 34:25 minutes played. Collectively on defense, San Diego notched nine steals and forced 14 Sun Devils turnovers while surrendering 13 takeaways. The Toreros also held the game advantage in points in the paint.
 
The difference proved to be in rebounds and 3-point shooting. USD was out-rebounded by the hosts, 48-33, and the Sun Devils shot 12-23 (52.2%) from beyond the arc while the Toreros made at a 2-19 (22.2%) clip.
 
How it Happened

• USD Head Coach Steve Lavin, now 13-6 all-time vs. Arizona State and 7-4 in Tempe, rolled out the same lineup from the game prior
• The Toreros executed their physical gameplan early and built a 10-3 lead after the first media timeout, holding ASU to a 1-9 start from the field
• An and-one conversion and technical foul assessed to the home bench led to points from freshman guard Tony Duckett Jr. in his second career start and a 17-5 Torero lead
• The Sun Devils would go on an 11-4 run to chop away at the deficit, their first streak of several
• Arizona State came back for the lead at 29-27 with 4:25 remaining in the first half on an 8-0 run
• The 8-0 run turned into a 15-2 ASU run to end the half with USD down seven, 33-40
• The hosts continued their momentum into the second half, shooting 7-7 from 3-point land and 11-14 on field goals out of the half t extend their lead
• San Diego sophomore guard Nick Del Bosque made his collegiate career debut late in the game while junior guard Neel Beniwal made his season debut, playing over six minutes

 
Up Next
The Toreros return to America's Finest City and travel east on I-8 Saturday, taking on intra-city rival, AP No. 24 San Diego State at 7 p.m. in Viejas Arena. The game will be streamed on YurView while Jack Cronin and Braden Surprenant will have the call on Toreros radio via USDToreros.com/watch. Updates can also be followed on the @USDMBB social media pages.
 
 
Post Game Quotes
 
San Diego Head Coach Steve Lavin
 
Opening Statement
This was a learning experience for our team. We got off to a terrific start on the road, against a quality Arizona State team, but naturally I'm disappointed that we didn't finish in a stronger fashion. There are a number of elements that we can learn from in terms of this game, in particular we did not sustain the level of execution & effort that we're going to need this season to be successful.
 
On the strong start and gameplan…
I felt that we were tied together offensively. We were making the extra pass. We were able to find the open man and get good shots. Offensively, we were sharp and our defense was tied together. We played a full court press back into a two-three zone, and that was effective initially as well. Our foul trouble was problematic, both Steven Jamerson and Santiago Trouet had multiple fouls and from that point forward, it was more challenging. But again, some positives early, and lots of lessons learned from the second half. Defensively, we had some breakdowns. We didn't take care of the boards in terms of controlling the paint, yet let's give Arizona State some credit. They're a heck of a team. They got wins over Grand Canyon, St. Mary's and New Mexico, and they're trending towards an NCAA Tournament. They shot the ball terrific – lights out in the second half – and had a nice balance of an inside-outside attack. They had 17 assists. There are a number of elements that we have to improve upon as we move forward and prepare for our matchup at San Diego State this weekend.
 
On takeaways from individual performances…
Santiago did some good things offensively, hit some tough shots. He gives us a presence on the interior, but is also comfortable on the perimeter. For his size, he's got a unique skill set and has demonstrated maturity over the course of his second year with us and he has a bright future. Kjay is a playmaker and a shot maker. Teams are going to load up on him defensively, so naturally he's going to improve over the course of the season at making reads & finding his teammates to best orchestrate offensively. We have to keep in mind, KJay was out a few months with a stress fracture, so he's just returning to better condition. He definitely made some big plays early tonight. 
 
On moving forward ahead of the game at SDSU Saturday…
Well, you hit the nail on the head with the question: the key is moving forward. You learn from a setback like this against Arizona State, and then you get back on the court and start working on areas that are deficient and build on our strengths. We did some great things in the first half tonight, and now we've got to sustain that level of execution and effort over the course of an entire game. Easier said than done because the opponent is trying to beat you, but we've got to turn our attention towards San Diego State. We'll get back on the practice floor to create momentum in prep to take on the Aztecs this Saturday.