SAN DIEGO — Junior guard Deuce Turner scored a game-high 30 points on Saturday night  but San Diego men's basketball couldn't keep up with Santa Clara, dropping a tough 82-69 decision to the Broncos before a crowd of 2,371 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

The Toreros (16-12, 6-7 WCC) faced a first-half deficit of 17 points and were able to cut the lead down to five against SCU (17-10, 8-4 WCC). In the second half, Santa Clara's lead reached 19 before the USD could get no closer than seven with four minutes remaining. 

San Diego opened 1-of-15 from three-point range before making four of their final seven shots from beyond the arc

USD's four-game win streak in West Coast Conference play was snapped as the Toreros suffered their first home loss since January 20.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• USD won the tip and freshman guard Kevin Patton Jr. recorded the first point of the game with a free throw at the 18:45 mark. 
• At the first timeout of the game, the two teams were knotted up at 3-3 with 15:54 remaining. 
• Santa Clara then went on a 15-0 run that took off 6:12 heading into the second media timeout to take a 18-3 lead with 11:10 left in the first half. 
• The Broncos' 15-0 run came to an end when Turner made both of his free throws at the 10:30 mark of the opening half. 
• Over the next four minutes, the USD offense started to get rolling as Turner scored seven points on perfect 3-for-3 shooting from the field, including a three-pointer, to cut the lead down to 12, 26-14, with 6:15 remaining. The junior guard made a fadeaway jumper heading into a timeout and earned a trip to the free throw line to complete the three-point play. 
• Turner made the free throw and on the next San Diego offensive possession, he returned to the charity stripe to make 1-of-3 shots from the line at the 5:50 mark. 
• After USD forced a couple of turnovers, including a shot clock violation, the deficit remained 12, 28-16, with 4:16 left as Santa Clara called a timeout. 
• The Toreros were able to cut the deficit inside single digits by going on an 8-0 run, lasting 3:50 to make the score 28-23 in favor of the Broncos with 2:05 left. 
• Heading into intermission, San Diego trailed 32-23. Turner led all players with 11 points at the break while Jamerson II had a game-high six rebounds
• Junior guard Wayne McKinney III opened the second half with a jumper in the lane, but at the opening timeout of the second half, the Toreros' nine-point deficit remained intact with the score at 39-30 in Santa Clara's favor with 15:49 remaining. 
• SCU went on a 6-0 run to extend its lead to 15, 47-32 with 11:49 remaining.  
• USD was able to cut the deficit back down to a dozen, 55-43 with eight minutes left in regulation after McKinney III scored four straight points.
• Junior guard PJ Hayes knocked down the Toreros' second three-pointer on Saturday night at the 5:26 mark and their first since the 6:47 mark of the first half to cut the lead down to 16, 65-49. Thirty seconds later, Turner found his mark for his second made basket from long range. 
• The Toreros made it an 11-0 run, lasting 86 seconds when Hayes made his second three-pointer in two minutes with the assist from Turner. And with 3:51 left, USD trailed 67-60. 
• San Diego would get no closer as Santa Clara went on a 15-9 run across the game's final three minutes to seal the win.

TORERO TIDBITS 

• Junior guard Deuce Turner, who recorded 19 of his 30 points in the second half, notched his second 30-point game this season, marking the fourth time this season that a Torero has reached 30 points in a game. 
• Junior guard Wayne McKinney III and freshman guard Kevin Patton Jr. recorded 13 and 11 points, respectively to round out San Diego's list of double-digit scorers on Saturday night. 
• Saturday night marked San Diego's second loss this season when it had three players score in double figures. 
• USD's six assists tied a season-low and were its fewest in a single game since November 25 against Hawaii.
• Saturday's attendance of 2,371 was the Toreros' second highest home crowd this season.

THEY SAID IT

• Head Coach Steve Lavin on the difficulty of relying on comeback victories:
  • "We cut it to seven at one point (in the second half). There were some surges. We were down 17 and then we got down to 19. But then we cut it, we kept coming back, but it's a tall task against a better team that has tall players."
• Junior Deuce Turner on the defensive presence Santa Clara brought: 
  • "They were being really aggressive. I know on PJ, they were not leaving (him) at all. They were making sure when I got the ball to really press up on me, and so they did a really good job as far as taking away the three and forcing us to shoot twos. And the threes that we took were tough." 

UP NEXT 
The Toreros are back in action next weekend, when they travel to Moraga, California to continue WCC play on the road against No. 18 Saint Mary's. Tip-off on Saturday night at the UCU Pavilion is set for 7:00 p.m., and the matchup will be televised nationally on ESPNU.