LA JOLLA, CALIF. – Friday night's crosstown rivalry matchup came down to the last second as USD junior guard
Ty-Laur Johnson banked in a game-winning three to topple UC San Diego on the road, 82-80.
After UCSD took its first lead since the opening minutes with just 15 seconds to go, Johnson's 3-pointer through traffic with half a second remaining inside LionTree Arena secured the Toreros their first quad-1 win in almost seven years and first road win in 678 days.
The Toreros led for a 36-minute stretch fronted by a strong rebounding effort, passing distribution and high-volume 3-point shooting from the Toreros. A comeback by the NET No. 48 hosts saw them take the lead, only for 14 seconds at the end of the full 40 before Johnson's clutch winner.
Johnson finished with a Torero season-best 23 points in a second straight game to go with seven assists and tied career-highs three made 3-point field goals and six rebounds. In his fourth career game, freshman
Alejandro Aviles grabbed a USD season-high eight rebounds in addition to seven points, four assists, a steal and a block. Grad guard
Toneari Lane added a season-best 17 points.
How it Happened
- Grad guard Adrian McIntyre made his second start of the season as the Toreros rolled out their ninth different starting lineup in 11 games
- USD found success early on the offensive glass and from behind the arc to get out to its first lead a couple of minutes in
- The hosts kept up by finding success of their own in the paint, going on an 8-0 run
- At the half, the Toreros led 40-31, plus-eight on total rebounds with 10 offensive boards, a 3-point disparity of 6-for-20 to 2-for-14 over one of the west coast's best 3-point shooting teams
- Aviles and Johnson made big plays out of the gates to start the second half
- USD went on to make seven straight field goals, four straight from 3-point territory, to lead by as much as 15 points
- UCSD slowly chipped away the next 10-plus minutes, cutting to within three on a 10-0 run
- The Toreros ran out of timeouts with 5:19 remaining following a failed challenge
- Finally, the favored Tritons took the lead back for the first time since the opening minutes of the game after Emanuel Prospere II went 2-for-2 at the free throw line with 15.7 seconds remaining
- Even after a jump ball, USD maintained possession in attempt to get a potential winning shot off
- And so they did as Johnson's inbound with 4.6 left was returned to him by the freshman Aviles, the junior guard from Brooklyn, N.Y. then hitting the pull-up three off the backboard with just half a second remaining
- UCSD was unable to get another shot off, seeing through the USD 82-80 victory
Notable
- The Toreros secure their first quadrant-1 victory since a Feb. 28, 2019, 40 Q1 attempts ago, a 91-90 win at San Francisco in overtime, a season in which the Toreros earned a bid in the NIT
- USD is one of just two WCC teams to claim a quad-1 win this season, joining NET No. 3 Gonzaga
- San Diego clinches its first road wins since Feb. 10, 2024, 17 away contests ago, an 89-84 win at Pacific
- The Toreros, entering the night 11th in the nation in free throw percentage, went 10-11 from the charity stripe, proving the difference in the victory
- USD logged season second bests in points (82), offensive rebounds (15), assists (19) and free throw percentage (90.9%)
- San Diego now leads the all-time series over UC San Diego, 21-3, it's first win since the 2022-23 season
Up Next
There's no rest for the wicked as the Toreros gear up for their second quad-1 opportunity of four in a six-game stretch, leaving the Golden State for the first time to take on Washington in Seattle on Monday. Tip-off from Alaska Airlines Arena at historic Hec Edmundson Pavilion is set for 7 p.m., airing live on Big Ten Network.
