SAN DIEGO — A game-high 22 points from Ty-Laur Johnson helped San Diego men's basketball open West Coast Conference play with a 66-54 victory over Pacific on Sunday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Johnson was 6-for-13 from the field, a career-best 5-for-8 from distance, and 5-for-6 from the line as he came within a point of his USD career high in scoring. He also notched six steals, which is tied for the second most in a single game in program history and just one shy of the San Diego record.

"Today I played at my pace," Johnson said after the game. "I didn't let anybody speed me up, I took my time with my shots, and they went in."

His dominant afternoon led the Toreros (6-7, 1-0 WCC) to a wire-to-wire win that saw them lead by as many as 15 after opening the game on a 17-5 run. Pacific (9-5, 0-1 WCC) pulled back within four, 48-44 in the middle stages of the second half, but San Diego outscored UOP by an 18-10 margin across the game's final 10 minutes to secure its third victory in its last four contests.

"You're starting to see some improvement on both ends of the court," said USD head coach Steve Lavin. "When Pacific made their run — which was inevitable — I was proud of our response, to be able to go on a run of our own and seal the victory down the stretch."

Strong performances from Juanse Gorosito (17 points), Toneari Lane (12 points), and Adrian McIntyre (10 points) complemented Johnson's big day. Vuk Boskovic grabbed 10 rebounds, the most by any USD player in a single game this season.

NOTABLE

• The Toreros are winners of three of their last four, two over top-101 NET sides
• Johnson's six steals were tied for the second most by a Torero in a single game ever, just one shy of the all-time program record, six being last achieved by Jaiden Delaire on Nov. 21, 2022
• San Diego held the guests to 4-22 (18.2%) from three, going 12-30 (40%) from beyond the arc themselves
• It's just the third time four Toreros have scored in double figures, now 2-1 in those games
• USD notched a season best 13 times, forcing 20-plus turnovers out of its opponents for a third time this season, remaining top-60 nationally in turnovers forced per game
• On the other side of the ball, the Toreros turned the ball over a season-low eight times, having an 25-8 edge in points off turnovers
• The 54 points San Diego held Pacific to on Sunday are a season-low for the Tigers
• It's the second straight season that the Toreros top Pacific in both teams' West Coast Conference opening day
• Lavin rolled out the same starting five for a third straight game, the first starting lineup of nine to start three games together
• USD is 6-2 on the season when a player scores 20-plus points
• Vuk Boskovic is the first Torero with more than eight rebounds in a game this season (10)

UP NEXT
The Toreros are back in action on Tuesday afternoon, when they continue their WCC schedule by hosting No. 7 Gonzaga at the JCP. Tip-off against the Zags is set for 6:30 p.m.