SAN DIEGO — The Toreros forced 20 turnovers and never trailed Sunday afternoon, beating Colorado State 73-58 in their exhibition opener at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Colorado State was a familiar opponent for first-year San Diego men's basketball head coach JR Blount, who spent three seasons (2018-21) as an assistant with the Rams before five seasons at Iowa State. The Cyclones ranked among the nation's best at forcing turnovers during his time there, and his first Torero team looked the part. USD turned the Rams' 20 giveaways into 20 points and committed only five turnovers itself.
Jevon Hill's 3-pointer 11 seconds in put San Diego ahead for good. Marqui Worthy Jr. answered the Rams' first basket with a layup, then picked off a pass and hit a 3-pointer for an 8-2 lead. After Colorado State got within 12-10, back-to-back steals by Antonio Munoz and freshman Chace Holley turned into fast-break baskets 25 seconds apart for a 16-10 lead.
Worthy's second 3-pointer made it 22-12 with 11:24 left in the half. Colorado State answered with nine straight points to get within 22-21. Dusty Stromer's floater started a 9-1 response, capped by a Holley driving layup for a 31-22 lead.
Six straight Colorado State points cut it to 31-28. Sekou Konneh's two free throws with 55 seconds left made it 33-28, and Stromer blocked a layup at the horn to keep it there at halftime.
The Toreros scored the first seven points of the second half. Worthy set up a Davion Hill layup and a Jevon Hill 3-pointer before Konneh's floater made it 40-28, and Colorado State got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
An 8-0 run capped by Jose Roberto Tanchyn's 3-pointer made it 55-36 with 9:07 left. Less than a minute later, Jevon Hill's step-back 3-pointer gave San Diego its first 20-point lead at 58-38. The lead reached 21 three times, the last on a Davion Hill floater for a 70-49 edge with 2:55 to play.
Jevon Hill finished with 18 points, going 5-of-10 from 3-point range and 3-of-3 at the free-throw line, and added two steals. Davion Hill scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes, with a team-high four assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Worthy added 10 points, a team-high three steals, five rebounds and three assists. Holley scored nine points off the bench, and Konneh had seven points, a team-high six rebounds and three assists. Stromer scored seven in a team-high 30 minutes, and Terry McMorris added five rebounds and two blocks.
San Diego shot 48.4% in the second half while holding Colorado State to 34.6%. For the game, the Toreros went 10-of-25 from 3-point range to the Rams' 6-of-30. They also had 11 steals and outscored Colorado State 8-1 in fast-break points.
UP NEXT
San Diego closes preseason exhibition play at No. 22 UCLA on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion, with the game streaming on B1G+. The Toreros open the regular season against Biola on Monday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on ESPN+. Tickets for USD's season opener are on sale now.
