LOS ANGELES — San Diego was within four points of No. 22 UCLA in the final minute of the first half on Tuesday night before the Bruins pulled away in the second half for an 82-50 win in the Toreros' exhibition finale at Pauley Pavilion.
Two days after opening exhibition play with a 73-58 win over Colorado State, the Toreros closed the preseason in their first road exhibition game under first-year head coach JR Blount. San Diego outrebounded UCLA 27-22 in the first half, including 14 offensive boards, to stay within range. The Bruins won the second half 47-21, opening it on a 13-2 run, and outrebounded the Toreros 28-17 after the break.
The game's only tie came at 2-2 on Sekou Konneh's tip-in dunk, and UCLA went back in front for good on its next basket. Dusty Stromer scored six of San Diego's first 13 points, and Jose Roberto Tanchyn's 3-pointer off a Stromer assist cut the deficit to 19-13 with 10:10 left in the half.
UCLA pushed its lead to 10 at 25-15 on a fast-break dunk off a steal with 6:37 left. San Diego answered with eight of the next 11 points. Freshman Chace Holley started the push with a driving layup, and Terry McMorris' second layup of the stretch made it 28-23 with 3:49 to go.
Down 32-23 after a UCLA 3-pointer with 1:51 left, the Toreros got four free throws from Antonio Munoz and a driving layup from Braylon Roman to pull within 33-29 with 46 seconds remaining. UCLA made two free throws with 19 seconds left for a 35-29 halftime lead.
Out of the break, two UCLA free throws and a Davion Hill hook shot made it 37-31 with 19:29 left. UCLA then scored 11 straight points over 2:53 for a 48-31 lead before freshman Brannon Martinsen ended the run with a 3-pointer off a Holley assist. The lead first went past 20 at 55-34 with 12:44 left and peaked at 32 with 2:09 to go.
Stromer, a Sherman Oaks native, led San Diego with 14 points, and both of his 3-pointers came in the second half. McMorris added 13 points off the bench on 3-of-6 shooting and 7-of-9 at the free-throw line. Seven of his points came after halftime, including a three-point play on a Holley assist.
Konneh pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, six on the offensive end, in 21 minutes. Munoz had six points and five rebounds, Martinsen added four points and a team-high three steals, and Holley had four points, a team-high two assists and a block.
Reserves accounted for 32 of San Diego's 50 points. UCLA went 31-of-38 at the free-throw line, scored 24 points off 15 Torero turnovers and held a 16-0 edge in fast-break points. San Diego shot 24.2% from the field and 4-of-25 from 3-point range.
UP NEXT
San Diego opens the regular season against Biola on Monday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on ESPN+. Tickets for the home opener are on sale now.
