Rocky week as Toreros drop their fourth straight game

After an impressive showing in the Alaska Shootout over Thanksgiving Break, the Toreros returned to the mainland for a trio of big games. First up was cross-town rival San Diego State, where a packed JCP witnessed the most exciting game of this young season, but the Toreros fell 69-62 in overtime.
“We certainly had our chances,” said Head Coach Bill Grier. “In a game like this you have to make plays down the stretch. We just didn’t get it done tonight when we needed to make plays, and that cost us the game.”
USD got off to a slow start. “Early in the game, we played a little scared,” Grier said. After falling behind 15-7, the Toreros went on a 21-9 run to take a 28-22 lead with 2:46 to play in the half. However, the team failed to score the rest of the period and SDSU guard, D.J. Gay, hit a big three-pointer with 26 seconds to play as the Toreros
took a slim 28-27 lead into halftime. Gay finished as the game’s leading scorer with 22 points.
The trend of slow starts continued in the second half, when SDSU went on a 13-0 run to start it out. After being held scoreless for an appalling seven-and-a-half minute stretch, Brandon Johnson began to get going. He was a one-man wrecking crew as he brought the team back into the game, scoring 16 of the team’s next 21 points en route to a 49-48 lead with 5:28 to play. He finished with a team-high 21 points on the evening.
“I just tried to get us going,” Johnson said. “Shots just started falling, coach got me plays and, yeah, I was more aggressive in the second half,” said Johnson.
Yet the team fell into another slump as Johnson began to tire. Aware of the effects of missing an entire year due to injuries, Johnson explained his frustration with his conditioning. “I don’t know if I can play 40 minutes yet. I still have to work to get back into shape.”
Still, with their star out, Matt Dorr managed to hit a big three-pointer with 3:22 to play, but it was the last time the Toreros would score in regulation. Clinton Houston came up with a huge offensive rebound with 39 seconds to play, but with the game tied 52-52 the Toreros failed to get a good look at the basket and the game went to overtime.
As if starting the first and second half slowly wasn’t enough, the team didn’t score for the first 3:13 of the extra period, and they trailed 60-52 with just 1:47 left to play. It was not due to a lack of opportunities, however.
After the Aztecs won the tip and scored a quick basket, Clinton Houston missed a wide-open layup. After an offensive board, Roberto Mafra took the pass inside and also missed a wide-open dunk. “We missed two point-blank shots and it really took the air out of us,” Grier said.
Still, the players never gave up and De’Jon Jackson hit a three to cut the lead to five with 1:19 to play. But after Gay hit both free throws following a foul, SDSU forward Billy White blocked a Chris Lewis jump shot and took it the other way for an emphatic, game-ending dunk.
After the game, Johnson was quick to praise his opponents and offer some advice for his teammates. “I was looking forward to [this game] but they’ve got some good players. It’s basketball. You just have to look toward the next game,” he said.
The Toreros traveled north to take on UC Riverside in what looked to be an easy bounce back game. But USD let a 19-point lead slip away in the final 13 minutes as they suffered a crushing 58-55 loss.
After leading 40-24 at halftime, the Toreros continued to keep the pressure on the Highlanders and Johnson’s free throws with 13:17 and gave the team their biggest lead of the game at 48-29. Coming off of his performance against SDSU, Johnson struggled,
shooting just 2 of 10 from the field and finished the game with just 10 points.
USD scored just six points the rest of the way, and a layup by UCRV’s David Chavarria with 1:18 to play tied the game at 55. Chris Lewis missed a three-pointer on the offensive end and a foul by Devin Ginty led to two free-throws for Dwight Gordon, and he sunk them both. Johnson was then whistled for a traveling violation and Gordon hit another free throw.
Still with seven seconds to play, the Toreros had a chance to force overtime yet again. But Johnson’s attempt at the buzzer came up short and the team lost a heartbreaker
that never should have gotten away from them.
USD shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, but went an abysmal 3-19 (16.8 percent) shooting in the second half, allowing Riverside to make the late run. On top of the poor shooting, the Toreros were physically dominated throughout the game, as they were outrebounded 41-23. The week got even worse when the team traveled to Fresno to take on the Fresno State Bulldogs on Sunday.
USD was without Johnson, who sat out because of an undisclosed disciplinary reason, and his absence was certainly felt by the rest of the team. The Toreros had a terrible
night offensively, shooting a dismal 19 percent from the field, resulting in a 69-37 thrashing by the hands of the Bulldogs.
Both teams started slowly, and the score was 9-9 six-and-a-half minutes into play. But the Bulldogs went on a 20-4 run to end the half, and USD trailed 29-13 at intermission.
The Toreros never recovered, and they trailed by as much as 28 in the second half. Freshman Patrick McCollum scored 13 points for the Toreros, and he was the only player on the team in double figures. On a night when the Toreros needed him to lead the team with Johnson on the bench, De’Jon Jackson had a night he’d like to forget. He sank just one of 14 shots resulting in a mere, four points. The loss extended the Toreros losing streak to four games.
USD travels to Boise to take on the Boise State Broncos on Saturday before heading to Las Vegas for a tournament on Dec. 19 and 20 for some stiff out of conference
competition. The Toreros look to bounce back before conference play.