Toreros duel way to finals at Great Alaska Shootout

The University of San Diego men’s basketball team placed second in the Great Alaska Shootout over the Thanksgiving holidays.
The Torero men posted a 2-1 record in Anchorage while beating big name opponents
such as the University of Houston and Oklahoma University.
They advanced all the way to the championship
game of the shootout, losing to an undefeated and very talented Washington State University team. The Toreros improve to 4-2 overall as they prepare for more tough non-conference play.
In the first game of the Great Alaska Shootout, the Torero men faced the 25th ranked Oklahoma Sooners. In a game in which the Sooners were favored, the Toreros
went out and dominated.
Brandon Johnson had 18 of his 22 points in the first half to give USD a 33-27 lead they would never relinquish.
The second half proved to be a showcase
for the Toreros, as they opened up a 72-49 lead with five minutes left in the game. The Toreros ran away with this one 76-64, as they out-rebounded one of the best rebounding teams in the nation by a margin of 42 to 31.
The Torero victory over the Sooners gave USD a birth in the semi-finals of the tournament against the Houston Cougars. Clinton Houston led the Toreros to a 72-65 victory over the Cougars with a career high 21 points.
The Cougars came into the game averaging
97 points a game, but the Torero defense changed that with a hard-fought defensive performance. The Toreros lead by as many as 13 in the final five minutes of action, and made 11 of 12 free-throws in the final 2:55 to hold off a roaring Cougars squad.
The win against Houston earned USD a spot in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout against the Cougars again, but these Cougars were from Washington State University.
The Toreros’ run would come to an end as the defense could not stop the streaky shooting of Washington State. The Cougars shot a remarkable 62 percent from the floor as well as 60 percent from beyond the arc.
The Toreros cut the Cougars’ lead to two, 45-43, at the beginning of the second half, but that’s as close as they would get.
Washington State pulled away after this, taking advantage of a sloppy last 10 minutes by the Toreros to win 93-56. The Toreros shot 34.5 percent from the floor and were dominated in the main stat that had pushed them over the edge so far this season: rebounding.
The Toreros look to bounce back when they play the at University of California at Riverside on Friday at 8 p.m.