San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
USD FINDS A WAY TO WIN WITH RANKS A BIT THIN
It’s been a rough stretch for the University of San Diego men’s basketball team, and matters got worse prior to Saturday night’s game against Loyola Marymount.
Graduate senior forward Jaiden Delaire was in a warmup suit with a walking boot on his right foot, an injury suffered in Thursday’s home loss to Portland — this after he had just returned following 12 missed games with a hand injury.
Graduate senior guard Eric Williams Jr. was out with a foot injury and fifth-year senior guard Jase Townsend was not with the team as he was with family in Indiana following the passing of his grandfather.
So coach Steve Lavin juggled his starting lineup with guard Deuce Turner taking the place of Sigu Sisho Jawara and also went deep into his bench.
The result was an 87-79 win over a LMU team that beat No. 6 Gonzaga on Jan. 19 and has the profile of a potential NCAA tournament team.
The Toreros (11-14, 4-8 WCC) snapped a two-game losing skid by shooting 54.2 percent from the field (nine made 3-pointers) and scoring 27 fast-break points.
LMU (16-9, 6-5) was paced by guard Cam Shelton’s 25 points.
Marcellus Earlington led USD with 30 points, Turner added 20 and reserves like Nic Lynch (six points) chipped in as well.
The Toreros jumped out to a 12-4 lead, LMU came back to tie it and then a funny thing happened: USD went on a run with a unit including seldom used reserves Neel Beniwal, a freshman guard, and sophomore guard Dominic Muncey (Cathedral Catholic).
The USD lead reached 38-30 late in the first half and the Toreros carried a 43-38 edge into halftime after forcing nine turnovers and turning them into 17 points.
The game turned at the start of the second half as the Toreros went to a zone defense and Shelton knocked down a trio of 3pointers, and the LMU lead reached 65-55 when Keli Leaupepe knocked down a 3 at the 12:09 mark.
The Toreros came back and took a 71-67 lead when Wayne Mckinney III (Coronado) drove, made a layup, drew a foul and then knocked down the free throw.
Turner drove and made a layup to make it 73-67 USD with 5:56 to go, and then Lynch drained his second 3-pointer of the game to make it 76-67.
LMU’S Jalin Anderson then made two 3-balls and after a timeout, Earlington responded with his biggest shot of the night: a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down and 6-foot-6 Leaupepe in his face.
After an LMU miss, Earlington knocked down a smooth pull-up jumper and with just under a minute to go, the senior made two free throws to make it 83-73 USD.
The Lions went into foul mode and USD put the game away at the free-throw line.
CSU Bakersfield 56, UC San Diego 52: For the second straight game, UC San Diego let a double-digit second half lead slip away and host CSU Bakersfield (6-11, 2-4 Big West) took advantage. Despite 16 points each from Francis Nwaokorie and Bryce Pope, the setback was the fourth consecutive for the Tritons (6-11 overall, 1-4 Big West).
USC 80, Washington 74: Tre White scored 22 points, Kobe Johnson had 21 and USC turned back visiting Washington. USC’S fourth straight win was the 200th victory for coach Andy Enfield, who is in his 10th season with the Trojans.
Boogie Ellis (Mission Bay HS) contributed 14 points and five assists for the Trojans (17-6, 9-3 Pac-12). Keion Brooks Jr. made 11 of 13 foul shots and scored 22 points to lead the Huskies (13-12, 5-9).
Oregon 75, Arizona State 70: N’faly Dante scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, Keeshawn Barthelemy added 15 points and Oregon blew most of a 12-point lead before the Ducks beat host Arizona State. Will Richardson added 14 points for Oregon (13-10, 7-5 Pac-12). DJ Horne scored 18 points for the Sun Devils (16-8, 7-6).
Utah State 88, Colorado State 79: Steven Ashworth had 26 points to lead Utah State to victory at Colorado State. The Aggies (19-5, 8-3 Mountain West) host San Diego State on Wednesday. The Rams (10-14, 2-9) were led by Isaiah Stevens with 25 points and eight assists.