SAN FRANCISCO -- USF's New Year's night party in Memorial Gymnasium was spoiled by the San Diego Toreros who earned their first WCC victory with a 57-56 win over the host Dons.

The Toreros won the game despite not having one player score in double figures, including leading scorer Johnny Dee, who was held to just four points on the night, 14 below his season average. The Toreros managed to shoot just 41.5 percent from the field and were outrebounded, 38-30 by the Dons.

After shooting 56 percent in the first half to take a 33-28 lead at intermission, USF (7-8, 1-2) made just 8-of-28 shots from the floor and scored just 23 points after the break, dropping below .500 for the first time this season,

Mark Tollefsen led all scorers with 14 points while Matt Glover added 11. USF's leading scorer Kruize Pinkins was plagued by foul trouble all night and was held to just seven points. The Dons shot 41.5 percent for the game.

Chris Anderson scored a team high nine points for the Toreros, including four which came on layups down the stretch.

San Diego took its first lead in the game at the 12:11 mark of the second half on a Vasa Pusica layup that gave the Toreros a 44-43 edge. The game was tied at 51 with 3:52 left when Anderson drove the lane to give the Toreros a 53-51 lead. After Tollefsen missed a pair of free throws, Duda Sanadze drained a jumper to give the Toreros a four point lead at 55-51 with 3:01 remaining.

USF came up empty on its next four possessions until Pinkins cut the lead to two at 55-53 with a follow off a contested miss by Devin Watson with :49 left. Following a San Diego timeout, Anderson drove the lane again and his layup with :25 left gave the Toreros a 57-53 lead.

Tollefsen gave the Dons life when completed a three-point play after converting a rebound off a missed free throw by Glover with :13 left.

The Dons had a chance to win the game in the last seconds when Duda Sanadze missed a pair of free throws with 4.8 seconds remaining and the Toreros holding onto a 57-56 lead. Glover gathered the second miss and raced up the court only to be stripped of the ball by Anderson before he could get off a shot.

USF will return to action on Saturday night when the Dons play host to the BYU Cougars beginning at 8:00 p.m.

Rex Walters' Post-Game Comments

"I thought we pressed a little bit in the second half. Their ball screen defense hurt us a bit and we never got anything going with Kruize (Pinkins). We never established an inside presence. We got away with it a little in the first half but we didn't have a post presence all night."

"Teams are calling us out by being physical with our posts and seeing what we do after that."

"Nothing came easy all night. We had to grind for everything we got."

"Missing four free throws down the stretch hurt us and we have to guard Chris Anderson better. Tim (Derksen) and Chris (Adams) did a good job containing Dee, which gave us a chance."