SAN DIEGO, Calif. – USF put forth its best defensive effort of the season on Saturday to defeat the San Diego Toreros, 60-43 inside Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
The win – USF's third in a row – improves the Dons record to 14-7 overall and 4-4 in the WCC while San Diego goes to 10-10 and 3-5 in conference action. USF is alone in fifth place in the WCC standings, one game behind Santa Clara, which improved its WCC record to 5-3 with a last second win over Loyola Marymount earlier this afternoon.
 
The 43 points scored by the Toreros were a season low by a Dons' opponent this season and the second-lowest output by San Diego in the 99-game series with USF.
 
The Dons limited San Diego to just 31.4 percent shooting from the floor, including 1-of-17 from distance.USF shot 49 percent for the game and connected on 7-of-19 of its long distance shots.
 
A total of 10 USF players got into the scoring column but none managed to score in double figures. Chase Foster and Ronnie Boyce came off the bench to score nine points while Charles Minlend and Marquill Smith each finished with seven.
 
San Diego's Brett Bailey led all scorers with 18 points while Nassir Barrino added 10. The Toreros were without the services of Olin Carter, the team's second-leading scorer, who missed the game with an injury.
 
USF trailed only briefly in the game after the Toreros scored first. The Dons opened their first double digit lead midway thought the first half at 17-6 and took a nine-point, 30-21 lead into the intermission. The Dons scored the first nine points of the second period to open a 37-21 lead and were never threatened, as the Toreros could get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
 
The Dons led by as many as 20 points twice in the game, last at 57-37 with 3:51 remaining, before winning by the final 60-43 count.
 
"I thought we came out with good intensity tonight," said USF head coach Kyle Smith. "We haven't been too good on the road this season but you really have to guard well if you are going to win away from home in this league. Obviously we caught a break with Carter out but our effort was good all night."
 
For a team that staked its early season reputation on torrid three-point shooting, the Dons have now held their last three opponents to 51 points or fewer and no higher than 36 percent shooting from the floor.
 
"Some of our younger bigs are getting better defensively which allows us to play with a bigger lineup," said Smith. "Everyone likes to score points but our keys will always be tied to our ability to defend, rebound and take care of the basketball."
 
A total of 10 players got into the scoring column while nine players logged 13 or more minutes in the game. The Dons bench outscored the Torero reserves 31-10, marking the 16th consecutive game USF has held the upper hand in bench scoring.
 
"I have a bit of an issue in that I have a lot of really good perimeter players who can step in and contribute. That's a good problem to have," said Smith.
 
The Dons will return to action Thursday night when they travel to Moraga to face the Saint Mary's Gaels. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in McKeon Pavilion and the game will be televised live in the Bay Area by CSNBA.
 
Tickets are available for USF's Hall of Fame dinner to be held on Feb. 3 at the McLaren Conference Center on campus. Former men's basketball standout James Hardy '78 joins Eduardo Rangel '66 (men's soccer), Patrick McGuigan '06 (baseball), Tami Adkins '93 (women's basketball), and Dr. Sandee Hill (special category) as the 2017 class of inductees into the Father Hubert "Hub" Flynn Hall of Fame. Click here to purchase your tickets today.