PORTLAND – San Diego ran to a 20-point halftime lead and withstood a second half Portland surge to sweep the season series with an 89-73 victory Saturday night at the Chiles Center. Five Toreros (14-11, 6-6 WCC) reached double figures, led by 22 points from reserve forward Floyd North III as USD shot 52.4 percent from the field. Junior guard Darren Cooper scored a career-high 21 points for Portland (15-13, 4-9 WCC).
The Pilots have lost four of their last five games and fall to seventh place in the West Coast Conference standings with just one regular season game remaining. The Toreros complete the sweep of the season series, after thumping the Pilots 92-58 in San Diego on Jan. 20.
“San Diego played great from the opening tip and it was catch up for us from the start,” said Portland head coach Michael Holton. “Giving up 47 points in a half and 89 for the game ... it is going to be tough to win games giving up that many points.”
USD senior forward Brandon Gay got into early foul trouble, but still finished with 19 points and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the field. Senior forward Brice Vounang notched a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Nick Lewis and Ross DeRogatis chipped in 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Cooper made 11-of-13 free throws and added four rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Pooh Jeter added 14 points for the Pilots. Donald Wilson and Marcus Lewis had 11 points and seven boards each.
Down 23 with 14:49 remaining in the game, Portland used a 10-0 run over the next 2:30 to energize the crowd of 2,687. North III quelled the spurt with a pair of free-throws and a jumper. Vounang then made one of two from the line and Gay had a thunderous put-back dunk to bring the USD lead back to 20 with 9:30 left.
The Pilots would get no closer than a 14-point deficit in the closing minutes as the Toreros made 10-of-14 at the charity stripe down the stretch.
USD made nine of its first 10 shot attempts and led by as much as 25 points on Brice Vounang’s three-point play at 2:18 remaining in the first period. Portland closed the half with an 8-3 run, making it 47-27 at the break.
“Defense was a big part of the separation in the first half,” noted Cooper. “We just didn’t get defensive stops when we needed them. We wanted to come out and establish the ‘first punch’, but we just didn’t get out there and execute and play Pilot basketball.”
The 47 first-half points allowed tied a Portland opponent season-high. USD also scored 47 in the first half when the teams met earlier this year. The Pilots entered the week with an 8-2 home record, but were swept on the homestand as San Francisco claimed a 58-56 comeback win on Thursday.
“The goal was to return home and win three games,” Holton said, referring to the Pilots’ final three games at the Chiles Center to close the regular season. “We’ve come up short on two of those opportunities. Tonight I didn’t think we played well enough to win and San Diego had everything to do with that.”
The Pilots will wrap up regular-season WCC play at home on Thursday, Feb. 24 when they take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off. The game is sold out, but will be aired live on ESPN2.
