Toreros Fall Short in Mississippi

USD continued its heightened non-conference schedule last night as they took a trip down south to Oxford, Mississippi to face the Ole Miss Rebels and were defeated 93-86.

The WCC made an effort to play a more difficult non-conference schedule this season after St. Mary’s was left out of the NCAA Tournament last season with the committee citing it lack of quality wins outside of WCC play.

USD has made the effort to join the other schools in the conference in this endeavor, ultimately with the hopes of getting a potential at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The team has faced Washington in Seattle, Colorado at home and will face Oregon in Eugene and Washington State in Las Vegas. The team will also travel down I-8 to take on SDSU next Wednesday.

The Toreros’ normally strong defense which had only been giving up 59.6 ppg in the first six game this season gave up 90 points for the first time since 2017 when they lost 96-38 vs then #1 Gonzaga.

Isaiah Wright led the team with 22 points, Isaiah Pineiro scored 21 and Olin Carter III added 19 of his own.

After trailing by as many as 16 with 4:35 left, USD rallied to cut the deficit to as little as 5 with 11 seconds to go but Ole Miss hit 10 straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win for the Rebels.

The Toreros record now stands at 5-2. They host Long Beach State this Saturday with tip off scheduled for 7pm.