The Toreros kept it close for a while but when you’re on the road against the fourth-ranked team in the nation — one of the few teams that can beat and has beaten Duke — keeping it close is usually not enough.
USD got a fantastic game from senior Isaiah Pineiro, but not much else, in an 85-69 loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday in Spokane, Washington.
Pineiro scored 30 points, going 5-of-8 from 3-point land, to go with 11 rebounds and was really the only reason the Toreros were still in the game midway through the second half. The senior drilled a 3 to cut the Gonzaga lead to 61-53 with eight minutes to play. After that, the Zags went on a 16-4 run to put it out of reach.
Junior forward Rui Hachimura did a lot of the damage. He scored 32 points, one of four Bulldogs to reach double figures. USD falls to 15-8 and 4-4 in the West Coast Conference while Gonzaga moves to 21-2 and 8-0 in the WCC.
But Bulldogs still have to come to San Diego in a couple of weeks and Jenny Craig Pavilion is going to be slammed. All the seats for their showdown on Saturday, Feb. 16 are sold out and there are only a few standing-room-only spots available.
