USD Reaches a Low in Loss to St. Mary’s : Basketball: Teams shoot 30% from the field, and Toreros equal their Division I low for points in a 46-36 defeat.

It was a game for the ages--at least the score was more reminiscent of the 1950s than the ‘90s.

The University of San Diego and St. Mary’s hooked up in a West Coast Conference defensive struggle Friday, with St. Mary’s winning, 46-36.

The victory boosted St. Mary’s to 11-4 overall and 2-0 in the WCC. USD fell to 8-6 and 1-1.

The point total tied USD’s lowest since the program upgraded to Division I in 1979; the Toreros were held to the same total in a 41-36 loss to San Diego State in the 1981-82 season.

In Coach Hank Egan’s eight-year tenure, the Toreros’ previous low had been 40 points in a 41-40 loss to St. Mary’s in 1987-88.

USD doesn’t keep halftime statistics, but it’s a good bet St. Mary’s 15-12 halftime advantage would approach a record for futility as well.

St. Mary’s, which won its sixth game in a row, came into the contest leading the WCC in defense, and packed a tight zone around scoring leaders Kelvin Woods and Gylan Dottin.

USD’s outside shooters, left open much of the game, were two-for-16 from three-point range. The Toreros shot 23.8% in the first half (five for 21) and 29.8% for the game (14 for 47). St. Mary’s was nearly as futile, connecting on 24% in the first half and 30.4% overall.

“We shot it horrible, we were lucky to be in the game,” Egan said. “We’ve struggled on the road this year, but not this bad. Some of what (St. Mary’s defense) did bothered us. Some of it was them, some of it was us.”

USD is 1-5 outside San Diego.

The Toreros fell behind, 12-5, midway through the first half but pulled to within 12-10 on a mini-rally highlighted by Wayman Strickland’s long three-point basket. The Toreros went scoreless for the next eight minutes until Dottin beat the halftime buzzer with a layup of an in-bounds play for the 15-12 halftime score.

The Toreros never got closer. St. Mary’s scored the first four points of the second half. USD closed to within three at 25-22, but St. Mary’s scored five points in a row and the Toreros were never closer than six after that.

Woods finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and was the only player in the game to score in double figures. St. Mary’s was led by guards Darrell Daniel and Thurman Watson with nine and eight points. Center Eric Bamberger had seven points and 10 rebounds.