Toreros defeat Portland State 87-65 in the First Round of the CollegeInsiders.com Tournament

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego, CA- The University of San Diego Toreros defeated the Portland State Vikings 87-65 in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. For the Toreros this was the first time they hosted a post-season game at home in program history.

The Toreros started the game strong on offense, going on a 16-9 run to start the game. Portland State would cut the lead to two at 27-25 with 3:13 left in the half, until the Toreros ended the half on an 11-4 run to close out the first half and lead Portland State 36-27 at the half.

In the second half the Portland State would cut the Toreros lead to single digits at 46-41 midway through the second half, until Johnny Dee scored five straight points to extend the Toreros lead back to double digits at 53-4. The Toreros would maintain their lead the rest of the second half and cruise to a 87-65 win over Portland State in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Toreros 87 points were a season high and the victory was the Toreros first postseason victory since their upset victory over the University of Connecticut in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Toreros leading scorer Johnny Dee lead the way with 22 points and point guard Christopher Anderson finished with a double-double on 11 points and 11 assists. With his 11 assists, Anderson set a Toreros single season record for assists with 200 assists.

Tonight’s game was the Toreros first postseason appearance in the CollegeInsiders.com tournament, the program’s fifth appearance in the postseason overall and their first since making the NCAA tournament in 2008, when the Toreros lead by current Head Coach Bill Grier upset UCONN in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.