The Santa Clara Broncos are off to a tough start in West Coast Conference play as they dropped their third straight conference game in a rather surprising upset. The Broncos dropped a 75-62 decision to the San Diego Toreros after entering the game as ten point favorites against the formerly WCC-winless squad. The loss drops Santa Clara to 8-8 overall and 0-3 in conference. San Diego improes to 6-10 overall and 1-3 in conference.
Santa Clara got some solid scoring efforts, but they struggled to contain Toreros freshman guard Johnny Dee. The WCC newcomer matched his season high with 26 points as he has gotten off to a torrid start in WCC play. After struggling to two points in USD's conference opener against BYU, Dee has averaged 24.0 points over the last three games.
Evan Roquemore led Santa Clara with 16 points while Kevin Foster (13), Niyi Harrison (12) and Raymond Cowels III (11) all added double digit points. Santa Clara shot 27.6 percent from the field (16 of 58), including 24.0 percent from beyond the arc (6 of 25). They had 14 turnovers and shot 68.6 percent from the free throw line (24 of 35). Harrison pulled down eight reobounds while Roquemore and Foster added 6 apiece as the Broncos did win the battle of the boards.
Unfortunately that was not enough as San Diego out-shot them with relative ease. The Toreros shot 48.9 percent from the field (16 of 58), including 31.3 percent from beyond the arc (5 of 16). They had 15 turnovers and shot 74.3 percent from the free throw line (26 of 35).
Santa Clara travels to face BYU in their next conference matchup. The game will be televised live on ESPNU at 5:00pm PT.