Both San Diego and Washington played for city bragging rights Friday night.
The Toreros earned them and the Huskies didn’t.
The teams, coming off the thrill of rivalry games, will meet Monday in Seattle.
The Toreros won 82-80 at UC San Diego as Ty-Laur Johnson banked in a 3-pointer in the final second. It was San Diego’s first Quad 1 victory in almost seven years and its first road win since the 2023-24 season.
“It puts the wind in our sails,” Toreros coach Steve Lavin said. “We’ve had some key players out (with injuries), but we’re getting closer to full strength and kind of morphing into a different group than we were earlier in the year.
“The musical chairs set us back a bit, but we’re trending in the right way before (West Coast) conference play begins. Now we’ve got a big game against a Big Ten team in Washington.”
Johnson, a junior guard, leads the Toreros (5-6) with 13.5 points, 4.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Guard Toneari Lane averages 11.2 points.
The Huskies are coming off a 70-66 setback to Seattle University in the Battle for Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena.
“It felt like a Big Ten game. Our guys have to play through it better. They just do,” Huskies coach Danny Sprinkle said. “Credit Seattle U. They were the aggressors, they were physical.”
Desmond Claude scored a season-high 24 points for the Huskies (7-4), Zoom Diallo contributed 17 and Hannes Steinbach added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Steinbach leads the team with a 17.5 scoring average in eight games.
The Huskies, who also have seen several players miss time this season, lost guard Wesley Yates III to a hand injury in the first half. Yates, the team’s second-leading scorer with 14.9 points per game, didn’t return and his status for Monday’s contest is unclear.
Without Yates, a sophomore transfer from Southern California, the Huskies shot just 1 of 15 from 3-point range.
“We knew Seattle U is a good team,” Claude said. “I don’t know … we’ve got to watch the film and learn from the mistakes.”
