News Scrapbook 1986-1988

ha ts Toreros in WCAC

San Jose, CA (Santa Clara Co.) Mercury News (AM Edition) (Cir. D. 243,078)

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Ufil} shot fails in final second By T.J. Simers, Staff Writer SAN FRANCISCO - USD got,a last-second shot and it hit the rim, but it didn't go in, and so now the Toreros must wonder if their grand season has gone sour. Seventh-seeded Pepperdine (12-17), taking advantage of the West Coast Athletic Conference's inaugural post- season tournament, upset top-seeded USD by 64-63 last mght before a paid attendance of 5,250 in USF's Memo- rial Gym. The Waves, one win away from making their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tourna- ment, will meet fifth-seeded Santa Clara, a 55-50 winner over third-seeded St'. Mary's, in tonight's title game. USD, meanwhile, can do nothing but fret and hope the NCAA deems it worthy of an at-large bid, come tomorrow's announcement. And, if not, then t ie Toreros may have to take solace in a bid to the Nation- al Invitation Tournament. "Everyone is down," USD coach Hank Egan said after the Toreros' 14-game winning streak had been ended. "But what's really sad is that there IS a 24-5 ballclub in there that's down. Somehow that just doesn't seem right." Pepperdine coach Jim Harrick, sympalhd,c to USD's plight, trieo to lift USD's spirit:, with a post- game "hope" talk. "It's supposed to be a secret, but I m som who is supposed to recommend teams to the N AA and I recommended USD as the third-best team in the West," said Harrick, adding that USD had beaten his • team twice in the regular season. 'It will be a crime and a great misjustice if th :, don t get in. That's a team which won 24 games. I don'' see how they can leave them out." While USD ponders its future, 1t will no t nlso reflect on all that went wrong last night. The roreros, the league leaders from three-point range /. 52), hit one of eight from that distance and rori)pounued their problems by missing five of their final .)IX free ·nrows. And still, with seven seconds to go USD had the ball and one last shot at victory. "We called a timeout and talked about getting a

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stun:.;, San Diego end the first half, continued to le mOl!lt of the second half, then fell behind briefly hen S n Otego took a 58-5 lead with minutes, 35 seconds left. Pe1:aperdine then scored eight ~trai{~'1t points, Including two JUIDp(ll"S by Middlebrooks and four ftiee throws by Craig Davis, during a two-minute trt!tch near t end and pulled ahead 1i2-58. Scott Thompson, San Diego's 7-foot cent and WCAC player of_the year, scored 19 points but missed several crucial free throws jn the final six minutes.

Santa Ana, CA (Orange vo.) Orange County Register (Cir. D. 271,281) (Cir. Sat. 264,966) (Cir. S. 302,808) r, l 1987

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I tho Ye r scored 19 bU1 mi •r e th ws 1n tho I ral six minutes

Associated Press The Toreros' Paul Leonard (left) is a step behind Pepperdine's Donny Moore in a chase for a loose ball.

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See USD on rage C-8

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5, St. Mary's 50. t O pc,nts n the second hall

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San Diego, CA (San Diego C~-) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341,840) 1r 7

1987

~i!Jrlerella USO .;z_q5 • • • gets 1nv1tat on to NCAA ball By T.J. Simers Staff Writer

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hr. 1888 Uso: W ·ting and hoping for an at-large berth

this year, but maybe they had some- thing to do with that. I can tell you this, it wasn't a lack of effort on our part." Egan, still searching for answers to what went wrong, had duficulty with the question of what next for USO? "You probably know better than I do," Egan said. "I just hope our record and high level of performance through the year helps us be picked by the NCAA for the tournament" • • • Santa Clara (17-13) overcame a nine-point half-time deficit and eased past St. Mary's (17-13) in the final moments. Forward Jens Gordon, who led Santa Clara with 14 points, hit a tip-in basket with 1:51 left to give Santa Clara a 51-50 lead. Two free throws from center Dan Weiss, who scored 12, put the Broncos ahead by three with 1:12 to go.

AThompson jumper gave the Toreros a four-point lead - their biggest ad- vantage - at 58-54 with 6:45 to go. But the Waves responded with eight straight points on two Middlebrooks jumpers and four free throws from Craig Davis. AManor free throw and a Thomspon hook shot brought the Toreros back to 62-61, but Jim Har- rick - the coach's son - hit two free throws with 1:45 to go to give Pepper- dine a three-point lead. Leonard kept the thriller going with a layup seconds later, and Thompson stepped to the free throw line with a one-and-one and a chance to tie the game and put USD ahead with 40 sec- onds to go. But he missed, and all that USD could muster in the end was Means' last-second fling. "We struggled and struggled to get back into the game, but our free- throw shooting escaped us," Egan said. "This is not the best e played

Thompson was to be USD's hero. Thompson, the WCAGs player of the year, scored 11 of USD's first 19 points and finished with a game-high 19, plus eight rebounds. Playmaking guard Paul Leonard added 14 for USD, but Pepperdine was successful in holding the Torer

'}. '\ t~inued from C-1 shot," Egan said. "We didn't single anyone out; we just wanted a chance." Sophomore guard Dannv Means in- bounded the ball at half court to center Scott Tho pson, and Thomp n hand- ed off th ball to eans s eans raced by, Mear.s da i to the lane, but he met heavy trafuc and could offer nothin~ more th n an off-bal- ance scoop .sl:ot at the ba ' et 'l"he ball bounded off c~ .! rim and then bounced off the hands of USD's Mark Manor and into the bands l' Peppcrdine's Eric White. "Danny's ieeling pretty bad now. Everybody thinks there are a millio'I people wanting to take the rast shot in a game, but it's not so," Egan said. "I appreciate Danny Means' courage; he chose to he the hero or the goat. He took the chance, and ! like that." Early in the game, ;t appeared

years later now, and for some of us, it's our last shot as basketball players, so we will be more prepared this time." Auburn, under Coach Sonny Smith, will be making its fourth straight ap- pearance in the NCAA tourney. In the last three years, Auburn has won five of eight postseason games. Last sea- son the Tigers were defeated, 84-76, in the West Regional final by Louisville, which went on to win the NCAA championship. This season the Tigers went 9-9 in the Southeastern Conference, opened the conference tournament with a 79- 72 win over Kentucky and then lost, 87-68, in the semifinals to eventual champion Alabama. During the year, the Tigers went 7-7 against nine tearps that advanced into the NCAA Touma ment. "We didn't think we'd get into the NCAA Tournament," said Smith, in his ninth year at Auburn. "Shucks, we lost to Alabama three times this season, and if you do that in this state you can't eat, get a haircut; they cut your water off and you're darn lucky if they don't turn off the electricity on you. "Some nights we're a great basket- ball team, and some nights we're just plain awful. We were the most incon- sistent team in our league; one night we'll score 80 points, and another we'll score 50," Smith said. "We're a power- ful team who just keeps shooting the ball. We will definitely put it up, and if they have any shooters they better get their anns warmed up. We don't guard nobody, we just run and shoot. "How about USD?" Smith asked. "Hey, if they don't run, we ain't play- ing them" Smith, an assistant coach at Pep- perdine in 1970-1971, admitted he wasn't all that aware of the kind of season USD has had, but he knew about the Toreros' 7-foot t nter, and See USO on Pagr D-4

The locker-room door was closed, but there was no containing the gig- gling and hollering Toreros after USD learned yesterday it was one of 64 teams to earn an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. "Maybe once you have achieved this and experienced it, it's no longer overwhelming," said USD coach Hank Egan, "but right now it's the living end." The 24-5 Toreros, seeded ninth in the Midwest Regional, will travel to Indianapolis to play 17-12 and eighth- seeded Auburn Thursday at 4:07 (PST) in the Hoosier Dome. If successful in game one, the Toreros on Saturday will take on the winner of the Indiana- Fairfield contest. "Calling us Cinderella is probably as good a description as any," Egan said. "We don't have the rankings a lot of other teams have, but we're a good basketball team" A 64-63 loss to Pepperdine in the West Coast Athletic Conference semi- finals Friday night left the Toreros wondering il they would be invited to the NCAA's post.season party. For 48 anxious hours the Toreros expected the worst and hoped for the best. "I walked into a local tavern at the same time our bracket came on the television screen," said USD center Scott Thompson. "At first, I thought, ·What's this: The NIT women's tourna- ment?' I thought maybe they meant San Diego State. I didn't believe it." Thompson and teammates Steve Krallman, Eric Musselman and Nils Madden were freshmen when USD made its only previous appearance in the NCAA Tournament. In 1984 the Toreros, under coach Jim Brovelli were defeated, 65-56, by Princeton i~ the first round at Philadelphia. "There were cameras for ESPN there even watching our practice," Krallman said. "But this is three

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454) MA 7

1987

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" ~ , WCAC commissioner defends tourney idea for NCAA bertK

out for the tournament with a near sellout crowd in attendance at USF's 5,300-seat Memorial Gym by the time St. Mary's took the court against Santa Clara for the evening's second semifinals game. Gilleran explains a final reason for the tourna- ment. "You want your conference represent~tive_to ~e the team that is playing the best at this pom m the season," he said. ''You want your representa- tive to be a team on the rise. "We haven't won a first-round game in awhile (since 1982). I think part of that is because the conference champion has clinched the conference title so early. They haven't had a gut-check game. Maybe this will make them tougher."

Gilleran said. Should the Toreros still be selected to the NCAA Tournament, however, the WCAC will receive two representatives to the tournament. That was one WCAC. notebook objective of the tournament, and it wouldn't have been accomplished without USD losing. No other conference team would be considered for an at- large berth to the NCAA. "li it works and we get two teams, it's a good thing," Gilleran said. "If it doesn't happen, we'll have a million second-guessers." WCAC officials were also pleased with the turn-

y Kirk Kenney Tribune Sportswriter

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SAN FRANCISCO West Coast Athletic Con- ference commissioner Michael Gilleran believes e WCAC tournament will be termed a success by the conference's eight members when the final buzzer sounds after tonight's championship game. Gilleran may get an argument from regular- a'lOn rhampion USD..,l¥.hich was defeated last night 64-63 by seventn-seeded Pepperdine. Howev- r, it appears the tournament may accomplish a number of the things conference officials hoped it would when they voted to pprove a conference tournament two years ago. "My heart goes out to San Diego, certainly,"