News Scrapbook 1986-1988

1987 NCAA Baske·tball Tournament

End of .the lfneforUSD _,__-) Last turnover the costliest From T-A staff and wire reports INDIANAPOLIS - The Uni-

Frank Ford's layup off a steal put Auburn ahead to stay at 58-57 with 6:10 to play. Jeff Moore scored with 4:49 left to increase the margin to 60-57 and Jones ended an eight-point Tiger run with a re- bound basket with 2:57 to go. The Toreros ended a scoreless streak of 4 minutes, 42 seconds with a basket by Danny Means that reduced the Auburn lead to 62-59 with 1:42 left. Nils Madden hit a free throw, but missed the second to leave San Diego two points off the Auburn lead with 12 seconds remaining. After an Auburn turnover, Means went to the line with a chance to tie the game. He made the first but missed the second. Ford got the rebound for Au- burn, was fouled, but missed the free throw and San Diego had an- other opportunity. But it failed af- ter Leonard was called for ff. double dribble after racing to the Auburn basket. Means had 18 points to lead USD, while Auburn's Mike Jones led all scorers with 24. Moore and Chris Morris each had 14 for the Tigers, 18-12. Despite the loss, USD received a standing ovation afterwards from the crowd of 29,610, and Auburn Coach Sonny Smith had nothing but praise for his opponents. "Not to make us look good or look bad- because people have al- ready made us everything from a top-five team to one of the worst teams in the country - but I think San Diego could play in the (Southeastern Conference) and not finish in the bottom fourt said Smith, whose "team placed fifth in the SEC this year. "That is an out- standing basketball team. "When I read they led the nation in (shooting) defense, I was won- Please see us~, page C4

versity of San Diego's basketball season hinged on one official's call here Thursday night. When the call was double drib- ble, the Toreros' season had ended. Driving for a potential game- winning shot, senior point guard Paul Leonard was whistled for a double dribble with one second to play in a first-round game of the NCAA Midwest Regional at the Hoosier Dome. NCAA Midwest As a result, Auburn was able to escape with a 62-61 victory and ad- vance to Saturday's second round against Indiana, an easy 92-58 win- ner over Fairfield. In Thursday's other games here, Duke defeated Texas A&M 58-51 and Xavier of Ohio upset No. 14 Missouri 70-69. USD, 24-6, had its chances Thursday. But, trailing 62-59 with 12 seconds to play, the Toreros missed two of four free throws in the last 12 seconds, then saw their last chance erased by the double dribble call. "I'm not objective, but it was a heck of a call at the end of a ball game," Toreros Coach Hank Egan said. "We weathered the start pretty good. I felt if we could get the emo- tional stuff out of the way and hang in we could play a good game. I was concerned when we were down 9-0, but we called time out and settled down. n With senior center Scott Thompson scoring all 14 of his points in the second half, lightly regarded USD took a surprising 57-54 lead over the Tigers with 6:24 to play. But the Toreros went cold from there, and Auburn took advantage to pull out the game.

I DIA APOLI - lowly t first there, a few people here. Tb n, m n ng red t1d , 29,610 Indiana fan waiting for t ir beloved Hoosi rs to m t Fairfield came to th ir feet and applauded th l'mver !ly or San D1 go ba k tball team to its locker room. Ev y 'Hoo I r plot may not have, happy ndtng, y med to be saymg but that d n't make the und rdog-that-thou ht-it-could any able.. --=~"- The Tor ros thoug t they cou beat Auburn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They thought they would. Until literally th • ry 1 t ond, th y thought they had But the Tigers hung on desperately to a 62-61 victory. They'll go on to meet Indiana. The Tor ·ros are going home, ·tJII wend ring why. Th y had th thing, right there in their hands, but Auburn and fat kept ·wattmg it away. A thr -pomter that loo ed good all lh way but rimmed out. Two m· ed cond hots from the free- thro line. n end l~end drive th t appeared hk ly to draw a foul, at the very least, but in tead produced the g mc's only doubl dnbble c II. all t ppen d in the last 14 econds. Imagine what the rest was like. No, the Toreros did not go quietly. 'l'hey're just orry they had to go t II. "We never thought we were gorng to I " id guard Danny Means, who had 18 points in one of the fm t am or his sophomore a n. 'We f It we should have won. Standing h e right now, I think we should have won." Auburn coach Sonny Srruth did not necessarily disagree. "Nol to make us look good or look bad - because people have already made us everything from a top-five team lo one of the worst teams in the country - but I think San Diego could play in the SEC and not finish in the bottom four," Smith said. Because six team~ from that conference were selected to the NCAA Tournament, this JS not idle praise. "That is an outstanding basketball team," Smith continued. "They have great cbemJStry. Senior leadership. Very good patience ... I'd like to borrow a little bit of that. " nd they' e an outstanding defe ·i ve ball club. When I read that they led the country in (field-goal) dcferue, I wondered how they could do it without fouling. I found out tonight." Yes, th Toreros finally got people's attention, after a week of being called SDU, San Diego State or UCSD, and having their coach consistently identified by one Indianapolis newspaper as Smokey Gaines. The world finally knows who USD JS. Unfortunately, it learned lo say hello just when it was time to say goodbye. "T'm really proud of these kids and the way they've performed all year," said Hank Egan, who is the coach. "So I'd appreciate it if when you write your stories, you'd put me in as coach." For a long time, it seemed you might be able to put him in as winning coach. After a nervous start in which they had three shots blocked, were dunked on twice and fell behtnd. 9-0, the Toreros assumed the lead with 7:01 left in the half and held it for more than 16 minutes d spite the It began a few people

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Auburn's Frank Ford, left, pulls a rebound away from USD's Steve Krallman.

Escondido, CA (San Diego Co.) Times Advocate (Cir. D. 32,685) (Cir. S. 34,56B)

Vista, CA (San Diego Co.) Morning Press (Cir. D. 7,676) (Cir. S. 7,967) MAR 13 .Jll~rr's P c. B

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D SD BASKETBALL: Mike Jones scored 2~po· as Auburn, tak- ing advantage of critical San Diego m_l}t4 the last seconds of · play, edged the Toreros 62-61 Thursday n· ma first-round game of the NCAA basketball tournament's Midwest Regional. San Diego, trailing 62-59 with 12 seconds to play, mi~sed ~wo_ of four free throws in the last 12 seconds, then saw a potential wummg shot wiped out when Paul Leonard was called for a double-dribble with one second to play. The lead changed hands six times in the second half before Frank Ford's layup off a steal put Auburn ahead to stay at 58-57 with 5: 10 to play. Jeff Moore scored with 4:49 left to increase the margin to 60-57 and Jones ended an eight-point Tiger run with a rebound basket with 2:57 to go. With senior center Scott Thompson scoring all 14 of his points in the second half, lightly regarded San Diego took a surprising 57-54 lead over the Southeastern Conference Tigers with 6:24 to play. But the Toreros went cold from there, and Auburn took advantage to

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teers a 70-66 lead. Lynn Hardy, who topped Missouri with 21 points, made a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining but Xavier was able to dribble away the remaining time with Missouri failing to foul to stop the clock. Indiana 92, Fairfield 58 The Hoosiers, seeded first in the region, coasted to their 25th victo- ry in 30 starts as reserves played much of the second half.

Duke 58, Texas A&M 51 Duke had its lowest point pro- duction of the season as it over- came having Ferry, its leading scorer for the season, go scoreless. Robert Brickey came off the bench to contribute 12 points. Byron Larkin's 3-point shot gave Xavier the lead for good at 48-45 and his two free throws with 31 seconds to go gave the Muske- Xavier 70, Missouri 69

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dering how they could do it with- out fouling," Smith added. "I found out. That's to their credit." Despite committing only 15 fouls, San Diego held Auburn to 42 percent field-goal shooting and to only one 3-point basket in nine tries.

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• pull out the game. Danny Means had 18 points to lead San Diego. :_..,.;';._._-~-

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El Cajon, CA (San Diego Co) Daily Californian (Cir. D 100,271)

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Nils Madden hit a free throw, but missed the second_ to leave San Diego two points off the Atiliti lead with 12 seconds remaining. ~fter an AubufI!- turnover, Means went to the line ~th a chance to tie the game. He made the first but missed the second. Ford got the rebound for Auburn, was fouled, but missed the free throw, and San Diego had another opportunity. But it failed after Leonard was called for a double-dribble after racing to the Auburn basket. With senior center Scott Thompson scoring all 14 of his points in the second half, the Toreros took a surprising 57-54 lead over the Southeastern Con- ference Tigers with 6:24 to play. But the Toreros went cold from there, and Auburn took advantage tq pull out the game. Means had 18 points to lead San Diego while Moore and Chris Morris each had 14 for Auburn; 18-12. Auburn advances to the second round against Indiana. -~------~-- /

INDIANAP0~'1s""" - ~ike Jones scored 24 points as_ Aubu~. taking advantage of critical San Diego nustakes m the last seconds of play, edged the Toreros 62-61 Thursday night in a first-round game of the NCAA basketball tournament's Midwest Regional. ;;an Diego, trailing 62-59 with 12 seconds to play, missed two of four free throws in the last 12 seconds, then saw a potential winning shot wiped out when Paul Leonard was called for a double- dribble with one second to play. The lead changed hands six times in the second half before Frank Ford's layup off a steal put Auburn ahead t? stay at 58-57_with 5: 10 to play. Jeff Moore scored with 4:49 left to increase the margin to 60-57 and Jones ended an eight-point Tiger run with a rebound basket with 2:57 to go. !5an Diego, 24-6, ended a scoreless streak of 4 mmutes, 42 seconds with a basket by Danny Means that reduced the Auburn lead to 62-59 with 1:42 left.

seven times with an Auburn team ranked in the top 20 when the season began. The Toreros eventually trailed, 62- 59, with 14 seconds left. Then Paul Leonard fired up what appeared destined to be USD's fifth successful three-point shot of the night. "Scott set a great pick,'' Leonard said. "They didn't even see me come off the pick. I thought it was going in. I started to back away and go on defense. It looked good, but it just came off. "We still had a chance to win it after that, thought." I'll say. Nils Madden grabbed Leonard's

Means stole the ball and was fouled. He made the first, missed the second ("I rushed it," he said.) Auburn's Gerald White rebounded, was fouled, missed the free throw and . . . "Mark (Manor) got the rebound and made a great pass to me at midcourt," Leonard said. "I knew I had to take it to the basket and put up a shot. I looked up and saw two guys in front of me. I knew I had to "I was backing up, trying to take the charge,'' White said. "But I was in no kind of position." "I tried to duck inside the first guy, and he got a piece of the ball, and/or my hand," Leonard said. go between 'em."

in the game. I knew they weren't going to call a foul, unless it was flagrant. I couldn't believe they'd call double dribble, either." But they did. Auburn, not USD, will play Indiana before all those have won," said Leonard. "We came up a little short - a bounce here, an unlucky break there. But we thought we were the better team." In most of the country, that opinion still might be considered ludicrous. But 29,610 Indiana fans seemed to agree. / people in red. "They played well, but we should

presence of 7-foot center &ott Thompson on the bench in foul trouble for 15:05. See LOCKWOOD