News Scrapbook 1984

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

Monterey, CA (Monterey Co.) Monterey Peninsula Herald

(Cir. D. 31,215) (Cir. S. 32,230) DEC 4

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P. c. e re1. ,sas Vusn seeks third win against San Jose State By Michael Can pa ,(' Tribune SpcrL

1984

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Son Diego 65, Son Jose St. 63 SAN DIEGO - Scott Thompson uid Steve Krallman each scored 14 • ,omts Monday night as the Univer- 4 ity of San Diego rallied fn the ieconcifiarrlo a 65-63 victory over ~n Jose State 65-63. .;lf g Trailing 49-42 with 13:31 left to )lay, San Diego rolled off a 16-2 1pree, including 12 straight pomts, ,o take a 58-51 lead with 4:48 re- inaining. The closest San Jose could get after that was two points, and .hat came at the final buzzer on a yup by Ward Farris. San Diego, 3-0, outscored San Jose 'tate, 0-3, by 27-7 from the free-~ row line. / I

There are those oath~ college basketball circuit who would welcome a few days off following an emotional win Theo there are others who would much rather get right back on the court. tJSD has,111 played a ga e since last Wednesday's c~me-from-behind victory over Nevada-~en_o, and Torero coach Hank Egan isn't all tha~ . ure if hlS team has benefitted from the lack of competition. "I've been around a ht of different teams and a lot ?f different crrcumstances," aid Egan, "~ I coul~n•t begm to tell you how thi particular team will react. 8gan will find out first-hand tomght when San Jose State arriv to take on the Toreros in a non-conference gam . Tipoff is scheduled for 7:35 at the USD Sports C nter. The Toreros go mto action with a 2-0 _record thus far nd, with a date against unbeaten San Diego State com-

"There are some important things the kids have shown me," said Egan, referring to that 80-75 win over Nevada- Reno. "They played with courage and cbarac_ter and they were able to adjust. I think we are also startmg to devel- op some depth. . "But we have a long way to go in o~r execu~10n both offen ively and defensively. We're gettmg the Job done, . Egan will try to get it done against San Jose State with much the same cast that be did the previous two games. He·n start 6-11 sophomore Scott Thompson at center, senior Anthony Reuss and sophomore_ St~ve ~~llman at forwards, and senior Chris Carr and Junior Kiki Jackson at the guard spots. but it hasn't been all that pretty."

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San Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454) OE 5 Jlll~11·• P. C. 8

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Torero-Aztec basketball rival SD, 3-0, tries to prevent repeat of what was last season's low point ~85 By Michael Canepa Tribune Sportswnter T HE\ II \'E come all the way from ob curity to respectability, from two consecutive sub-.500 finishes in really tuned in with the rivalry. But for Anthony Re , it'll have much more meaning.

uts a lot on line

.,roreros~~.---r-------- Coatinu Page &J ready, because if we go down 11 or 12' there's reall no difference. We just points to them we'll be in trouble." played poorly against them. Hopeful- If anything, motivation is the least ly, we can turn it around this time." of Ega~•s worries here. Actually, he At the very least, the Toreros would like to see a more consistent won't have to see Michael Cage any effort from his team but, then again, more. The Aztecs' All-American for- the Torero coach isn't necessarily ex- ward scored 26 points and pulled peeling a mid-season performance. down 18 rebounds in a 61-47 SDSU All he wants from them is to play win that some USO players have hard - which they have - and all called the lowest moment of the he'd like from them is to win. And 1983-84 season. they've had pretty good success It was State's fifth straight win there, too. over the Toreros and 13th in its last "I think I know what it's going to 18 tries. And as far as an identity take to beat them," said Egan standpoint, it again left the Aztecs "We're going to have to concentrate with a clear advant.age over their ri- and execute better on both ends of vals. the floor. But if it comes down to "Th t d f · looking good or winning, there's no ,~ ~as e imtely a big let- question which I'd take. I'd take the

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Reuss · a senior, the only four-year letterman on the Torero roster, and a San Diego oative. He was also playing out at the Alcala Park school back when they were Just fighting to stay out of the confer- ence cellar. ow, they are the defending champions, are preparing to make another run at the title, and Reuss would love nothing better than to finally get a wm against the Az- tecs. This is his last chance and he feels he has something at stak~. "It probably holds a little extra meaning for me because I'm a local guy and I've gone 0-3 against them," said the 6-7 Reuss, a former All-County forward from Chris- tian High. "I was pretty heavily recruited by State, so I know (head coach) Smokey (Gaines) and (assistant) Mike Brunker. For a long time, that's where people thought I was going to go. "At the moment, we're feeling pretty confident," he added ur was asked to com- pare the feeling between corning into the game this year and the one last year and Please see TOREROS, E-6 i A--

the West Coast Athletic Conference o the top or the standings. If the USO basketball program hasn't gamed panty w1tfi its crosstown rivals at San Diego late, it's most certamly narrowing the gap at a fast rate. In truth, the Toreros have experienced plenty of growth during th e past three years. nd there isn't a loyal Aztec fan worth bis red and black warmup suit who would argue that point USD 1s simply coming off its most succe sful year, and the NCAA tournament appearance last March ha n't hurt its image. When it com down to it, about the only thing tbe Toreros aven't managed during that period is to t State. And they'll get another crack at the Aztecs :.omorrow mght beginning at 7:30 at the Swrts Arena. To put the game in its proper perspec- tive, it may not be as important for some- one like starting center Scott fhompson or starting forward Steve Krallman. They're only sophomores, have migrated south from other parts of California, and aren't

'We certainly have nothing to prove - certainly not to them. After they've beaten us a few limes and we have 10,000 or 15,000 people m the stands rooting and screaming, then talk to me about cal/mg it a rivalry' - SDSIJ', Smokey Gan 'Sure, this is a big game. Until we prove ourselves by beating them, I guess we 'fl always get second bllllng to them. This could be th8 nnal stop to put us over the top· - uso•, Anthony Re11

down, said Reuss of that particular defeat. "We were all looking forward to it. We_ wanted to make a good rep- resentation of ourselves in front of the San Diego fans and we just '.lidn't. It was one of our worst showings of the season. Too bad it had to happen that night. "So, sure, this is a big game. Until we prove ourselves by beating them, I guess we'll always get second bill- ing to them. This could be the final stop to put us over the top." For that to happen, however, USD will have to do something it hasn't managed this season - and that's put together two solid halves of bas- ketball. The Toreros have trailed at the intermission in eacb of their last two games, and at times have looked downright pitiful in doing so. Still, they've held their poise and remained unbeaten on the season by ' way of strong second-half showings. Amark of a good club? Perhaps. But new USD coach Hank Egan doesn't care to see things get out of hand against the Aztecs. "This will no doubt be the best bas- ketball team we will have played yet," said Egan, whose Toreros are having their best start in Division I play. ''They are very physical, can run, and they come at you many dif- ferent ways. In that respect, I proba- bly like this San Diego State team better than ones in the past. "I h~ve to be pleased at being 3-0, but we re not playing as well as we could. I'm not really sure what it is. We've had stretches when we've played well and we've had stretches when I wondered i I was in the wro~g profession. I hope they're

win anytime."

' ' ' Gaines is hardly a stranger to ~gan as both faced each other eight tunes ~hen Egan was coaching Air Force m the Western Athletic Con- ference. Gaines' Aztec teams held a 7-1 advantage.... The last time the Toreros defeated State was in 1976. Gaines took over the following year and hasn't lost to USD in five at- tempts.... The Aztec-Torero game could mark the return of USD forward Nils Madden. The 6-7 sophomore was pro- jected as a possible slcrter at the beginning of the season, but has been idled by a lower back problem. He practiced with the team last night and Egan said Madden's status prob- ably won't be determined until game time. ,...