News Scrapbook 1984

•

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.I Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,4541

Jl/k,.'• P. C. 8

F.,1 1888

'We've been struggling a little bit and my being in a slump ha n't helped' - Chris Carr

Toreros'Carrlooking for ff tiger in the tank By :\~ael Canepa Tr1bun 5port wmu H F'· SL IOR, a leader and generally recogmzed as the best defen v pla er the~ke b m. ha to worry about i getting his shot to start falling. And at this point, Carr appears to have at least ome reason to be concerned Through the Toreros' first 11 game of the season. the 6-3 guard from Lo Angeles had made just 36 of 101 attempts from the field. That com ou to a mere 36 percent. It'· also di appomtmg. For a team that w expectm a solid • e from Carr on the offen ·ive end of the floor, 1t ha n't gotten anythm co e thu far 'I don't think I've ever experienced anything like this in my life, said Carr la t mght after the Toreros held on to defeat John Brown University 47-44 m front of a ·parse gathering at the USD ports Center. "And I was really counting on havmg a good year. I had a great summer league up in L.A. and everything ju ·t seemed to be coming together. ''I can't explain it. There are nights when I'll just lay awake trying to figure out what it i · For some reason, I just haven·t been able to get into any kind of rhythm. All I can do is keep working and hopefully things will get belt r .. Ayear ago Carr came out of Santa Monica CC and quickly es1.ablished him'elf as a key member m USD's run to he West Coast Athletic Conference title. He started 23 of 28 games and averaged a respectable 5.8 points an outing But he's been noticeably off the mark this season and, somehow, Carr knows that'll have to be remedied. For all its $trengths, this particular Torero team hasn't been blessed with many outside threats - Kiki Jackson and reserve Pete Murphy being the others. "We've been struggling a little bit and my being in a slump hasn't helped," said Carr, wlio finibhed with 10 poin last n· on o 11 field-goal tries. "So I guess deep do n I feel partly responsible. If I can start making a few of these shots It could make things a lot easier on everybody." Little doubt the Toreros could have used a few more from the outside agamst John Brown. The Golden Eagles from Siloam Springs, Ark., slowed down the pace considerably on offense and ran a swarming 3-2 zone on the defensive end that consistently denied USD the ball inside. How effective was it? The Torero front line of Scott Thompson, Antho- ny Reuss and Nils .Madden came in with a cumulative average cf 30.3 pomts a game. Together, they finished with 17 points - just three of them from the 6-11 Thompson. "They really controlled the tempo of the game, everything," said USD coach Hank Egan, who saw his team improve its record to 7-4. •·we just couldn't seem to get anything to go inside. That's when we went with a smaller, quicker lineup to pick up the pace." Having trailed 22-19 at intermission, USD finally managed to upgrade that tempo toward the latter stages of the second half. Jackson again came through in the clutch as he hit four key jumpers within a three- mmute stretch - the final one giving the Toreros a 41-36 lead with 4:55 remaining. As things turned out, USD was able to hold on and escape disa» er for the second time in three days. Friday it was a 70-65 decision to Hardm- Simmons; last night it was little-known John Brown of the NAIA. "I think there's still something missing," said Egan, whose club has mysteriously lacked intensity during the past three weeks. "Maybe the missing thing is time. I don't know. But whatever it is, until we find out what it is, we just have to keep working." "For some reason, we come out playing hard the first five minutes and then Jose it until about the last six minutes of the game,'' added Carr. "We just can't turn it off and turn it on whenever we want. Somehow, we're going to have to learn to sustain it through a full 40-minute game. "I don't know what it'll take, but we'll get it done. When we do, this is going to be a pretty good team." At the moment, Carr is doing all he can to get them there. The problem is that he knows he's capable of much more. Jackson finished with 12 points to lead USD, but his effort was oversha- dowed by Golden Eagles guard Jim Tuls. Tuls led all scorers with 26 points including an incredible 12 of 13 from the floor. "I just think it was one of those nights for him," said Carr. "It bad to be." ... Off the next few days, the Toreros get back at it Thursday night at the Sports Center against Concordia College of Nebraska. In all, USO has four consecutive home games before it opens its conference schedule Jan. 19 at home against Pepperdine.

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.I San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,324) (Cir. S. 339,788)

Jll

'• P. C. B

Est 1888

l

/

USO women lose Stacy Liebl scored 16 points and Dona McCanlies had 14 as Portland State beat host Qniversity of San Diego 64-49 in a women's college bas- I ketfrall game at USD last night. Debbie Theroux scored 15 points and Cathy O'Brien 12 for USD (2-8). The Vikings are 5-5. ~'(.!55

•

•