USD Men's Basketball 1987-1988

1986-87 REVIEW

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1986-87 USO BASKETBALL REVIEW

Expectations were running high at Alcala Park last fall when the 1986-87 basketball season got underway. People were predicting, and expecting , big things out of last year 's men's basketball team - and the Toreros did not disappoint. With a tough 62-61 loss to Auburn University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the USO men's basketball team completed its most successful season ever. The Toreros finished the season with a 24-6 record , the best mark in school history. Along the way, USO won 14 consecutive games, won the regular-season West Coast Athletic Conference Championship and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years. C: g, "All teams in the future will now be compared with this team because "' ::e of how hard they worked and because of what they accompl ished ," stated ~ en Coach Hank Egan on his team's success. " It was an absolute pleasure ~ to coach these people because they came closer to reaching their paten-

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tial than any group I've ever had. They understood their strengths and weaknesses and they understood they had to work hard, that it wouldn't come easy," explained Egan. "They also understood that they had to work together. When it came to games, they were absolutely unselfish. The team's performance was the most important thing to them." And perform well they did. Senior center Scott Thompson led USO in scoring and rebounding and was named the WCAC's Player of the Year. All four senior starters averaged in double figures in scoring for the season . Thompson finished at 15.9 points per game. Forwards Nils Madden and Mark Manor were next, averaging 11 .1 ppg and 10.5 ppg respectively. Guard Paul Leonard scored 10.2 ppg and led the team in assists, handing out an average of 4.5 per game. Sophomore Danny Means, who paced USO against Auburn with 18 points, was the fifth member of the starting unit which began all 30 games last season . But the five starters were by no means the only contributors to USD's success. Senior Steve Krallman was the team's sixth man, coming in to spell one of the front line players. Steve averaged 5.5 ppg and 3.4 rpg while shooting 80.4% from the free throw line. Fellow senior Eric Musselman, a four-year guard , played in 28 contests, as did junior Marty Munn. As a team, USO led the nation in field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to 40.1% shooting. In–

dividually, Madden joined Thompson on the AII-WCAC team , while Leonard and Manor earned honorable mention . Thompson, a three-time AII-WCAC selection , finished his career third among the all-time leading scorers at USO with 1,379 career points. Three-year starter Nils Madden finished with a career shooting percentage of 57.0% (282X494) . The players were not the only ones receiving individual honors as Egan was named Coach of the Year in the WCAC for the second consecutive year. In his three seasons at USD, Egan has compiled a 59-26 record . Additional highlights for the Toreros: Were 14-0 at home last season , running their win-streak to 17-straight at the USO Sports Center; Steve Krallman was named the WCAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year (award covered all WCAC sports); Scott Thompson twice was named PSA-WCAC " ·a, Player of the Week, and was named WCAC Player of the Month for !ii ::; February; Paul Leonard and Mark Manor each received the WCAC Player ~ of the Week award once; Nils Madden and Scott Thompson were named en ~ to the Albertson's Classic All-Tournament team; Scott Thompson was ii named to the WCAC Post-Season All-=fournament team .

#52 Scott Thompson '86-87 WCAC Player of the Year