News Scrapbook 1985

Son Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.I Evening Tribune [Cir. D. 127,4541 1=£B O1985 Jl.lll!tt '• P. C. B

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

F.st. 1888 waging a basketball battle against ti Pepperdine leads the pack at 7-1. Any combi- nation of Wave wins and Torero losses would ellminate USD from title contention. which they have - and to get them to play up to their potential. I don't think we've reached that point."

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"Mathematicallv we stall have a chanc ' added Thompson about the conference tit e "It's just a matter of us winning and other people losing. We would definitely have to win the rest of our games The problem is we re running out of week nds ' Egan will start hIS USiial Ii • ..p of T omp- son at center, , ils Madden and Anthony Reuss at forwards, Chris Carr and Kiki Jack son in the backcourt. The Pilots wll likely go wtth James Van Ness, Darrcr Jenkins, Dave Flmt, Bnan Fundingsland an Fred Harris. Jenkins leads t at group with a 12 2 scoring average . . teams contmuc to struggle at home. Four of six games last week went to the road teams to run that record 18-9. By contrast., conference teams have a 54 3 record at home against non-conference op- position. The Toreros are 0-3 at home 3-2 n the road. J J WCAC

Still, Egan has to be at 'least encouraged w1th his team's play of late. USO has won two of its last three - including a 60-57 victory against Santa Clara on the road last Friday - and appear to be on somewhat of a roll But last-place Portland won't be a .Push- over. The Pdots come in wli.h a 1-6 confer• ence mark and, prior to la t Saturday's 80-60 loss to Pepperdme, the rst six games had been decided by a cumulative total of 19 pomts. USD took a 68-66 decision in the two ·teams' first meeting on jan. '26 in Portland "They're probably playing as well as any- ()dy in the conference," said Egan, "Their record just doesn't indicate it. They've lost a lot of close games and they gave us a lot or problems the last time we played. They're tremendously quick and we don't match up m that respect."

So, what's left? Plenty. If USD could close with victories ·n, say, three or those last four games the Toreros would end up with 6-6 :...:.;;;.;.;..,a-y--mark m conf ence play and 17-10 overall.

And cons1d ·ing everything -

the coach-

mg change fro a key injury him for the

Jim Brovelli to Hank Egan, Mark Bostic that sidelined

games remam u r s ason and, real- clubs with legiti- 1t About the only sure

ire season. thE addition of several new players, and starting off the WCAC at 1-4 that would be nothmg to be ashamed of Egan. of se, i n't looking past tomor- row night'~ game with Portland. Under- stand bly so I m of the opinion·that as a coach you , have to take care of business first," said Egan, whose lub Will take on the P.ilots be· ginning at 7:30 t the USD Sports Center 'If you do, then the wins will come. My Job IS to get th kids playing better and better

Palo Alto, CA (Santi Clara Co.) Peninsula Times-Tribune (Cir. 0. 82,873)

HANK EGAN

FEB 1 61985

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Son Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.) Son Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,3241 (Cir. S. 339,788)

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timeouts, and wound up settling for a relatively low-percentage shot - a fallaway jumper by Vanos from the foul line that was too long. The Broncos got a held ball out of the ensuing scramble for the rebound, but the Toreros got the ball under the alternate-possession rule with J. Vanos Immediately fouled Krall- man, who did not enter the game until Thompson fouled out with I 30 left, and Krallman came through with the two free throws that sealed tbe Broncos' fate. nine seconds left.

BRONCOS throws with 1:40 to go to make it 54-48.

7 Loss to San Diego drops Santa Clara 1 game back By Chuck Hildebrand Tim s Tribune stall Even when they led, one could see the ns on on their faces, the hesitation In th Ir movements and the unnatural stlffne s of their shots and passes. Tho c p rtents became a elf-fulfilling prophec} for the University of Santa Clara's ba ketball team Fnday night. The same team that wa the embodi• ment or creativity and verve in five conference road victorie~ became fos 1- • Reveno Is improving - D-2 Hz d at home again t the Univei:s.ity of San i :r.Jie Broncos played wishful, waiting basketball. And while they wait- ed, USO took both the initiative and the game. The elemenlc; of Santa Clara's 60-57 lo to San Diego before 4,368 specta- tors at Toso Pavilion were easy to pin- point - far ea ter, at lea~t, than their cause . San Diego's packed-in zone was an impenetrable wall that enclo ed 7-foot- 2 Santo Clara center Nick Vanos and denied Harold Keeling the penetration that I the heart or hi game. With tho e weapons gone, Santa Clara did not seem to know which way to turn. "We didn't do a good job of using the options in our orren e," said Santa Clara coach Carroll Williams, whose team shot only 40 percent from the field. "Then we lost confidence by standing around. We didn't manufac- ture hots by moving off the ball." Meanwhile, San Diego reserve guard Peter Murphy shredded Santa Clara from the penmeter and matched his ca- reer-high of 19 points. S n Diego center Scott Thompson, although scoring only 10 points, distributed the ball intelli- gently nnd blocked si,c shots. Finally, San Diego won the gam at the foul hne, with Chris Carr making two free throws with 26 second· ten and reserve center Steve Krallman adding two more at :08 to douse the Broncos' last hope So much for how The question in the mind or the Bronco.' players was why. ' How can we play so well on the road and then come back and play so bad at home?" point guard Steve Kenil- vort a ked, the que 10n not sounding rhetorical. "l guess we expect to win just by howlng up at home. I thought we learned that le ·on against Pepper- dme." Pepperctrne, which defeated the Bronco at Toso last month, now holds a one-game lead over Santa Clara in the West Coast Athletic Conference. The Waves are 6-1 In the WCAC; Santa Clara Is 5-2 in the league and 16-7 overall. And ii doesn't get any easier; tonight at 7:30, Santa Clara plays host to a Loyola Marymount team that Friday night knocked St. Mary's virtually out of the WCAC race with a 67-48 victory in Moraga. Williams only can hope that his team was Jolted back Into reality by what happened Friday night. "I'm very disappointed in our mental preparation for this game," he said. "We were outhustled and outworked. A couple of our kids really came to play tonight, but the others just didn't have their heads In the game." Vanos scored 17 points and had nine rebounds, but shot only four for l O from the field. Keeling was st,c for 16 and couldn't create shots for himself as he did In a 32-polnt performance against San Diego two weeks ago. The team ml ed 11 of 28 free throws, threw care- le pa es and dropped accurate ones, and received purpo ful play only from K nllvort, who played all 40 minutes and had no turnovers and five assists. 11 the r inertness, the Broncos

The Broncos grimly stayed in contention as Vanos made four straight free throws and Scott Lam- son two. Kenilvort banked in a 12· foot lean-In shot with 20 seconds re- maining to bring the Broncos with- in 60-58, and Murphy, unable to ln- bo und the ball against Santa Clara's pressure, waited too long before requesting a timeout, giving Santa Clara the ball and one last chance. But the B oncos were out of

P. C. B f'

Continued from D-1 Jed by 28-26 at the half and in- creased that advantage to 38-32 with 13 minutes remaining. At that point, Santa Clara went completely over the side; the Toreros (3-4 In the conference, 14-8 overall) scored 10 straight points to take a 48-45 lead, and the Broncos couldn't seem to sense. the crisis until ...hompson mad two free

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Son Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454) ' Jl.l l 's WI P. C. B

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

fa t. 1888

Toreros can look at bright side By Mich~~~ In actuality, they have. Reuss came into last night's Tribune Sportswriter action leading the team in scoring (12.8 average) and I T ALL BEGAN WITH a new coach, some new rebounding (6.6) and is alm_ost c~rtain of earning WC~C names and a lot of enthusiasm left over from a most h_onors_ for the secon~ st~a!ght ~me. Th_e former Chris- remarkable college basketball season. It ended with tian High standout will fmish his collegiate career as a the realization tl\at USC woll.'t re at its West Coast fo~r-year letterman. " . Athletic Conference championship and won't be return- Ther~ -.yas s_o much newness, said Reuss'. when a~~ed ing to the NCAA tournament. of the d1fflcult1es the tea~ has endured this year. We Off · 11 had a new coach, new assistants and new players and I An '~:/that had been somewhat in doubt for the last was sort of the transi_tion guy from the old to t~e new. In few weeks finally was put to rest last night when the th~t respect, I felt I hve~ up to my goal. Stat-wise I felt I Toreros beat Portland and Pepperdine upended St. m~~ht ~ave come up a little short. h ha Mary's. The league-leading Waves held their four-game . I thmk what bothered _me the mos~, thoug , r-as t . t lead over USD and, with just three reglilar season games this team may go the entire season without rea 1zmg its remaining, left it with no chance at the conference title. potential. If we could have had a tougher non-~onference What this does leave the Toreros with, however, is an schedule to _get us better pr~pared 1 m_aybe th.~ngs would opportunity to build some momentuln for the future. Not have been different. But thats nobody s fault. that bad a consolation for a program which should have Carr, who arrived in San Diego prior to last season by its best years ahead. And, from the looks of things, there way of Sant.a Monica CC, came in averaging 9.3 an outing are reasons to be encouraged. and has been asked to play both the point and off-guard Last night's 61-57 victory over the Pilots at the Sports spots for the Toreros. He's also been recognized as one of Center was USD's third in its last Jour games and im- the top defensive guards in the conference. Rightly so. proved its overall mark to 15-9. The Toreros can do no "At first the thought of not repeating bothered me," worse than compile their second-best record in Division I said Carr. "Then I think I realized that's never easy - play, which isn't shabby considermg a horrendous 1-4 even if you return everybody. But at least we were there start in the WCAC. once and that was very important to me. I had never "It would be good for the program to end on a positive been on a conference champion before - always second note," Torero guard Chris Carr said after USO went to 4- place or third place. It was very special. 5 in league play. "We gave 100 percent all along - I "The way I look at it, I was part of a champion and honestly believe that. And as long as you do, you can't be have helped establish something for next year. I really too disappointed." have no complaints." "Right now we're just playing for .pride,' added for- Carr helped establish something more immediate last ward Anthony Reuss. "If we should finish off strong this night when he led the Toreros to a 37-22 halftime lead, a year, it'll only help us next year. We're only losing two lead that looked to be more than sufficient against the seniors, so the cohesiveness should be there." last-place Pilots, But Portland caught fire in the second The irony of both those remarks is that those two half, got as close as 55.49 with 4:12 remaining, and USD graduating players are none other than Carr and Reuss. needed six clutch free throws down the stretch to pull They have expressed little doubt that the Toreros will be away. back in the title hunt as early as next se on. It's just The Toreros were led by Carr and reserve forward unfortunate for them that they won't he part of the Steve Krallman, both of whom scored 13 points. Pete chase. Murphy and Scott Thompson added 10 each, while Port- Torero coach Hank Egan had stated earlier this week land guard Fred Harris led all scorers with 20. that the two people he felt sorry for the most were Carr Their next assignment arrives tomorrow night in the and Reuss. He believed that both had paid a "heck of a form of Gonzaga at the USD Sports Center. And with all price" to keep the team together. conference hopes gone, the motivation would appear to "The payoff," Egan had said, "may not come until next be much the same - another chance for a victory, anoth- year." · Id f er opportumty tq bui or next year. So, what's in it for them? Well, plenty. Neither seems "I guess the best feeling (hrough all thil\ 1s that m my bitter that he won't have another shot at the NCAA's and, two years here we have opened the eye ,0f the public," deep down, both would like to beli e they played an said Carr. "We're getting more recognition nd more fan important role in what could have been a tumultuous support than ever before and I have been a part of it. So transition from Jim Brovelli to Egan there have been far more positives."

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Jl.lk11 '•

P. C. B

F.st. 1888

Pepperdine shoo·ting for title ~s.~ A win over USD would wrap things up BYMicha Canepa Tribune Spc1 • "riter tomorrow night with a 21-8 overall record, 9-1 in WCAC pl nd have just about wrapped up the conference crown with a starting five of all underclassmen.

Should San a Clara somehow pull off the improbable and finish tied with Pepperdine at the top of the WCAC basketball standings, head-to-head competition would not be used as a tie-breaking procedure. Why? Because the conference has no tie-breaking system. Period. Instead, such a scenario would be handled by a one- game playoff, which doesn't exactly thrill Pepperdine coach Jim Harrick to pieces. And for good reason. Pep- perdine already has beaten the Broncos in both meetings this year "If we have a playoff, that would be a joke," Harrick said yesterday over the telephone from his office at the Malibu school. "We hope to rectify things like that in the future." For now, Harrick and his first-place Waves can rectify the problem by this weekend with one victory in their remaining two games. Either that or second-place Santa Clara - presently two games back in the loss colum - would have to lose one of its remaining three. It's that simple. First up is USOJomorrow night, starting at 7-30, at the school's Firestone Fieldhouse. If that doesn't do it, the Waves get last-place Loyola Marymount calling on Sat- urday. All that's at st.ake is the conference title and the NCAA's automatic playoff berth. And if that's not enough, each victory from here on in will only help Pepperdine once the NCAA committee sets up its playoff pairings. Obviously, motivation won't be a problem. "If we have any pride, we have to come out to play," said Harrick. "We haven't won anything yet and we sure as heck don't want a playoff. Plus, we would like to be considered a quality team and I think 23 wins would make people recognize us as a quality team." While surely recognized in these parts, the Waves • probably are better known back East for their water polo and volleyball programs than anything else. Pep- perdine basketball back there likely is regarded just a notch above the intramural level. But make no mistake, this is an outstanding unit Har- rick has put together in his sixth year after coming over as an assistant from UCLA. The Waves come into action

Granted, the WCAC 1s not the Big East or the Atlantic Coast Conference. But the achievement seems just as impr ive when one considers that Barrick lost four of five starters off last year's team. "In my wildest dreams I never thought we'd be where we are at," said Harrick, whose team finished in a tie for fourth place last season with a 6-6 conference mark. "We had gotten hammered twice by Santa Clara and they returned four of five. I'm figuring, 'how in the world can we beat them this time?' I think in the back of my mind I was hoping for a second - maybe 18-11 and an NIT bid." So what turned it around so quickly? "We've just continued to improve," Harriclc added. "They play well together, they like each other and they have guts. So I think the chemestry's there. And once you start winning confidence comes and we're a confident team right now." hey're also talented. Of the Wave starting five, four - guards Dwayne Polee and Jon Korfas, forwards Eric White and Anthony Frederick - are among the top 15 in conference scorers. The fifth - center Levi Middle- brooks - simply averages 10.7 an outing.. Their best all-around player is the 6-8 White, who ranks among the WCAC's top five in scoring (16.8), re- bounding (8.6), field goal percentage (58.3) and free throw percentage (82.4). As a team, they are scoring 76.6 a game. In comparison, the Toreros are at 61.8. ''They just have a lot of weapons," said USD coach Hank Egan. ''They have so many ways to beat you, so many ways to score. They can explode and you have no way of cheating on them. Pepperdine is by far the most talented team in the league. I'd say through their first five people they might be as good as anyone in the West." The two clubs opened conference play on Jan. 19, with Pepperdine taking a tough 60-50 decision. Amorale vic- tory for the Toreros? Hardly. USD went on to drop four of its first five WCAC contests and have just recently pulled that even at 5-5.. Pepperdine, meanwhile, went on to take eight of its next nine. And with two dates left in the regular season, Harrick just wants to make sure the Waves' first playoff game comes in the NCAA tournament.

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