News Scrapbook 1986-1988

A ge\es, CA :: nge\es Co\ lLOS,.. Times . o Ed.\ lS~n ~'s 9 o,0'\0) \Cir . S 55 573\ \Cir . ' Lo 5

Toreros open playoffs at home, S\Veet home By Jay Posner tl C:: ros have played 26 games in t he • Times Advocale Spor1swn1er ~\.- J Sports Center. They have won 25,

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including 13 in a row this year. Ironically, the last visiting team to win at the Sports Center was Loyola, 72-70 last February 1. But the 1985-86 Lions were a team that finished second in the WCAC and advanced to the second round of the National Invitational Touma-

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than even some high school gym· nasiums, but there is no place the University of San Diei2...basketball team would ratfier play. The USD Sports Center. Official capacity: 2,500. Cozy. Loud. "My dad (Bill Musselman) coached in the Big Ten," USD se-

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US Is the Favorite, Reluctantly -:zq )) Toreros Still Do 't Like the Idea of WCAC Tournaqient By CHRIS COBBS, Times Staff Writer

ment. By contrast, the 1986-87 nior Eric Musselman said recently, Lions are 1-10 on the road, 12-15 "and I remember he was here fo1 overall, and don't figure to be going the St. Mary's game when we werE anywhere but to class for the next freshmen (in 1984), the year WE few months. playing for a while longer. And, for us, and after the game he said were they in just about any other to me, 'There was no way you could conference, their 23-4 overall re- have lost tonight, just because of cord would no doubt be good the crowd and the noise.' " enough to earn them a spot in next It figures to be very crowded and month's NCAA Tournament. very loud tonight at 7:30, when But this is the WCAC, and the USD hosts Loyola Marymount in Toreros know the only way to the first round of the West Coast cinch a spot is to win tonight and Athletic Conference tournament. then twice more next weekend at The winner advances to next week- USF. end's conference semifinals at the The good news for USD is that it University of San Francisco. In the last two years, the Tore- Please see USO, p1e B2 \ went to the NCAAs. That was thEa game that clinched the conference The Toreros, though, hope to be

of reaching the NCAA tournament for the second time in four seasons. The conference semifinals and fi. nals w!ll be next Friday and Satur- day at the University of San F'ran- cisco. In other first-round games to- night, second-seeded Gonzaga will play host to seventh-seeded. ~ermerdine and third-seeded St. Mary's w!ll play host to sixth-seed- ed USF. Fourth-seeded Portland and fifth-seeded Santa Clara play in Portland Sunday. The pairings for the semifinals

SAN DIEGO-The first West Coast Athletic Conference tourna- ment begins tonight with one slightly nervous regular-seaso:1 champion trying to fend off seven also-rans happy to be getting a second chance. The Uo.i.\lersity of San Diego, the regular-season champion, will meet last-place finisher Loyola Marymount (4-10 m conference, 12-15 overall) at 7,30 in the USD Sports Center. The Toreros (13-1, 23-4) must win the tournament to be assured

wlll have the two highest remain- ing seeds in different brackets. If there are no upsets, USD would meet Portland in its semifinal. USD has opposed a conference tournament, which was debated the last four years before being adopted this season. "Basically, we felt if you played 14 regular-season games, the win- ner is the winner," said Father Patrick Cahill, USD athletic direc- tor. Please se~USD, P • ce 12 "We didn't feel some of the reasons advanced for holding a tournament were sufficient to war- rant it, specifically that everybody else was doing it except the Big Ten and Pac-10. Some leagues have seen it as a way to get another team into the NCAAs, but our confer- ence rarely has two [invited to the NCAA]. and we didn't feel a league tournament would make a differ- ~nce in that sense. Plus, our league 1s so geographically widespread, from San Diego to Spokane, that it didn't seem to make sense econom- ically." Cahill, however, has come around to grudging acceptance of the tournament. "Right now there are seven happy teams and one unhappy team," he said. "If we were in second place, we probably would be happy too." If the tournament turns a profit its future would seem beyond de~ bate, according to Cahill. USD has won both games against Loyola this season. The Toreros won, 82-48, on Jan. 29 at USD but struggleq to an 88-82 double-over- time victory on Feb. 7 at Loyola. The Toreros, 13-0 at home this season with a 16-game winning streak in the Sports Center, last lost at home last season to Loyola. "It's going to be a tough game, because they are playing well right now," USD Coach Hank Egan said. ~:-beat .£epperdine this week, "They have I lot of quickness and are a.good rebounding club, so we have to get back quickly on defense and get set up early." The Toreros, who are holding ~pponents to a -39.5% average in field- goal shooting-tops in the nation-held Loyola to 31 % shoot- ing in the first game and 34 % in the second. "It's too late if we ain't peaking," Egan said. "But I'm not concerned '"""' that. .. / USD 2q55 Continued from Page 1

Escondido, CA (San Diego Co.) Times Advocate (Cir. O. 32,685) (Cir. S. 34,568)

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

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just 59.3 points per game, fifth low- est in the nation. That latter number will be se- verely tested tonight, since Loyola is averaging 85.3 points per outing. Four players are averaging in dou- ble figures - 6-7 junior Mike Yoest (19.5), 6-3 senior Chris Nikchevich (13.1), 6-6 junior Mark Armstrong (11.7) and 6-4 sopho- more Enoch Simmons (10.9) - and the fifth starter - 6-8 senior Victor Lazaretti - has a 9.9 aver- age. The Lions' problem is that their opponents have averaged 87 .2 points a game. Even USD, which prefers a slower tempo and has av- eraged 69 points per night, rolled PP 170 in two games against Loyo- la. The first of those contests was tn 82-48 blowout at the Sports Center, but in the rematch at Loy- ola, the Toreros had to go two overtimes before pulling out an 88-82 victory. Egan, referring to the fact Arm- strong and reserve forward-center :Qarryl Carter missed the first g!ime because of curfew violations, said, "The game up at their place was more indicative of what (to- night's) game should be like." In addition, Loyola has won two of its last three games, routing San Francisco and Pepperdine by 20 points each. The Lions are coached by Paul Westhead, who guided the U>s Angeles Lakers to the 1979-80 BA championship. /

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was clearly the best team in the WCAC this year. En route to their second regular-season title in the last four years, the Toreros lost on- ly to Gonzaga, a team they later de- feated by 13 points. USO is led by 7-foot center Scott Thompson, who is averaging 15.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. The Toreros also have a formida- ble outside game, with three play- ers - Mark Manor (.507), Danny Means (.493) and Paul Leonard (.461) - shooting better than 46 percent from three-point range. Of course, USO Coach Hank Egan would rather his players be- lieve the "On any given day ..."cli- che. "We know any of the teams in our league can whip us," Egan said, "but they're going to have to whip us because we're not going to come out and hand it to them." Egan said his team is playing as well now as it has all season, a the- ory supported by the Toreros' 13- game wmning streak - the third- longest m the nation currently. . USD's strength is without ques- tion its defense, which is No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage allowed - 39.5 percent. The suc- cess rate shrinks to 34.9 percent at the Sports Center, where USD is allowing only 51.2 points per game. Overall, the Toreros have yielded

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the past two seasons, with the only loss coming at the buzzer last season to Loyola Marymount 72-70. USD defeated the Lions in both meetings this season, Jan. 29 at the Sports Center 82-48 and in double overtim~ Feb. 7 at Los Angeles 88-82. The Lions played without starting forward Mark Armstrong the team's leading rebounder, and b;ckup guard Darryl Carter when the teams played in San Diego. Loyola Marym- ount coach Paul Westhead kept the pair out of the game for disciplinary reasons. The Lions also played with- out guard Jeff Fryar, who missed both games with an injury. All three should be ready tonight. Lions junior forward Mike Yoest I9:1ds four starters in double figures with 19.7 pomts a game. Senior cen- ter Vic Lazzaretti, the only starter n?t in double figures, scored a game- high 25 points in the Lions' 98-78 win Wednesday over Pepperdine. Loyola Marymount, whirh finished second in the conference last season, was 2-2 in the .conference before losing eight straight games midway through the season. The Lions have won two of their past three. The game presents a contrast in styles with the deliberate Toreros '

who lead the nation in field goal de- fense, and the fast-paced Lions, who have s~ored more than 100 points seven times and are averaging more than 85 points a game. Suggestions that Loyola Marym- ount enters the tournament with nothing to lose - no pressure in other words - and everything to gam were dismissed by USD coach Hank Egan. "I've been an eighth-place team " Egan said. "All you're trying to do is win the game just like you are when you're a first-place team. I think it's more difficult at the end of the sea- son to win games because people ex- ecute better and they're better pre- pared. That makes it hard, but their perspective is no different than ours. We both need to win or it's going to be our last game. They've got the same amount of pressure on them as we've got on us." It's been suggested that the Toreros, who have the 10th best ~ecord in the nation, will be included m the NCAA Tournament's 64-team field regardless of how they fare in the conference tournament. But Egan wishes to leave nothing to chance.

WCAC championship and NCAA berth. It also may be comparable to the pressure of P.laying in the NCAA Tournament itself. "I kind of look at it like this is the NCAA To nament," said Madden who was a member of the '84 cham'. pionship team along with Thompson and senior teammates Steve Krall- man and Eric Musselman. "This is postseason play. Every game counts. You lose, you sit. "Every game you go out and know it could be your last for me the last of my college career'. Thats the way I'm going to approach every game, whether it is the WCAC Tournament or the NCAAs." !hompson enters the game aver- agmg 15.5 points and 7.6 rebounds a game, with Madden contributing 11.5 points and 7.1 rebounds. Senior point guard Paul Leonard is also in double figures at 10.5. Leonard, senior for- ward Mark Manor and sophomore guard Danny Means give USD a trio of outside shooters who have helped the Toreros shoot nearly 45 percent from three-point range. USD enters the tournament with a 13-game winning streak and 13-game home-court winning streak. The Toreros are 25-1 at the Sports Center

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San Jose, CA (Santa Clara Co.) Mercury News (AM Edition) (Cir. D. 243,078)

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San Diego is the target in WCAC tourney By John Akllfs Mercury News Staff Writer

will be March 6-7 at USF, and the winner gets the WCAC's automatic hid to the Na- tional Collegiate Athletic Association tour- nament. San Diego (23-4, 13-1) bas the league's best player (Scott Thompson), best defense (it is the national leader in field-goal defense) and the greatest experience (four seniors start). The Toreros also have a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid even if they lose in the tournament. Nance is betting against them only be- cause postseason tournaments rarely are won by regular-season champions. But this isn't the Big East or the Atlantic Coast See SAN DIEGO, Page 2E

Handicapping the WCAC field

St. Mary's Coach Lynn Nance is taking bets that San Diego won't win the West Coast Athletic Conference's first postseason basketball tournament. There's a hitch, of course. He wants you to give him the rest of the field. San Diego against the field. That's what it has come to in the WCAC's first tournament - which opens tonight fer all but Santa Clara and Portland, which meet at 2 p.m. Sunday in Portland. In other opening-round games, Loyola Marymount plays at San Diego, Pepperdine visits Gonz.aga, and USF makes the short trip to St. Mary's. The semifinals and final

Odda Comment 2-1 5-1

San Diego Gonzaga St. Mary's. Portland USF

The Statue is everyone's target Good team, ugly name Having best season In 26 years Pilots try to steer out of tailspin If they can win at St. Mary's ••• Broncs have yet to win 3 in row WCAC dines without 'Dine Win at USO? Forget about it

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Santa Clara Pepperdlne l())'ola Marymount

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Field zeroes in on San Diego in WCAC SAN DIEGO, from Page lE think they'd give UCLA problems." Conference, where you wouldn't The problems for opponents find a regular-season winner with . start with Thompson, who stands 7 a~ four-game cushion over the sec- feet tall and rarely lifts his 260- ond-place team (Gonzaga) or a pound frame much higher than six-game lead over the third (St. that. NBA superscout Marty Blake Mary's). calls Thompson "The Statue" for "I would be 111urprised if San Die- obvious reasons. go did not win it,'' said USF Coach But at 7 feet, Thompson doesn't Jim Brovelli, who recruited the always need to jwnp high or move Toreros' seniors when he was the quickly. He is averaging 15.7 points coach there. "They're capable of and 7.6 rebounds per game. getting knocked off, but I just don't "In my opinion, he's the best big see it." man on the (West) Coast,'' Brovelli Yet, the season bas brought little said. "People say he doesn't have national attention to the Toreros or the numbers. But he's a great pass- the conference, whose greatest at- er for a big man, and, because of tention-getter the past five years that, when you key on him it bas been USF's hara-kiri attempt makes them better because he will in 1982 and its revival in 1985. get the ball to the open man." It might just mean the nation is The open men would be 6-6 for- in for a big surprise. · ward Mark Manor, a recent WCAC "I think they'd give (No 1-ranked player of the week; 6-8 Nils Mad- Las) Vegas problems," said Santa den, 11.3 points per game; and 6-1 Clara Coach carroll Williams. "I guard PaUl Leonard, 10.7 points. They have shot a combined 53.3 percent from the field. Conversely, they have held oppo- nents to 39.4 percent shooting. Are there weaknesses? "You think I'd tell you?" said San Diego Coach Hank Egan. "Yeah, there are, but not in one particular area. A lot of things worry me. We're the kind of ball- club that has to work hard to win. We're not gifted athletes." The only WCAC coach qualified to talk about stopping the Toreros is Gonz.aga's Dan Fitzgerald. His Bulldogs beat them 58-46 in Spo- kane, Wash., on Jan. 10. Since then, the Toreros have won 13 straight games. Fitzgerald admits his tall front line matched up well against the Toreros. Even so, he says he likes USO a lot, but ... "There are teams we might fear more than them,'' Fitzgerald said. "On a neutral court, they're not dominant. I don't think there's a coach in the league who doesn't feel (his team has) a chance against them." It's anyone's guess who has the best chance to beat USO and, if that happens, win the tournament. Last~place Loyola Marymount, USD's first-round opponent, took the Toreros into double overtime before losing. Gonzaga matches up well against the Toreros, but bas problems against more athletic teams, such as first-round oppo- nent Pepperdine. Santa Clara has had matchup problems against quicker Port- land, but St. Mary's bas had few problems with USF's athlet.es. Yet, Santa Clara bas had little trouble containing St. Mary's. That's why Nance wants to bet' only if he has the field.

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