USD Magazine, Spring 2003

ALMANAC

Nothin' but ET Sweet Victory for Toreros at wee Tournament by Timothy McKernan G onzaga University had jumped out to a 15-3 lead over USD in the 2003 West Coast Conference championship game when Torero coach Brad Holland called a timeout. The cheers of the Gonzaga faithful were deafening; the players were celebrating as if the game had already been won. Holland turned roan assistant coach and nodded. "We have chem right where we want chem," he said. He was right. USD fought back for a deci– sive 72-63 victory, claiming its first wee men's basketball championship in 16 years and earning an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Bur chat's only part of rhe story. In addition to the satisfaction of winning a championship, the ream also got a really heavy monkey off its back.

Coach Brad Holland, two-time WCC Coach of the Year, took the last snip from the ceremonial championship net.

Gonzaga, rhe pride of Spokane, Wash., had at USD become a synonym for frustra– tion. Torero-Bulldog contests over the past several years fell into a routine - close, well-played games that ended in victory for Gonzaga. Winning only three of 14 games since 1998, and losers of the last nine in a row, rhe Toreros had never beaten Gonzaga at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

crushed Sr. Mary's. Before the final game on March 10, most observers had already fit the Bulldogs for their fifth consecutive confer– ence crown and were musing about USD 's prospects of being invited to the National Invitational Tournament, the lesser scar in rhe college basketball galaxy.

Worse, they were forced to look on as the Bulldogs and their fans claimed the JCP as their home away from home, winning rhe 2001 and 2002 conference tournaments at Alcala Park. As chis season got under way, ir seemed not much had changed. Gonzaga was favored to win the conference in five polls, none of which rared USD higher than fourth. Bur after early missteps, the Toreros caught fire halfway through

The 2002-03 Toreros earned USD's third NCAA tournament berth, and the first in 16 years.

the wee schedule, finishing strong enough to claim the No. 2 seed in the con– ference tournament - second, of course, to Gonzaga, who bear USD twice in conference play. Ar the March 9 cournament semifinal, USD overcame turnovers and uneven shoot– ing to best San Francisco, while Gonzaga

Despite history, the experrs' crystal balls and rhe early 12-point deficit, rhe Toreros kept playing. Some deadly shooting - four Toreros scored in double figures - and tenacious defense brought USD back from what looked like an insurmountable Gonzaga lead. With about eight minutes to

Senior Jason Keep was named the tournament's most valuable player.

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