Sophomore Center Helps Toreros Beat Gonzaga, 58-43

University of San Diego sophomore center Scott Thompson had game-highs of 18 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the Toreros over Gonzaga, 58-43, at the Sports Center in a West Coast Athletic Conference game in front of l,375.

The victory put the Toreros (16-9 overall) at .500 (5-5) in conference for the first time this season. Gonzaga is 4-5, 15-10.

“Thompson had a nice game,” Gonzaga Coach Jay Hillock said. “He’s someone who’ll have to be dealt with in the future. Thompson was the whole difference in the game.”

USD Coach Hank Egan agreed with Hillock.

“Scott is coming along little by little,” he said. “I’m happy for him. He’s making progress and working hard.”

It was arguably the best showing by Thompson this season, certainly the best he’s looked against a WCAC opponent.

“I have more confidence,” said Thompson. “I started off slow, and things are picking up for me and the whole team. Too bad the season is almost over.”

A 10-0 USD spurt in the second half ended the Bulldogs’ hopes of picking up a victory on the road. Gonzaga guard Jeff Condill hit a jumper with 6:55 remaining to make the score 44-39, which was the last time Gonzaga scored until Jason Van Nort’s two free throws with 1:30 left.

In between those Gonzaga points, Steve Krallman connected on a jumper and Thomspon on a layup. Peter Murphy, Anthony Reuss and Scott Thompson then combined for six free throws. Thompson’s two foul shots put USD ahead 54-39 with 2:20 left.

“We’ve been going through long periods where we don’t have any offensive firepower,” said Hillock, whose team had played without leading scorer Bryce McPhee, who injured his knee when USD faced Gonzaga at Spokane in late January. “We don’t have one player any more who can take charge.”

The main reason the Bulldogs didn’t score very often is they rarely had their hands on the ball. USD outrebounded Gonzaga, 36-26.

“The rebounds they got shut us down,” said Bulldog forward John Hobus. “We have better interior players, but things weren’t clicking.

“We didn’t get any boards. That should not have happened because we’re bigger and stronger. We played terrible.’

USD was far from terrible from the free-throw line, making 14 of 16 attempts. Only misses by Carr and Reuss spoiled a perfect night at the line.

“We’re not a bad free-throw shooting team,” said Egan. “It helped us again. But we didn’t just win it at the free-throw line. We won the battle of the boards and took away their inside game.”

Center Tim Ruff led Gonzaga with 13 points and Van Nort had 12. No other Bulldog was in double figures.

Gonzanga made just 8 of 26 shots (31%), and the Toreros weren’t much better at 35% (8 of 23).

USD trailed 10-8 with less than six minutes left but took the lead on a James Knight follow and a baseline drive by Murphy.

Gonzaga quickly tied the score 12-12 on a three-point play by Van Nort.

With 2:30 left in the half, USD had a four-point lead, thanks to a turnaround jumper by Thompson and a pair of free throws by Murphy.

The Bulldogs were down 20-17 after Jackson hit two foul shots with four seconds remaining. Condill scored on a 15-footer at the buzzer, giving USD a 20-19 lead at halftime.d