USD’s Tournament Hopes Become Remote After Loss

The University of San Diego may have seen its postseason basketball hopes die in one 4:30 stretch Saturday night, as the Toreros fell to Gonzaga, 68-61, in a West Coast Athletic Conference game at the Gonzaga Athletic Centre.

The stretch? It came with about six minutes left, with the Toreros holding a 51-46 lead. Gonzaga, which had used two zones to shut down the Toreros’ inside game, then put man-to-man pressure on USD and outscored the Toreros, 10-0.

“The last time, when they went to a press, it went in our favor,” Torero Coach Hank Egan said, refering to USD’s 74-50 victory in the team’s first meeting. “Tonight, it didn’t.”

Said Dan Fitzgerald, the Gonzaga coach: “We decided our ‘break point’ was five. That’s when we decided we had to press.

“It’s not so much that they turned the ball over (the Toreros had just 12) as they hurried their shots.”

Trailing by five, the Toreros were forced into a scrambling--and fouling--defense. And Gonzaga hit its free throws, making 12 of 14 after taking the five-point lead.

The loss, the Toreros’ first in five games, leaves them with an 8-5 conference mark, but maybe more importantly, an 18-9 overall record. Gone is a chance for Egan’s first 20-win season.

“The press set that goal, we didn’t,” Egan said. “We’ll play just as hard Wednesday night (in the season finale at St. Mary’s).”

But also gone may be the Toreros’ hopes for an National Invitation Tournament bid.

“I sure hope not,” Fitzgerald said. “They’re a good team with enough quality to go and play well.”

Junior guard Paul Leonard did nearly everything he could do to keep USD’s postseason hopes going, scoring a career-high 16 points, pulling down 8 rebounds and adding 7 assists. But Scott Thompson, who had been averaging 17 points a game in the Toreros’ recent four-game winning streak, was held to 14.

Pete Murphy added 14, most on outside shots. Gonzaga (7-6, 14-13) was led by guard Jeff Condill’s 20 points and Jim McPhee’s 15.