Uneven USD Plays Santa Clara Tonight

The University of San Diego basketball team, which plays host to Santa Clara tonight at 7:30 in the USD Sports Center, is 1-1 in the West Coast Athletic Conference and 10-4 overall. But Coach Hank Egan still believes something is wrong.

“It’s not coming together as easy as we hoped,” Egan said. “A lot of people thought this (winning the WCAC) was going to be easy. Our intensity just isn’t where it needs to be.”

USD lost at Gonzaga, 58-46, last Saturday. USD’s 7-foot senior center Scott Thompson had no rebounds in 26 minutes and the Toreros were outrebounded, 36-25.

“The simple truth is that we’re going to have to play better,” Egan said. “We may even have to make some changes and get some people in there who want to play.”

Egan would not elaborate, though he did say his backcourt of Paul Leonard and Danny Means would remain intact. It would be surprising, at least, if either Thompson or Madden was kept out of tonight’s starting lineup. The other regular starter is 6-6 forward Mark Manor, who is averaging 7.6 points per game.

Santa Clara (1-1, 10-6) beat conference champion Pepperdine Saturday, 76-50.