Defense Leads Way for 64-44 Victory by USD

The University of San Diego, on what was supposed to be letdown night, outdid itself on defense Saturday night in a 64-44 victory over Portland in front of 2,500 fans in the USD Sports Center.

After the game, the country’s top team in field-goal percentage defense sat together in the dressing room and made it clear.

“Defense!” everybody yelled.

Before the game, everybody was yelling letdown. Only, this was not the players yelling.

USD, which won the West Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship by defeating Gonzaga Thursday night, seemed ripe for the picking by Portland Saturday night.

But not USD.

“After a victory, we’ll usually celebrate until about midnight,” USD guard Paul Leonard said. “After the Gonzaga game, it was no different. We knew we had to keep the momentum going.”

Hank Egan, USD coach, spent the last two days saying there would be no letdown.

“And there wasn’t any,” he said afterward.

USD came into the game allowing its opponents 39.9% shooting from the floor this season. On Saturday, it held Portland to 28% (16 of 58) from the field.

While USD worked hard to stop Portland, the Toreros didn’t overexert themselves on offense. Disdaining the fast break, USD worked the ball around for open outside shots.

It was an especially good idea Saturday because senior forward Mark Manor was hitting virtually everything he threw up. Manor finished with a career-high 28 points, making 8 of 11 shots from three-point range.

Manor began shooting from outside long before the game started.

“I hit 6 of 7 shots from out of bounds in the shoot-around before the game,” he said.

By the time the game started, the three-point shot must have felt like a chip shot.

Manor hit his first two three-pointers and USD went 8 for 8 to start the game, taking an early 18-7 lead. The Toreros (12-1, 22-4) never led by less than three points the rest of the way. Portland fell to 6-7, 14-12.

Manor’s performance was memorable for him because this was his last regular-season home game. Scott Thompson, Nils Madden, Eric Musselman, Steve Krallman, Leonard and Manor--all of the seniors--were honored before the game.

“I was so excited and pumped up I had to take myself out after four minutes,” Manor said.

But he didn’t stay out for long, especially since his shot was falling.

“You never can tell how you’re going to shoot,” Manor said. “Before the Utah game (in November), I was 15 for 15 in warmups and 0 for 7 in the game. Tonight, in warmups, I shot about 60%.”

In the game, Manor was 63%, hitting 10 of 16 shots.