Torero Miscues: Few but Costly : Disciplined Ballhandling Deserts USD at the End

The University of San Diego’s basketball team was like a pitcher who threw two bad pitches and both were hit for home runs, or a quarterback who had two interceptions and both were returned for touchdowns, or a fighter who was knocked out by the only punch that hit him.

USD made very few mistakes in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional, but paid dearly in a 62-61 loss to Auburn.

“If we executed,” said Danny Means, the sophomore guard, “we thought we’d win.”

USD executed well enough to overcome a 9-0 deficit at the start and lead by as many as eight points in the first half. It committed only two turnovers and led, 33-28, after the half.

In fact, the Toreros continued to run their offense with marvelous precision until a little less than six minutes remained.

It was then, with USD still ahead, 57-54, that this precision instrument fell apart like a watch someone bought in a darkened doorway.

Two errant passes, one by Mike Haupt and the other by Mark Manor, were stolen by Gerald White and Frank Ford, Auburn’s lightning quick guards who had been invisible--and scoreless--through the first half.

Their layups gave Auburn a 58-57 lead with 5:10 to play, and the Toreros never again drew even.

Auburn had much to do with this turn of events.

USD looked confused during this brief but critical stretch because it was confused.

“A couple of times down the court we didn’t know what defense they were in,” Means said. “It was almost like they were in a 1-3-1 man-to-man or a weird trap. They kept us off balance and took us out of our offense. It’s like we were shell shocked for a few minutes before we figured out what they were doing and adjusted our offense.”

It also was during this period of confusion that Scott Thompson, the Toreros’ pillar of strength in the middle, dribbled the ball off an Auburn player’s foot while trying to maneuver in a crowd. The offshoot of these out-of-character miscues was that Auburn led, 62-57, with 2:57 to play.

Still, the game was decided on one final turnover.

This came with the ball in the hands of guard Paul Leonard, undoubtedly the man the Toreros wanted to have the ball at that moment. Mark Manor had put it there with an outlet pass off a missed free throw by Ford with five seconds to play.

“Mark made a good rebound and a good pass to halfcourt,” Leonard said. “They had two guys in front of me and I was trying to throw a move on them, maybe slice between them. I lost control for a second.”

This was a most frantic of moments, the clock ticking toward the buzzer, Auburn scrambling to avoid an upset and Leonard driving toward what could be--and maybe still is--the most memorable moment in USD’s athletic history.

A whistle blew as Leonard’s off-balance shot missed.

“I knew they had to call something,” Leonard said. “I thought maybe they’d call a foul.”

No such luck. The call was double-dribble.

“It could have been,” Leonard admitted. “My other hand might have caught part of the ball.”

It was not a “could have been.” It was a certainty. And that’s the way it is when officials make a call.

However, this basketball game was definitely a “could have been” for the Toreros--in spite of the slow start.

“I think we were a little bit nervous,” Manor said. “Going into it, we were thinking of Auburn and all the great teams in the Southeastern Conference and all the great players. But we hung in there. I think we played as good as or better than they did.”

Indeed, USD did not allow the stumbling start to take it out of its game. Instead, it took Auburn out of its game, eating away at the deficit and finally opening a 27-19 lead. It had its kind of pace.

Remarkably, this comeback was accomplished with Thompson, the 7-foot center, on the bench for the last 14:40 of the half after drawing his second foul.

“You wouldn’t think we could come back like that in a game like this,” Leonard said. “I know the crowd didn’t think we could, not with Scott out. They know about Scott Thompson, but they didn’t know much about the rest of us. We’ve been an unselfish team all year, never looking to go to one man. We had to look past the fact that Scott was out and play our game.”

And so they did. The Toreros did not commit their first turnover until the final minute of the first half. Disciplined and efficient basketball got them here, and it kept them in the game Thursday night.

But the Toreros lost because they lost it for that brief stretch when they were confronted by a 1-3-1 defense. It was too much to overcome against a team such as Auburn.

As Leonard so succinctly said: “We didn’t lose it at the end. We lost it along the way.”