Portland Coach Sees It, but He Doesn’t Believe It : USD Escapes Cellar as Opponent Makes Just 2 of Its First 37 Field Goal Tries

From his front-row seat along the west sideline of the USD Sports Center, Portland Coach Larry Steele had a clear view of what was happening to his basketball team during a 61-41 loss to the University of San Diego Thursday night. But he could neither explain it nor do anything about it.

So after Portland displayed one of the worst shooting performances in West Coast Athletic Conference history in front of 570 fans, Steele even leaned upon members of the media for help.

Not with the shooting, just the explaining. Steele just found it hard to say how:

- Portland made just 2 of 25 field goal attempts in the first half (8%) to set a conference record and at one point in the second half was 2 for 37. St. Mary’s, in 1976, was the last of five teams to make just three in a half.

- Portland finished the game 9 for 55 (16.4%) and had to make four field goals in the final three minutes to avoid another conference record of just eight in a game, also set by St. Mary’s in 1976.

- Portland went 15 minutes 27 seconds without a basket during one stretch of the first half, and went the first 10:14 of the second without one.

“The only thing I have going for me is that maybe the people who read the stories won’t believe it,” Steele said. “Maybe they’ll think it’s a misprint. I don’t know how to describe it. I’ll have to ask you guys to help me.”

How often do coaches ask reporters for help?

“Only when it’s that indescribable,” Steele said. “The first half was the ugliest I’ve ever seen. Then I saw the second half, and it was close to as bad as the first.”

USD wasn’t concerned with its own style points. The Toreros (10-12, 2-7) were just happy to escape the WCAC cellar, one game ahead of Portland (6-16, 1-8).

Five nights ago in Portland, USD had allowed the Pilots to pull even in the conference standings when it missed its first 14 shots from the field and went on to lose, 68-64.

“Whatever it was that we had up there they had worse tonight,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “I don’t know what they could have done. It just wouldn’t go for them.”

USD didn’t shoot much better, but 29% of its first-half shots was worth a 27-17 halftime lead. In the second half, when Portland started 0 for 12, USD widened its margin to 43-24 with 9:45 left.

Marty Munn led USD with 16 points and Danny Means added 10. William McDowell was the only Portland player in double figures with 12 points.