Placid USD Goes Out With a Whimper

The University of San Diego basketball team, presented with a second chance to save a lost season in the West Coast Athletic Conference’s postseason tournament, politely declined the offer early Saturday afternoon.

The Toreros put up little fuss or fight and were sent packing in a 68-48 first-round loss to St. Mary’s at Toso Pavilion.

St. Mary’s, which finished second in the conference during the regular season, went on a 10-0 run to open the second half and led, 38-23, with 15:39 remaining. That’s when the Toreros seemed to decide that an 11-17 final record would suit them just fine.

None of this suited Hank Egan, however, and USD’s coach refused to let the lackadaisical play slip by without delivering a couple of messages, a good idea because it is unlikely anyone would have otherwise remembered USD’s appearance here.

Egan’s first message was delivered with 8:31 to play, when he called a timeout and benched junior guard Danny Means, his most experienced player and the team’s acknowledged leader.

USD trailed by only 45-33 at the time--not out of contention yet--but Means never returned.

“I thought he was the reason we weren’t getting enough motion in our offense,” said Egan, who was obviously upset. “That’s a good way to put it.”

Means said: “He was telling me to do something, and I said something back. It was a personal mistake on my part, and he punished me for it.”

USD never got closer after Means left and wound up losing by a lopsided score to a team with which it had split two games during the regular season.

Egan delivered his second message afterward.

“I’ve been coaching a long time (17 years, four at USD), and I can’t remember a performance this bad this late in the season by any of my teams,” he said. “I think this shows that we really have to evaluate what we’re going to do with this program.

“We have to take a closer look at everything. Not only with what we’re going to do but who we’re going to do it with.”

Not a lot was expected from Egan’s team this season--four starters were lost from 1986-87--but he hadn’t planned to end the season in this fashion.

USD missed its first seven shots from the field and didn’t score a field goal until the 12:10 mark, when Means hit a long jumper to pull USD within 7-4.

It was that close only because St. Mary’s, which drew six two-shot fouls in the first eight minutes, missed 9 of its first 12 free throws.

Over the next seven minutes, St. Mary’s (19-8) continued to work the ball inside, and shots started to fall. USD began to fall back, trailing 23-11 with 5:45 remaining in the half.

In danger of being blown out, USD responded with its only run of the day. Efrem Leonard came off the bench to spark the Toreros, and 3:45 and a 12-0 sprint later, the score was tied at 23-23.

But by halftime, the Toreros would trail by five, as Robert Haugen scored inside and then hit a 30-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to put St. Mary’s ahead, 28-23.

The second half started with three USD turnovers, two by freshman guard Kelvin Means, and St. Mary’s took advantage by getting its running game in gear. Al Lewis scored on two breakaway layups and hit a three-pointer as USD went the first 5:13 of the second half without scoring.

“Those turnovers didn’t allow us to come back and set up our defense,” Egan said. “It got them going, and we started falling back.”

USD could not recover a second time. Leonard finished with a game-high 19 points, but nobody else helped. The Toreros finished 37% (19 of 51) from the floor.