USD Ends All Doubt Quickly : College basketball: The Toreros take a 32-13 first-half lead on the way to an easy, 71-45 victory over Stephen F. Austin.

In the University of San Diego’s Saturday night shoot-around with Stephen F. Austin State, the Toreros shot a hole in the idea any team can beat another in college basketball.

SFA never had a shot. USD’s 71-45 victory in front of 713 at the USD Sports Center was, for all intents and purposes over in . . . well, pick your spot.

After trailing, 2-0, USD scored five points in a row. It may have taken the Toreros four minutes 10 seconds to record their first point (perhaps because of a week layoff for final exams) but once they got untracked, they had no trouble.

Scoring streaks of 14-0 and 7-0 helped USD establish a 22-point lead, its biggest of the first half, with 17 seconds left.

The amazing thing was that USD had scored just 32 points, the Lumberjacks 10. It took a three-point basket at the buzzer by Jeff Williams to give SFA 13 by halftime.

Had USD not been shooting so poorly early--the Toreros made just six of 20 shots (30%) in the first 6:02--it might have had one of its better first halves ever.

As it was, SFA had one of its worst in 64 years. After Tim Holloway scored the game’s first basket at 17:30, the Lumberjacks did not score again for another 4:45.

That paled in comparison with the 6:42 nap it took after its fourth point. With 6:02 left, Norman Schippers’ 15-foot jumper cut USD’s lead to 19-6.

A few minutes later, John Jerome made two free throws and a layup, and Pat Holbert sank a three-pointer to give USD a 28-8 lead.

It was pretty much over from there.

After four consecutive road losses, USD needed a victory to begin its eight-game home stand. USD is 3-5 and plays four more nonconference games at home before opening West Coast Conference play Jan. 6 against Santa Clara.

Perhaps more, it needed to avoid a loss to a team that has yet to win this season (0-6) and has lost eight in a row over two seasons, two shy of the school record set in 1941-42.

“We’ve been on the road, and we’ve been beat up pretty bad,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “We needed a win.”

Said Wayman Strickland, who had one of his best games since switching to point guard this season, “We need to get well on this home stand.”

SFA was a good short-term remedy, but was it a case of the Toreros playing well, or did the Lumberjacks play that badly?

Said Egan: “I think we played well at times. I think defensively we played better than we have. They’re a young team, no doubt about it.”

SFA has six freshmen, three sophomores and just four upper classmen. That makeup reminds Egan all too well of his teams the past two seasons.

In the two-plus years since making the NCAA Tournament, USD is 22-42. SFA is 20-42 over that same period after making the National Invitation Tournament in 1986-87.

But USD is clearly on the upswing. The Lumberjacks . . . well, they were picked to finish last in the Southland Conference.

The statisticians at courtside probably set a personal record putting together the numbers after the first half. It isn’t hard to figure out a game that’s 32-13.

USD made twice as many shots (12-6) and had nearly twice as many rebounds (19-10). The Toreros made seven of eight free throws to SFA’s zero of zero (USD committed only three fouls). SFA had 11 turnovers to just six for USD.

The only statistical area the Lumberjacks were even was in three-point field goals. Both teams made one of three. The second half was closer mainly because SFA made five three-pointers and shot 46% from the field.

Still, the 45 points was a USD opponent low for this season, as was the 13 in the first half.

Jerome, averaging 19 points per game, led all scorers with 22 points. Gylan Dottin added nine and Kelvin Woods eight as Egan substituted freely in the second half.