Toreros Find Way to Win

You wouldn’t know it by the University of San Diego’s 96-71 victory over Santa Clara Saturday night at the USD Sports Center, but USD Coach Hank Egan had been pressing for answers.

About two weeks ago, he couldn’t figure out why his team was not quite playing to its potential.

He yelled a lot, got mad at his players, got mad at the officials. He even inserted his jacket into the lineup one night, but the refs whistled him for a technical--it didn’t have any eligibility left.

None of it worked. USD began the season 3-7.

Then Egan tried the nice-guy approach. Well, at least the non-raging guy approach. He figured he would just let his team grow at its own pace. He became encouraging, almost delightful on the sideline.

You know what? USD began winning.

The Toreros (6-7) have won three in a row now, including Saturday’s West Coast Conference opener in front of 1,716.

One reason for Egan’s change was a fellow by the name of Jack Avina, who coached for 17 years at Portland before going to Turkey, where he coached a professional team for two years. Egan and Avina have been friends since Egan was a coach at the Air Force Academy.

Avina, vacationing in San Diego for a few weeks, began “observing” Torero practices. He advised Egan to let up on the kids, let them develop their own identity at their own pace.

Egan listened, but what he has been hearing most is the sound of ball swishing through net.

USD has been extraordinary shooting from the field in the past three games. Against Santa Clara, USD made 61.9% (39 for 63) of its floor shots, 73.3% (22 of 30) in the second half as it pulled away and routed the Broncos for the first time in five tries.

“We shot it pretty well, didn’t we?” Egan asked rhetorically.

John Jerome made 10 of 16 and finished with a game-high 25 points, six more than his season average. Kelvin Woods made eight of 11 and had a season-high 19 points. Three other Toreros--Pat Holbert (12 points), Wayman Strickland (12) and Gylan Dottin (11)--scored in double figures.

“All I can say is we were playing ball tonight,” Jerome said. “Guys were comfortable. Guys were starting to accept some roles. We looked pretty good.”

Said Strickland, “We had all our motors running tonight.”

Santa Clara, on the other hand, did not.

“We didn’t have any answers,” Bronco Coach Carroll Williams said. Santa Clara, hampered by injuries in pre-conference games, fell to 3-10, equaling its worst start ever and the worst under Williams, who is in his 20th year.

Ron Reis (7-feet-1, 285 pounds) led the Broncos with a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Nils Becker (6-10) added 15 points and Jeffty Connelly 14.

Santa Clara got just five points from its bench compared to 29 for USD.

The victory for USD was only its second in 11 WCC openers. The 96 points were the highest since USD scored 104 at Loyola Marymount last season and the most in a victory since a 99-84 victory over the Lions in 1986-87.

USD had a chance to match its biggest lead of the first half moments after the buzzer sounded that normally would have ended it.

Reis was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a Santa Clara missed shot apparently ended the half. Strickland missed the first foul shot but made the second to give USD a 43-34 lead.

The Toreros had assumed a 10-point lead when Jerome tipped in Dondi Bell’s missed free throw with 42 seconds left in the half.

USD, off to its typical slow start, fell behind 5-0 as it missed its first five shots and had two others blocked.

But the Toreros found the mark and were off on an 11-0 run. Another 11-0 run later in the half gave them a 33-24 lead with 8:10 left before the half.

Despite its overwhelming size advantage, USD out-rebounded the Broncos, 20-18, in the first 20 minutes. Both teams had 32 rebounds for the game.

USD outshot Santa Clara by 10% in the half making 51.5% (17-33) to 41.5% (12-29) for the Broncos. Jerome led all scorers with 14 points. Becker had 11 to lead Santa Clara.