SAN DIEGO COLLEGE NOTEBOOK : Gulls Didn’t Take Their Best Shot When Magazine Tried to Do Same

For an upcoming story on the three-point shot in college basketball, Sports Illustrated sent Robert Beck to Golden Hall Saturday to photograph the U.S. International men’s game against Southern Utah State College.

The reason? Ample opportunity for the right photo. USIU averages about 15 three-point tries per game, SUSC about 16.

For the occasion, Sports Illustrated had strobe lights above each basket that flashed each time Beck took a picture.

Coach Gary Zarecky said it affected the Gulls, one in particular. Kevin Bradshaw, the third-leading scorer in the nation (31.3-point average), made just four of 19 shots in the first half. He adjusted in the second and finished with 36 points on 11-of-34 shooting, leading USIU to a 109-97 victory.

Bradshaw has seven games remaining in the race for the scoring title. He probably will not catch Loyola Marymount’s Bo Kimble (35.4) but has a shot at No. 2, Ohio’s Dave Jamerson (32.7).

But how much does it all mean to USIU, which is striving for national recognition? Bradshaw was listed in USA Today last week as playing for the University of Southern Illinois.

Consider, too, that the Gulls are the fifth-highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 96.7 points. But of the 18 highest-scoring teams listed by the NCAA, the Gulls are the only one with a losing record (9-12).

Now for a local view of the three-point shot, numbers you probably will not see in SI.

--Bradshaw has taken and made more three-pointers (58 of 169) than the entire University of San Diego team (57 of 141).

--USIU has attempted 70 more than San Diego State, which has tried 119 more than USD. But the Toreros have the best percentage, having made 40.4% to USIU’s 34.1% and SDSU’s 33.6%.

--USD’s Pat Holbert has made 54.2% (26 of 48). For consideration to be among NCAA leaders, a player must have averaged 1.5 successful three-pointers per game. Had Holbert made one more of his attempts, he would have qualified and been at 56.2%.

--For the women, USD has made 40.7% (48 of 118). Opponents have both attempted and made one more over 19 games. SDSU, on the other hand, has made just three of 24 (12.5%). Its opponents have made 47 of 133 (35.3%).

--USD forward Cathy Perkins had not attempted a three-point shot from December 1987 until Jan. 24 at Santa Clara. Before the game, she convinced assistant Brad Thomas she could shoot from beyond the 19-foot-9 arc. During the game, she convinced everybody else.

Perkins made five of five and scored a career-high 17 points. In the next game against Santa Clara Saturday, she made one of two.

UC San Diego has moved to No. 14 in the NCAA Division III men’s basketball poll. The Tritons (15-4) were ranked 19th last week.

Point Loma Nazarene College’s Camille Armijo leads the Golden State Athletic Conference in scoring (24.6 average) and assists (4.0). Tuesday, she scored 38 points against Cal Baptist. Teammate Shannon Abrams is second in scoring at 17.8 and first in rebounding at 11.3.

PLNC’s Ron Hubbard leads the GSAC men in scoring averaging (21.6 points). Teammate Mike Flores, a graduate of Mt. Miguel, leads the conference in rebounding at 9.2 per game.

Christian Heritage, top-ranked in the National Christian College Athletic Assn., is in the midst of its most difficult trip of the year. The Hawks, 2-0 on the swing and 17-4 overall, play four more road games in five days in Salem, Ore., and Juneau, Sitka and Anchorage, Alaska.

The temperature in Anchorage Tuesday was 0. In Juneau, it was 2 below and clear. Sitka, an island southeast of Juneau, didn’t make the national listings.

Eight members of the Spanish national baseball team have been working out at USD the past three weeks and will be joined by their teammates for an exhibition this afternoon at 1 at Cunningham Stadium.

Jake Molina, an assistant the past five years to USD Coach John Cunningham, is also Spain’s national team coach and may be its Olympic coach in 1992. This past summer, he coached Spain to third in the European Championships and second in the International Friendship Cup.

Spain plays at Point Loma Nazarene Feb. 12.

So how did you spend your summer vacation?

During the recent semester break, USD’s Jose Luis Noriega went to the beach. Of course, it helps that he lives in Lima, Peru.

Noriega, the No. 2-ranked U.S. men’s college tennis player, took two weeks off from training and worked on his tan.

Two weeks later, he won Peru’s national championship.

He made it back in time to help USD defeat UC Riverside Saturday. Noriega then won in No. 1 singles against No. 3 UCLA, but the No. 17 Toreros lost, 5-4.

Saturday and Sunday, USD plays at No. 1 Stanford and at No. 4 Cal. Noriega then leaves for Minneapolis, where he will compete Feb. 7-10 in the U.S. Collegiate Indoor Championships, one of four college Grand Slam tournaments.

Noriega won the Clay Court Championships, another Grand Slam event, late last year but says he has never played in an indoor tournament before.

“The indoor game is so much faster,” he said. “I don’t feel too good about it.”

Noriega added that he is feeling some pressure over being ranked second in the nation: “You’re not supposed to lose to anyone behind you in the rankings, and there’s only one guy ahead of me.”