Toreros Stay Torrid, Top St. Mary’s by 32

It seems like there’s a different hero every night. That’s what University of San Diego Coach Hank Egan has said after what seems like each game the past four weeks.

You know what? It is.

Saturday night, in a 93-61 rout of St. Mary’s, it was Anthony Thomas and Randy Thompson drawing the highest praise from Egan.

“I thought Randy Thompson made some key plays, did a good job defensively, got some big boards and really moved the ball and hit the open man against their press,” Egan said. “And Anthony Thomas--he’s been trying real hard to fit in. He came off the bench and was just with it tonight. He was tremendous off the boards.”

John Jerome is USD’s marquee player, but Saturday night, in front of 2,167 in the USD Sports Center, everybody got into the act.

There was little-used Shawn Hamilton driving to the basket for an impressive dunk that ended the scoring. Before that, freshmen Joe Temple made a layup, and Brooks Barnhard a 12-foot turnaround jumper.

They were allowed court time because Thomas had a career-high 16 points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes. Because Thompson was superb on defense and added five assists in 12 minutes. Because Wayman Strickland had 15 points and 11 assists, Kelvin Woods 12 points and seven rebounds, and Pat Holbert 11 points.

Jerome wasn’t bad, either. The 6-foot-8 senior forward had 18 points and 11 rebounds. It was the sixth consecutive game he has reached double figures in both categories.

It was the second consecutive game USD has had five scorers in double figures. The Toreros turned a similar trick Thursday in a 96-84 victory over San Francisco.

This was USD’s seventh victory in a row and 11th in the 14 games since Christmas. With Pepperdine defeating Loyola Marymount, 131-123, in Malibu, the Toreros still entertain longshot hopes of a West Coast Conference championship.

USD (14-10, 9-3) is in second with league games remaining at Loyola Marymount and third-place Pepperdine.

The normally slow-starting Toreros had a particularly tough time getting started against St. Mary’s.

They turned the ball over on their first two possessions. They missed three shots on their third possession, two on their fourth and another on their fifth. The Toreros did not score until 3:35 had expired, but even that hoop did not come easily. Jerome, fading away from eight feet out, managed to push a shot up and in as he fell on his backside.

It would be a sign of things to come in the early going, as Jerome and USD had to labor hard for nearly every point and rebound.

With USD struggling, St. Mary’s forced a 20-20 tie with 7:28 left.

From there on, USD rolled. It outscored the Gaels, 25-9, over the last seven minutes. Thomas had 10 of those points, including a two-hand dunk off a pass from Kelvin Woods and a three-point play after a St. Mary’s foul.

“I guess I was the ‘on’ guy tonight,” said Thomas, who made six of six shots.

It was the biggest margin of victory for either team in the series, which USD leads, 14-12, and the most points USD has scored against the Gaels.

Mike Vonture led St. Mary’s (6-18, 3-9) with 11 points.