Dons Can’t Stop Torero Bid for First

It’s tough enough to prepare for the University of San Diego men’s basketball team when your team is at full strength.

The Toreros are deep, explosive and alone in first place in the West Coast Conference after a 90-68 rout of San Francisco before 2,342, their largest home crowd this season.

Anthony Thomas had 24 points and Michael Brown a career-high 19 points and seven rebounds to lead 12 of 13 Toreros that scored. Eight of Brown’s points came during a 15-0 Torero run in the first half, which broke open the game for good.

Imagine then, the plight of USF Coach Jim Brovelli as his Dons prepared for Saturday’s game.

Thursday, USF’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, Darryl Johnson, sprained his ankle in a 86-59 loss at Santa Clara. It did not heal in time for Saturday’s game. Earlier this season, the Dons’ best shooter, Kevin Weeks, went out indefinitely with a similar injury. And Tim Owens, USF’s leading scorer and best overall player, had the flu. He played, and finished with a team-high 20 points and six rebounds, but he didn’t appear to be anywhere near full strength.

“Having Johnson and Weeks out certainly hurt us,” Brovelli said. “But let’s face it, they’re a solid team, and they have a lot of experience.

“You can’t key on any one guy. Thomas can hurt you. Brown can hurt you. (Pat) Holbert can shoot the 3. Dondi Bell is tough inside. Kelvin Woods is tough inside.

They have a lot of guys that can hurt you. That’s their strength. But they’re a tough ball club period.”

In addition to the 15-0 run, USD outscored the Dons 25-6 and 33-12 to take a 44-29 lead at halftime.

It might have been even more lopsided, but USF made eight consecutive free throws after missing its first two. The Dons, at one stretch, went seven minutes without making a field goal and converted just one in the final 11:12 of the first half.

The second half was more of the same as USD increased its lead to 20 after six minutes.

USD, which has won four in a row, improved to 11-6, 4-1. The Toreros are alone in first for the first time since 1986.

USF, which lost its second consecutive game and fifth consecutive on the road this year, fell to 10-8, 3-2. The Dons were alone in first when the week began but fell into a third-place tie with Santa Clara--a 57-55 loser to St. Mary’s. Pepperdine, a 101-95 winner over Loyola Marymount, is alone in second.

“It feels good (being in first),” Brown said. “But we can’t sit and rest on it. As soon as we do, someone will sneak up on us.”

“They’ve got two pretty good kids missing,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “But we were ready to play. We fought. We came after them.”

The Toreros have done that time and again this season, but perhaps never more so than in that 15-0 run.

Geoff Probst, who had just entered the game, started it off with a three-pointer from the top of the key at 10:41 in the first half.

Brown then made a driving layup off a pass from Probst. After Holbert drove and scored on an odd one-on-two fast break, Probst and Brown teamed again for another streaking pass and layup.