Special season ends in Memphis

USD men’s basketball falls to University of Memphis in first round of NIT after receiving at-large bid

Anderson Haigler / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

Thirty-one. That’s how many teams had their names called before the University of San Diego men’s basketball team was selected to the 2019 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The Toreros were the last team to flash across the screen to complete the bracket during the NIT Selection Show last Sunday night, but the delayed nature of USD’s first-ever invitation to the NIT most definitely didn’t matter to their coach, their players, or their fans.

“It got very loud in our living room,” USD men’s basketball head coach Sam Scholl said on Monday. “My wife and I had a moment of being stunned for about a second, because we were the last team announced. There was a little bit of a gasp, and kinda a make-sure moment, and then we just started going crazy. We’re extremely, extremely excited for this group, these seniors, and for our program.”

The Toreros’ last-minute selection to the tournament set into motion a mad dash across the country to take on the third-seeded University of Memphis Tigers in their home venue, the 18,000+ seat FedexForum, which is also the home of the National Basketball Association’s Memphis Grizzlies. Within minutes of the conclusion of their Monday morning media availability, sixth-seeded USD left for the airport, where they would board a private jet for a five-hour flight to Memphis, Tenn. that delivered them in time for a late-evening shoot around. Scholl described San Diego’s fast-paced day leading up to the game.

“You just rush,” Scholl said. “I’m sure all of us coaches probably didn’t get very much sleep, we’re going off of a lot of coffee. We were on the phone early getting our travel plans set, and then you give your guys the best info and gameplan possible and then trust their abilities, their desire to want to go out to play for each other.”

The opponent awaiting the Toreros in Tennessee when they arrived was a good one. The Tigers, who were ranked 46th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking compared to USD’s 97th, had recently completed a run in their conference tournament similar to the one San Diego was coming off of. Memphis knocked off Tulane and UCF in the American Athletic Conference Championship before falling to No. 11 Houston in the semifinals, 61-58, much like USD’s lengthy West Coast Conference (WCC) Tournament run last weekend that saw them also fall in the semifinals against eventual WCC Champion Saint Mary’s College.

But regardless of the outcome of Tuesday night’s first-round NIT matchup, first-year head coach Scholl made one thing clear: USD’s selection to the tournament alone marked both a significant accomplishment for his current team, and an important stepping stone for a growing and building USD men’s basketball program.

“It’s really, really exciting because it’s another great step in the building of our program,” Scholl said. “Every day we tell our guys that we’re trying to build a championship-contending tradition here, not just a team. This step, coming off last year winning 20 games, to now getting an at-large berth to the NIT is a great step in the development of our program.”

True to form, the Toreros battled throughout their postseason matchup with the Tigers, keeping things as close as a three-point game with under a minute remaining in the first half, but ultimately couldn’t keep up with Memphis. A season-high 22 turnovers caused by constant pressure from the Tigers’ defense doomed USD to a 74-60 defeat, ending a remarkable year for the Toreros that marked the program’s most successful season in more than a decade. 

The game began close, with USD taking an early lead on a 3-pointer from redshirt senior guard Isaiah Wright. Minutes later, another 3-pointer from senior guard Tyler Williams would put the Toreros on top by a score of 8-6, but San Diego wouldn’t lead again. After surrendering the advantage on a 3-pointer by senior guard Jeremiah Martin, USD embarked on a game-long quest to reclaim the lead that would ultimately prove to be fruitless. The first half was characterized by decidedly sloppy play on both sides, with both teams laboring to settle in to a postseason game in a large venue that was packed with blue-clad Memphis fans. 

Each team traded lengthy scoring droughts, and the Toreros allowed the Tigers to expand their lead to as large as 14 points in the first half before reeling them in to trail by seven at the half. In the final seconds of the first half, redshirt senior forward Isaiah Pineiro took a hard fall to the floor in after being accidentally kneed in the back of the head by a Memphis defender in pursuit of a loose ball. He remained on the floor as time expired and the television broadcast headed to commercial, but resumed play with his team without interruption when the second half began. According to a team official, Pineiro was determined to be uninjured during halftime. He would go on to score a season-low eight total points in the game after recording double-digit points in every other previous game this season. 

The second half did not fare much better for the Toreros. Their play was again plagued by turnovers, with the USD offense often collapsing under heavy, consistent pressure and a full-court press from the Memphis defense. A rapid run of clutch 3-pointers enroute to a team-high 17 points from senior guard Olin Carter III kept the Toreros in the game late, the first of which marked Carter III’s 300th career 3-pointer as a Torero. Williams chipped in with 11 points of his own, and sophomore forward Yauhen Massalski contributed eight points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and two blocks, but it wouldn’t be enough. Though USD once again cut the lead to just seven points with 7:18 to play on Carter III’s final 3-pointer of his USD career to make it a 62-55 game, they would let the Tigers’ lead slip back to 12 points before Scholl checked Pineiro, Wright, Carter III, and Williams out of the game one final time. The final score: Memphis 74, USD 60.

The loss moves USD’s final record for the 2018-2019 season to 21-15 (7-9 WCC). Twenty-one wins marks the most in a single season since the 2007-2008 season. Their appearance in the NIT also marks the first time in program history that the Toreros have appeared in postseason tournaments in back-to-back seasons.  

The loss also brings to an end the careers of four of the some of the most influential players in USD men’s basketball history. Though the USD careers of Pineiro, Williams, Carter III, and Wright saw countless individual accolades for them, their legacies will likely live on in the transformative role they played in bringing Torero basketball back to relevancy after years of mediocrity in seasons past. Time and time again, Scholl has lauded the four senior players for their dedication to the program, work ethic, leadership, and, of course, tremendous basketball skills on the court.

“We’ll be forever indebted to them,” Scholl said, after the conclusion of the Toreros’ play in last week’s WCC tournament. 

For Scholl himself, who was hired in April of 2018, the 2018-2019 season marks a successful first year for him at the helm. He succeeded in bringing a sense of respect and leadership back to the USD men’s basketball head coaching position after the resignation of his predecessor last February. Perhaps more importantly, however, Scholl  showed a sense of dedication to his players as he steered the team to a 21-win season in his first year in charge. His dedication to his team was never better displayed than after his team’s loss to Saint Mary’s last week, when he embraced each of his players individually as they exited the court. 

Though USD was a one-and-done team in the NIT this season, Scholl said that their postseason appearances in the last two years has set a precedent for the program moving forward. 

“After we lost our last game (of the season) to Northern Colorado last year, (assistant) Coach Rencher made a great point,” Scholl said. “He said ‘Hey, for our program, this is now the bottom line. Twenty wins and playing in the CIT or the CBI, that’s the bottom line. We’re only going up from here.’  That comment came right into my head right away when we saw our names up there, that we did take a step up and we improved.”