Toreros fall to No. 1 Zags, 90-62

Sullivan’s 16 points among silver linings as USD makes Gonzaga bend, not break

Eric Boose / Sports Editor

After the first ten minutes of Thursday night’s game, the University of San Diego men’s basketball team held a five-point lead against the top-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs, but that would be the best they could do. The visiting Zags scored 15 unanswered points to take the lead before cruising to a 28-point victory, continuing their unbeaten start to the season and handing the Toreros a seventh loss in just nine games.  

Despite being heavy underdogs, San Diego was the stronger of the two teams in the early stages of the game, holding GU to five points in as many minutes. And, while the Toreros were taking good shots and out-scoring the visitors early, head coach Sam Scholl attributed his team’s strong start more to their ability to stop the Bulldogs. 

“We were doing a really good job in transition defense,” Scholl said. “(Gonzaga) are so powerful, and they can score in so many ways, and they are so fast and explosive scoring in transition. I felt like we did a great job of not letting them have any transition points, we did a great job of no second-chance points, no offensive rebounds, we had five guys really determined in their role to get rebounds to finish possessions.”

But the Toreros could not keep the Bulldogs’ potent offense down forever. A collection of turnovers and fouls did not help. After a strong start to the game, Torero mistakes helped the Zags build momentum and find more scoring opportunities.

“We just had some what we call ‘atomic bomb turnovers’ or ‘runout turnovers,’ where we turn it over and it leads to a breakaway dunk or layup, where you’re just handing them points,” Scholl said. “So, we felt like we gave them nine points in the first half, just on our own self-inflicted mistakes. When you’re trying to beat the number one team in the country, and our goal was to hold them to 80, and you’re handing them nine points, that makes it a real challenge.”

Those nine given away points helped the Zags to an 11-point lead at halftime. Facing a double-digit deficit, Scholl said his message in the locker room was focused on trying “not to make the same mistake twice” and “starting the first four minutes of the second half how we started the first four minutes of the game.” 

But the Toreros could not repeat their strong performance from the first half, and Gonzaga rolled, scoring 50 points in the second half on their way to victory. However, despite the loss, Scholl saw multiple positives to take and build on for the rest of the season. Junior guard Finn Sullivan put in an impressive performance, leading the Toreros with 16 points. And, while the 16 points stick out on the box score, it was the understated aspects of Sullivan’s performance that stuck out to his coach. 

“The number one thing that I was excited about was six assists to one turnover,” Scholl said. “The second thing I was most excited about was his defense, was how he competed against a lottery pick in Jalen Suggs. And then the third thing was his shooting percentage. I want Finn taking good shots, and if Finn is out playing to be a point guard and to be the leader on the floor of our team, he’s going to take good shots.” 

Sullivan shot 6-8 from the field, and 4-5 from three-point range, but perhaps his best play of the night was swiping the ball from Suggs, a projected top-ten pick in the upcoming NBA draft, and throwing down a slam dunk in the game’s early stages. Scholl also praised forward Ben Pyle and center Vladimir Pinchuk, who both scored in the double digits, as well as forward Yavus Gultekin, who scored nine points and hauled in five rebounds in his first game since Dec. 9. 

But where there were positives, Scholl also saw room for improvement. 

“I think it was our worst game, or one of our worst games in terms of turning the ball over, so obviously we didn’t feel great about that,” he said. “You can’t have empty possessions against a team like Gonzaga.” 

The Toreros turned the ball over 17 times on Thursday night, their highest total of the season. Turnovers aside, Scholl was pleased with how his team executed the game plan, praising his team’s transition defense and rebounding, as well as their ability to create good shots on offense. Where a nearly 30-point loss could easily drain a team’s confidence, Scholl figured his team’s self-belief had only grown thanks to the competitive opening minutes. 

That confidence will be tested, as the Toreros face two weeks without basketball, shortly followed by their second face-off with the Zags. Due to a positive COVID-19 test within the program, USD began a two-week long pause in basketball activities on Tuesday, which will end four days before they are scheduled to travel to Spokane and play the Bulldogs. The Toreros will have one game to get ready for the rematch with GU; their next scheduled game is a Feb. 18 date with the Santa Clara Broncos in the Bay Area. That game’s start time is yet to be announced.