USD nearly upsets #7 Gonzaga

Despite leading for almost half the game, the Toreros came up short against the Bulldogs, 77-72

Anderson Haigler | Sports Editor | The USD Vista

Though the University of San Diego men’s basketball team is currently embroiled in controversy following the arrest of their head coach, the team played a meaningful final regular season home game against Gonzaga University last Thursday. 

Last season, the USD men’s basketball team played Gonzaga twice. They lost both games by a combined 94 points. This year, the Toreros have fared much better. While they still have yet to knock off perennial contender Gonzaga, they lost two close games, including Thursday night’s game against the Bulldogs. In a game that featured seven lead changes, USD hung with seventh-ranked Gonzaga until the final buzzer, and led for more than 17 minutes of the contest. While USD’s efforts came up short, losing 77-72, the game represented another step forward for a program that is certainly on the rise.

Redshirt junior Isaiah Pineiro and first-year Yauhen Massalski started the scoring early for the Toreros, each posting nine points in the first half. USD kept it close for the beginning of the half, but things started to heat up for the Toreros as halftime drew nearer. 

With slightly less than five minutes to play, a three-pointer from junior Olin Carter III evened the score at 27. Thirty  seconds later, another deep three from the junior guard gave Toreros the lead, 30-27. The Toreros maintained this lead as the half wound to a close, and entered halftime ahead 37-34. In a nationally televised game on ESPN2 in front of a sell-out crowd of over 4,700, the Toreros put the Bulldogs through their paces early on. 

USD head coach Lamont Smith spoke about the atmosphere in the Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP), which featured USD’s student section, The Bull Pit, decked out in all white.

“This is college basketball, and when you talk about the top teams in our league, that’s what it feels like when you’re on the road,” Smith said. “I love what we were able to do tonight with the white-out, I love how our fans showed up and supported our young men. Hopefully we can generate some buzz as we bring this group back next year and continue to try to fight, and put out a great product.”

As play began in the second half, the Toreros continued their success against Gonzaga. Redshirt junior Isaiah Wright led the way for the Toreros offensively, scoring 12 of his 14 total points in the second half of play. With just over 18 minutes to play, the Toreros’ lead swelled to eight points over the Bulldogs. From here, though, things began to get more difficult for the Toreros. 

Fast-paced play saw USD’s lead dwindle to just one point, before Gonzaga took a 59-58 lead. USD held onto their lead for nearly the entire half, not trailing until there were under five minutes to play in the game, and they would ultimately have to come from behind in the end. 

In those last five minutes, the Toreros battled to keep it close. On his way to a game-high 21 points, Carter III drained several key three pointers to keep the Toreros in the game, but it would not be enough. The Toreros had their chances, but seemingly questionable foul calls hampered USD’s comeback efforts down the stretch. A deep three from Carter III made it a one-possession, 70-67 game with 26 seconds to play. But, the Bulldogs finished strong and won by a score of 77-72. 

Carter III discussed his team’s play in the final minutes of the game.

“I was just trying to do whatever I could to bring my team closer to get a W,” Carter III said. “I’m just trying to give my all and make sure that I’m putting everything on the line for the guys so that we could get a team win. At the end, we couldn’t get any stops. They’re good at winning games down the stretch, and we just couldn’t pull through at the end. A loss like this definitely burns, but you just have to take it as a learning experience. We need to look at the tape and see what happened in the second half where we let them take the lead, and make sure we’re ready next time we come out.”

Despite the loss, Smith spoke about how his team showed poise against the Bulldogs.

“I liked our team and how we battled,” Smith said. “I thought from start to finish, we fought. I had three keys going into the game that I thought were crucial: points in transition, points off the glass, and points off turnovers. I thought that in the first half we didn’t do a good job with the turnovers and the second-chance points, and I thought that was the difference in the game.”

While Thursday night’s game went down in the standings as a loss for the Toreros, it may have more value than just the final score. For USD, it could serve as a statement that they are a team to be taken seriously.

“I think that we’ve proven that we can play with anybody,” Smith said. “It sounds like I’m being a broken record in terms of moral victories and all that, and we’re not really into that. But I think (the game against Gonzaga) gives our guys an understanding of the things that we have to do to be able to knock one of these teams off. We’re so close, but you have to make those critical plays because every possession matters if you want to be able to beat a team like Gonzaga. We’re right there. We just gotta be able to make some critical plays to beat these teams, because at the end of the day, they don’t beat themselves.” 

Isaiah Wright shared his coach’s sentiment.

“I think where we’re at right now is we know we can compete with the best teams,” Wright said. “We gotta figure out a way to get over the hump and make winning plays at the end.”

As for the rest of the season, only the West Coast Conference (WCC) championship in Las Vegas remains in the Toreros’ schedule. The WCC championship may offer the Toreros another shot at upsetting top-ranked Gonzaga. When asked if he would be looking forward to the potential matchup, Olin Carter III replied “Definitely.” 

Coach Smith placed an emphasis on his team moving forward, and focusing on the upcoming games for USD. 

“We’ve gotta turn the page quickly,” Smith said. “We have to be prepared to wipe this away and move on to the next one really quickly. I just want to keep playing, against whomever it may be.”

Smith may not get that chance. Following his arrest on three domestic violence-related charges during the team’s trip to the University of San Francisco, his future at USD is uncertain. He is currently on administrative leave as the university conducts an investigation into his arrest. The Toreros can only hope to turn the page on Smith’s legal troubles and avoid distraction as the tournament approaches. 

According to a statement from the university, Assistant Coach Sam Scholl has been appointed acting head coach for the remainder of the season. Scholl, who played basketball at USD from 1998-2000, is in his third season as assistant coach. He was a teammate of Lamont Smith during the 1999-2000 season.

USD begins the WCC championship on March 3 when they take on third-seed Brigham Young University at 1 p.m. In their last meeting with the Cougars, USD won, 75-62.