When you’re coming off a game in which you allowed your opponent to shoot an astonishing 63-percent from the field as the USD men’s basketball team did in losing at San Francisco last Sunday, you figure your coach — especially a guy like Bill Grier — is going to focus on nothing but defense when you get back to work in the gym.
So as the Toreros went through their paces this week at practice, they were certainly in a defensive frame of mind. Back in action Thursday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion against Portland, however, it was a rather offensive performance that saddled them with a second consecutive West Coast Conference loss, this time a 63-54 setback to the Pilots.
The defense was much improved, limiting Portland to a 44.7-percent shooting effort. The offensive part, though, was at the other end of the floor. USD hit just 37-percent of its shots and scored only 24 points in the second half in falling to 8-11 overall and 1-2 in the WCC.
The Toreros led 38-36 with 16 minutes to play, but then went cold — hitting on just one of their 15 shots over the next 11 minutes as Portland (10-6, 1-1) eased its way through a 15-3 run and took control of the game.
619 Sports photo gallery: Portland vs. USD after the jump:
USD now gets set to entertain 14th-ranked Gonzaga on Saturday night. St. Mary’s, the WCC’s other power-broker, awaits on the road next weekend.
With the heavyweights lined up and awaiting on the schedule, Thursday night’s contest took on an added importance for the Toreros, who were hoping to keep pace with the league’s top guns during the early portion of the conference season.
USD’s guns, however, come up mostly shooting blanks. Star guard Brandon Johnson scored a game-high 19 points, and his back court running mate De’Jon Jackson added 10, but the rest of the Toreros’ offense faded quietly into the night. Take away the two guards on offense, and USD hit on just 11 of its other 30 shots.
Portland, which was ranked in the AP’s Top 25 earlier this season, had lost to Gonzaga in its conference opener last weekend. But the Pilots dominated USD on the inside, overpowering their way to a 24-6 edge in free throw attempts. Portland would make 19 free throws to USD’s six, basically accounting for its margin of victory.
The interior control also showed up on the boards at Portland out-rebounded USD, 37-25. Lanky forward Robin Smeulders had his way in the post and led the Pilots with 19 points and nine rebounds. Luke Sikma, the son of former NBA All-Star pivot Jack Sikma, added 14 off the bench.
Among those on hand to watch from the stands were former Lakers Coach Pat Riley and legendary NBA big-man Bill Walton. A player like Walton, especially, seemed to be exactly was this USD team was missing.
Without a scoring presence on the inside, USD was forced to jack up 23 three-point attempts. Though the Toreros made eight, the game slipped away from them when the long-balls stopped falling.
Meanwhile, Portland was able to score inside without much resistance. Simply put, a team shooting two-feet away from the hoop eventually was able to grind down a team that was forced to take most of its shots from 20-feet away.
The game featured 15 lead changes with neither side leading by more than six points through the first 30 minutes. But Portland was first to find some semblance of offensive rhythm — doing so over the final 10 minutes of the contest as USD continued to flail away without success.
– Ello –
