March Madness hits campus

By Grant Hughes

The West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament will return to Santa Clara this weekend for the first time since 2000.

The Bronco men's team is seeded fifth in the four-day tournament and will face off against eighth-seeded San Diego in Friday's first-round game. Having struggled in the latter half of WCC play, the Broncos lost a chance to earn a valuable tournament bye.

"Not having the bye is obviously disappointing," Associate Head Coach Steve Seandel said. "It makes things a little tougher because the teams we now potentially have to play have gotten some wins here this year."

As it stands, the Broncos will need to get past San Diego in the first round to meet the San Francisco Dons, who earned a bye as the tournament's fourth seed. USD enters the tournament having lost 17 of their last 18 games, with the lone win during that stretch coming in a 74-71 defeat of the Broncos last month.

"One thing we know is that you can't overlook anybody in this league," junior guard Doron Perkins said. "Everybody can play, you know? Records can tell you a lot, but anybody is capable of beating anybody else."

Should the Broncos defeat USD and USF, they will earn a Sunday date with the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Zags, who for the second-straight year head into the tournament as the No. 1 seed, ran the table during the WCC regular season. At 14-0 in conference play, Gonzaga had the first undefeated record since Pepperdine's perfect 1992 season. Ranked fourth in the nation, Gonzaga enters the tournament as the obvious favorite. Led by Blake Stepp, two-time WCC Player of the Year and Head Coach Mark Few, winner of the last four WCC Coach of the Year awards, the Bulldogs will have to play only one game to reach the final.

"They're the cream of the crop. A very tough, balanced, focused team," said USF Head Coach Philip Mathews, whose Dons have a potential third-round match-up with the Bulldogs. "They're extremely confident right now and they've got a right to be. They've got a roll going that will be very difficult to slow down."

The second-seeded Gaels of Saint Mary's, like Gonzaga, will have to win only one game to reach the final round. Head Coach Randy Bennett's Gaels will have their hands full before they can reach the finals though, with a tough No. 3 seed in Pepperdine sharing their side of the bracket.

Saint Mary's guard Paul Marigney, who redshirted last season after suffering a torn ACL, has bounced back to lead the Gaels this season. A three-time WCC Player of the Week and recent WCC Player of the Month, Marigney led the Gaels while averaging 16 points, despite coming off the bench in 20 of 29 contests this year.

The four-day tournament, whose format would require the Broncos to win three games in three days to reach the final round, will require teams to adjust to each other's styles of play on the fly. With little preparation time between games, the Broncos will have to show some exceptional versatility in order to advance.

"You've always got to be able to play more than one style," Head Coach Dick Davey said. "We've got to be able to run when we need to and play in the half court as well."

The Broncos' first-round match-up with San Diego will certainly test their ability to adapt as the Toreros have earned a reputation this season as a "gimmicky" defensive team. Featuring unusual 1-3-1 zone looks, USD generally forces teams to try to beat them from the outside. Santa Clara failed to do so in their last meeting, despite firing a team-record 45 three-pointers.

The 2003 champion, San Diego, who shocked Gonzaga last year, lost center Jason Keep. Also missing this season due to an ACL injury is the Toreros' best defender, Corey Belser. Despite their record, San Diego still poses problems to any team because of their size inside and crafty defensive schemes.

The Broncos will sorely miss senior captain Jim Howell, who suffered a broken foot while practicing last month.

Without Howell, the Broncos will rely even more heavily on guards Doron Perkins and Kyle Bailey. The team's two leading scorers, the Alaskan combo averaging 13.1 and 11.7 points respectively, have been the strongest Bronco performers all season.

"We may end up with three guards on the floor in some situations," Davey said. "We're going to try to play to our strengths and use our quickness as best we can."

With the might of the Gonzaga Bulldogs looming over the other seven teams in the tournament, the Broncos feel they have as good a chance as anyone to challenge the favorite. The Broncos' 5-2 home record in conference play this year will give them an edge enjoyed by no other team in the tournament. While home-court advantage should help the Broncos against USD and potentially USF in the second round, it may not matter if they reach the red-hot Bulldogs in round three.

û Contact Grant Hughes at (408) 554-4852 or ghughes@scu.edu.