Men's basketball whacked by Dons
By Jack Ferdon
The Broncos looked bad in a 63-60 win at St. Mary's Friday and worse in a 59-77 loss at USF the next day. Both games were marked by spastic offensive and lackluster defensive performances by Santa Clara.
The Gaels, who came into the game winless in West Coast Conference play, used Paul Marigney's 21 bench points to stay within striking range of the Broncos all night long. But Santa Clara probably helped the cause more by shooting 32 percent from the field in the first half. Junior Steve Ross and sophomore Kyle Bailey, the Bronco's two leading scorers, both had bad shooting nights but were bailed out by senior Justin Holbrook and freshman Ethan Rohde, who combined to hit 6-7 three-pointers.
Luckily for Santa Clara, the game came down to free throws. The Gaels (6-15, 1-7 in WCC) led 51-50 with 2:45 to play. Then Bailey took the game over making four trips to the line and hitting seven of the eight free throws to seal the victory.
On Saturday the Broncos were outclassed by a resurgent Dons team and by their star forward, Darrell Tucker. Tucker, who is second in the WCC in both scoring and rebounding, went for 26 points and ten boards and gave Santa Clara's defense problems with his ability to score from the perimeter as well as the post.
"Tucker's probably the best NBA prospect in the conference aside from (Dan) Dickau," senior guard Brian Vaka said.
So, if Santa Clara can't stop Tucker and USF (11-10, 6-2), how can they beat Dickau and the mighty Gonzaga (20-3, 7-1)?
"They can beat you a lot of different ways: inside, outside," Head Coach Dick Davey said. "They've got a lot of the things that you need to be a good college team."
The Broncos (9-12, 4-4) do have a strong history against Gonzaga, having beaten them the last two times they came to the Leavey Center. Plus, the Broncos nearly beat the Bulldogs in Spokane earlier this year. But the 55 percent shooting performance displayed by the Broncos in the second half that night has been an isolated event this season.
"We made shots that night," Davey said, "and that's an issue for our team."
On the year, Santa Clara is hitting only 40 percent of their shots from the field.
"We're not playing our best right now," Vaka said. "But the good thing about that is we haven't peaked yet."
The Bulldogs might peak more easily than the Broncos this season, considering they have the past three years.
Little known fact: Gonzaga - the envy of every small basketball program and preferred pick of NCAA tournament handicappers - is on probation.
In 1997, a NCAA committee found that the school's athletic director, Dan Fitzgerald, had deposited at least $200,000 of the school's funds into a private account over the previous fifteen years. Fitzgerald, who was also Gonzaga's head basketball coach during the period, used the money to supplement the basketball program's recruiting budget. The full extent of the spending could not be accounted for because Fitzgerald destroyed most of the records, according to the committee's report.
The NCAA placed Gonzaga on probation for four years beginning in July 1998. The sanctions did not limit the program's scholarships or recruiting capabilities.
Fitzgerald denied profiting from the slush fund and the committee said the money did not give Gonzaga a competitive advantage. So, while what Fitzgerald did doesn't put Gonzaga in the same lot with a Jerry Tarkanian program at UNLV or Enron, it does put into question - if only slightly - the legitimacy of the team's amazing success since 1998.