Toreros unable to hold off Santa Clara

By Tom Schreier

Right when it appeared that Santa Clara was down for the count in their second straight game, the Broncos dug down to overcome a 20-point deficit, landing them a much needed 60-56 victory over the University of San Diego.

As players from Santa Clara and San Diego paced back and forth on Saturday, Stephen Curry sat courtside, talking with Warrior's assistant coach Lloyd Pierce (a Santa Clara alum) and a female friend. In the waning minutes of the first half, with Santa Clara down by double digits, he appeared disinterested in the game.

The young, inexperienced Toreros were humiliating the Broncos. By halftime USD led 32-18, holding the Broncos to 23 percent from the field.

Less than a minute after coming out of the locker room, senior forward Ben Dowdell was nailed with a technical foul.

Then, after a controversial charge was called on junior forward Marc Trasolini, Keating, incensed by his team's slapdash play, turned tomato red and began stomping and screaming on the sideline.

The officials, feeling that he was venting his anger at them, gave him a technical foul — the team's second violation within the first two minutes of the half.

"We didn't play aggressively enough to start the game and it carried over," said Keating in retrospect. "It turns into me trying to fight for our guys in the wrong way and the officials misreading that and [giving] me a technical."

In the following 18 minutes the former Davidson Wildcat saw Santa Clara mount a 20-point comeback for only the second time in school history. In 1996 Santa Clara overcame the same deficit and defeated Marquette 79-72.

Santa Clara rallied after the wake up calls. Sophomore guard Kevin Foster hit two three-pointers, igniting a 40-16 run that would result in a final score of 60-56.

"[They] got the message at halftime and chipped away," said Keating. "To be down 20... and finish on a 40-16 run to win the game says a lot about our character and it was a lesson learned."

The lessoned learned is that Keating's team has discovered how to finish games. Earlier in the season the team would have closed the gap and taken a lead late in the game, only to squander their efforts by relinquishing the point advantage in the final seconds.

This win, like the one against Gonzaga earlier in the season, signifies a new era in Santa Clara basketball.

No longer is Foster, the nation's leading three-point shooter, relying solely on his outside shot; he's been getting inside for lay-ups and to the line for free throws.

"I've been shooting threes pretty well and people scout so they're getting off the line, so I've got to be doing other things," said Foster, who believes that getting inside helps take pressure off his three-point shooting. "When you mix it up it gets a lot easier."

"In all honesty, the reason for that was way before the game even started," said Keating, referring to Foster's change in play. "[He] needed to take care of one thing in particular, nothing major...but it carries over when you have to be mentally prepared to play a game."

Foster's undisclosed predicament is non-academic.

It was freshman guard Evan Roquemore, however, who stole the show. He hit a three to give the Broncos their first lead of the game and another inside the last minute to get the lead back. With fifteen seconds left, he hit two free throws to put the Broncos up four — sealing the comeback win.

"We put it to him a little bit," said Keating, who wants to see Roquemore improve his shooting percentage. "He can get used to that because he's going to get a lot more opportunities."

Unfortunately, the comeback was bittersweet because the team knew that it squandered an opportunity to gain national recognition on Thursday by losing to No. 23 Saint Mary's 65-59.

Foster broke his own school record for threes made during the game and led the team with 25 points, but the sharpshooter had a lengthy stint on the bench after  picking up his fourth foul at 7:34.

At the time he was subbed out, the game was within reach, 41-47. However, when he returned with 3:15 left in the game Saint Mary's had fortified their lead by 11 points, 43-54, making a comeback nearly impossible, even with Foster on the floor.

Although he may have run the risk of having his most dangerous scorer stapled to the his seat following another infraction, Keating may have let the game slip out of reach by keeping Foster on the bench for four minutes in the final half.

"We were trying to get a dead ball before the four minute timeout, but it just didn't happen," said Keating. "We were trying to get him in under five at the first dead ball and the dead ball didn't happen until the first timeout. I certainly didn't want to waste a timeout just to get him in."

For most players it is a waste of a timeout just to get a sub-in, but Foster leads the nation in three-point shooting and displayed restraint in big-game situations. He only had one foul in Santa Clara's win against Gonzaga.

"If you put him in earlier and he gets his fifth foul, you probably [have] no chance because he's got a shot," Keating rationalized. "You can't control the clock and when you're fighting back you want to have timeouts."

Santa Clara's efficiency from the line has been inconsistent in both contests: shooting 10-20 and 15-29 against Saint Mary's and San Diego, respectively.

It may have cost them the game against the Gaels.

"It may be a bit of an anomaly for us to have two poor free throw shooting games," said Keating. "[We] have plenty of time now to get more repetitions."

Santa Clara's only shot at the Big Dance will come via a win at the WCC Tournament in March. Since 1999 the tournament winner has had to beat Gonzaga.

They have a chance to sweep the Bulldogs in Spokane tonight. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.