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Date Posted: 09:25:26 03/10/02 Sun
Author: Jon Ralston
Subject: Big West Tournament Afterthoughts

Originally Published Sunday, March 10, 2002
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Pacific's tournament run ends

Big West semifinal loss tough for Tigers to take

ANAHEIM -- In four years covering the University of the Pacific's men's basketball team, I've never seen head coach Bob Thomason appear as heart-broken after a loss as he was on Friday.

About 10 minutes after his team gave it everything it had against Utah State in the semifinals of the 27th Big West Men's Basketball Tournament, Thomason sat behind a microphone and tried to articulate what had just happened.

"I don't have much to say; what do you want me to say?" Thomason whispered after his team's seventh appearance in the conference semifinals. "It sucks to lose. I know that."

The Tigers' season ended in bitter fashion to the Aggies, 69-65, after a few bounces of the ball and the official's whistle proved critical in the late going.

Pacific couldn't corral rebounds on two missed free throws by Utah State in the final 18 seconds, and a questionable traveling call with 9.9 seconds left allowed the Aggies to hold on for their eighth consecutive tournament victory.

Pacific's players and their supporters at the Anaheim Convention Center made a strong showing.

The Tigers played with poise and knocked down their shots on Thursday against Cal State Northridge, a nip-at-your-heels pest of a team. They were riding a six-game winning streak entering Friday's game.

The Tigers were confident they could handle Utah State's physical play, having beaten the Aggies for the first time in three years less than a week earlier in Stockton.

They had the band and cheerleaders, and another 200 vocal fans behind them. As the game wore on, the Tigers' rooting section included fans from UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine, who were waiting for their game to start.

The game was as tough and hard-fought as predicted. Tigers senior forward Mike Hahn was forced to leave the game briefly after getting clobbered in the nose. The cleanup crew raced on to the floor to mop up the blood.

Senior center Mike Preston got poked in the eye and had a scratch on his neck. Junior guard Demetrius Jackson had his legs cut out on a drive to the basket.

Forgive the obligatory cliche, especially with our nation at war, but this game was a battle.

"The physicalness pays off for us most of the time," Thomason said. "But they're bigger and stronger, and it was to their advantage."

It was a tough way for the season to end.

"They made plays down the stretch and we didn't," senior guard Maurice McLemore said. "We didn't make the plays we should have."

There is a chance, albeit a slight chance, the Tigers' season isn't over. Pacific (20-10), which finished with 20 wins for the eighth time in school history and for the third time under Thomason, might earn a bid to the NIT.

The Tigers will find out today. Pacific was 91st in Jeff Sagarin men's basketball rankings on Wednesday, and 105 teams will play in the postseason, counting the 65-team field of the NCAA Tournament and the 40-team NIT.

Thomason said he hopes the Big West Conference campaigns for his team.

"That's up to our league and how hard they're going to fight for us," Thomason said. "We'll see how hard they fight for us. I hope the league fights for us to get in, but I don't know how that's going to play out."

If it is over, the nine seniors, including Dan Masters, whose knee problems forced a premature end to his career, left some indelible memories.

Mike Hahn was everyone's friend, despite being a fiery competitor. Mike Preston played his best basketball in the tournament and is a scholar off the court. Ross Mills and Eli Kiedrowski grew so much in five years with the program, as did Nathan Davis, who handled his diminished role the past two seasons with total class.

Junior college transfers Maurice McLemore, David Bunts and Jono Metzger-Jones transformed the team in terms of attitude and ability.

Each will earn his degree, and fourth-year juniors Eli Nolan and Tim Johnson will walk with the seniors during graduation ceremonies this spring. Bunts will earn his degree next fall. There are many college men's basketball teams in this country that haven't graduated 10 players in the last 10 years.

It was a season of ups and downs, but the Tigers showed their true stripes down the stretch of the regular season, and here in Anaheim this week.

"It was a great bunch of guys," Preston said. "I wish we could have gone farther. It was a lot of fun. The relationships were great. This is the most fun I've ever had in four years."

Thomason counted this group among his favorites in 31 years of coaching.

"The kids were great. The kids were awesome," Thomason said. "They gave you everything they got. Some nights it was good enough and some nights it wasn't."

Jackson and forward Jasko Korajkic will lead the team in the future.

"One thing I can say about this year is that I learned a lot with so many seniors on the team," Jackson said. "I learned so much about the game. I'll carry that with me and share that with my teammates next season."

Thomason will force himself to watch film and learn from this loss, then forge ahead on the final year on his current contract.

"Hopefully our redshirts (Christian Maraker, Miguel Flores and Miah Davis) can learn from this and see how tough and physical you have to be," Thomason said. "We're almost there."

Highfill covers University of the Pacific athletics for The Record. Mail: P.O. Box 900, Stockton, CA 95209. Phone: 546-8299 or e-mail bhighfil@recordnet.com

UOP awaits possible WNIT bid

By Bob Highfill

Record Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- Sherri Murrell hated taking history classes. Now, she knows why.

History repeated itself on Saturday in the championship game of the 19th Big West Women's Basketball Tournament.

The University of the Pacific led UC Santa Barbara at halftime, and had several opportunities to pull away. But, as has been the case in each meeting this season and most over the past four years, the Tigers faltered down the stretch. The Gauchos took advantage, this time by a final score of 64-53.

UC Santa Barbara (25-5) extended its winning streak to 21 games, the second-longest current run in the nation, earning its sixth consecutive tournament title. They will advance to the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers (19-11), who finished with the most wins in coach Murrell's four seasons, will await word from the NIT selection committee about a possible berth in its tournament.

"The way we played, I think we deserve a shot (at the NIT)," said Murrell, whose team reached the tournament finals for the first time since 1996. "I hope the NIT people were watching. We deserve it. We had a 25-5 team on the ropes."

The Tigers led the Gauchos at halftime for the fifth consecutive time and let them off the hook again with crucial turnovers, missed shots and weakness on the glass.

"It was a loss on the boards for us," Murrell said. "I thought the game broke away when they got the offensive boards, plus the one-and-one's. They also got it done at the line."

The Gauchos made 11-of-12 from the foul line in the final 4 minutes, 38 seconds. Kayte Christensen, a 63.6 percent foul shooter, made two in a row, and guard Jess Hansen sank 9-of-10. Christensen made 4-of-5 from the line in the game and earned all-tournament honors with 14 points and eight rebounds, despite playing only 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. She averaged 13 points and six rebounds in the tournament.

"It seems every time we play Christensen, she makes her foul shots," Murrell said.

Lindsay Taylor, UC Santa Barbara's 6-foot-8 sophomore center, was named the tournament's most valuable player after scoring 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds. She also altered many of Pacific's inside shots and had four steals.

"I am somewhat satisfied on my play (Saturday) because I was denying the ball into the high post, and that's one of the goals of our defense," Taylor said.

The Tigers committed six turnovers and were outscored 18-8 during the final 5:40 of the game.

"A lot of those turnovers were so high, they turned into easy points for them," Murrell said. "It's the same thing that has happened before. They double-teamed the post and we panicked and made cross-court passes when we should have passed it back out top. That's happened nine times out of the last 10 times we've played them."

Pacific held the Gauchos to 28.6 percent shooting in the first half, but led by only two, 24-22. UC Santa Barbara coach Mark French was comfortable being down at halftime, especially by such a small margin given how poorly his team shot the ball.

"We weren't shooting well but we continued to play good defense," said French, whose team is 3-3 when trailing at halftime this season with all three wins coming against Pacific. "We kept our turnovers down which was crucial."

The Tigers tried to dictate a fast tempo and create turnovers, but the Gauchos stuck to their half-court offense and mixed their defenses. Hansen had seven assists and two turnovers in 34 minutes, while Pacific's backup guard Corinne Wong committed four of her team's 20 turnovers in eight minutes.

Selena Ho was slowed by a sore right quadriceps muscle, which she sustained when UC Santa Barbara guard Mia Fisher fouled her with 3:44 left in the first half.

"I think Ho was injured, and I don't think she was 100 percent in the second half, and that helped us a great deal," French said. "She wasn't able to penetrate. It was an accidental thing. It looked she took a knee at the end of the first half."

Ho played her final Big West game and finished with six points, four turnovers and no rebounds in 33 minutes. Sophomore guard Nancy Dinges, who was an all-tournament pick, scored a team-high 12 points for Pacific. Fellow sophomore and all-tournament selection Gillian d'Hondt scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.

"I am very proud of our team," Murrell said. "When I see two sophomores on the all-tournament team, I see a bright future."

But all she sees when it comes to UC Santa Barbara is a dark past.

To reach reporter Bob Highfill, phone 546-8299 or e-mail bhighfil@recordnet.com

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