ROUGHFIRSTHALFDOOMSUSD AS BRONCOSROLL

Assequels go thisone wasa box office flopforthe home team. Twelve daysearlier, USD andSantaClaraplayeda gamethat was aboutastight asimaginable.There were 24lead changes, 17 ties.Biggestlead by either team: five points.Overtime was required before theBroncos escapedwith a win.

Andthe rematch Saturdayafternooninside JennyCraigPavilion?

Putitthis way:it’s doubtfulUSD’s 2021-22 highlight videowillincludeanyclips. The Toreros fell behind by 23 inthe firsthalf,never got closerthan 10 and woundup absorbing a 79-66 lossin frontofanannounced crowd of 1,221. Adeep dive into thebox score wasn’t required to identify the difference USD was outrebounded25-9in the firsthalf.TheBroncos attacked the glassfornine offensiverebounds.USD hadnone.

“As simplyas I canputit,” said the Toreros’ JoshParrish, “they cameoutwithan edge and we didn’t. Where we’re trying togo asa program, as a team, you can’t comeout withhalveslike that.”

KerrKriisalookedlikea borderlinemadmanattimes duringthesecondhalf fistpumping, flexing his arms, screaming and gesturing toward thehome fans,imploringthem toget ontheir feet.

Inbetweenthetheatrics, Arizona’s point guard even foundsometime to leadhis team to another win.

Thisone wasn’teasy Arizona (19-2,9-1 Pac-12) trailed for a decent chunkofthesecondhalfandneeded a 10-0 run late inthesecondhalf to take control againstUSC (19-4, 9-4).

BY DONNORCROSS Santa Clara

Thisone got away early Tiedat 14, SantaClara went on an 18-4 run to takea 32-18lead.Thedeficit swelled to 44-21. By halftime,USDtrailed 48-29.

USD’s leading rebounder, fifth-yearsenior Terrell Brown-Soares,played 14 minutesinthe firsthalfand didn’t grab a singleboard. He finishedwithfour. Head coach Sam Scholl wouldn’tsingleout Brown-Soaresforthe problem. “We reboundasa team,”saidScholl. “We hadnine reboundsatthehalf. That’s a reflection of allofus,meincluded.” SantaClara finishedwith a 43-28 reboundingedge. Twelve days earlier, USDoutrebounded theBroncos 38-34in a 78-74 overtimeloss. Twiceinthesecondhalf USD cut thedeficit to10, but the Toreros never got within singledigits.Santa Clara had fourplayerswith five or morerebounds.USDhad one, MarcellusEarlington, who finishedwith 23 points andeightboards.

Jalen Williamsledthe visitorswith 19 points.

“Iknew they were going to come out and fight in the secondhalf,”said Scholl of his team. “Theyhave a lotof pride.Butthisisthe West CoastConference. You can’t get downby 19 atthehalf.”

ThelossdroppedUSD to 13-11, 6-5 in the WCC.Santa Claraimproved to 16-8,6-3. USD’s six conference

Upnext

Toreros at Saint Mary’s Thursday: 6p.m.,McKeon Pavilion, Moraga Streaming: toreros.com winshave comeagainst Pepperdine,LMU Pacific and Portland,which came into Saturday a combined 620in WCC play The Toreros are 0-5 againstUSF BYU, SantaClaraandGonzaga. Norcrossisafreelancewriter.

UNION-TRIBUNE

UCSantaBarbara got off to a hotstart, connectingon 10 ofits first 12 shots andtheUC SanDiego men’s basketball team couldn’tplaycatch-up Saturdayafternoon.

The result was an84-48 drubbingat thehandsofthe hostGauchos, the worstloss oftheseason fortheTritons.

Azuolas Tubelisscored 18 pointsand grabbed 11 rebounds Kriisa added 13 points and No.7 Arizona ralliedinthe secondhalf fora 72-63 win overvisiting No 19 USC onSaturday

Krissascoredall 13 ofhis pointsinthe secondhalf.It helped himbreak outof shootingslumpthatstarted with a dreadful 0 for 12 shootingperformace in a loss to UCLAlessthan two weeks ago.The6-foot-3sophomore saidhenever lost confidence and creditedhis resurgence to a little more practice and even some video games.

“If you go througha slump it’s not like I’m going to panicorcry athome,”Kriisa said.“I just take some extra shots,sleepmore and playmore Fortnite. Just trying toget back on track.”

The Wildcatsknockedoff anotherrankedopponent just two daysafter beating No.3 UCLA 76-66 ina bounce-backwin after losing to theBruinsonthe road on Jan.25 Arizona’s 13-0at home thisseason and havea 15-game homewinning streakinTucsondatingback to last year.

FROM D1

Only one official was in position to make thecall: PaulSzelc.Eric Curry was on the opposite side of the court near the Aztecsbench,a good 30 feet awayand shielded by thetangle ofbodies.Chris Rastatter was trailingtheplayas theAztecsfuriouslyraced to theother end.

Thatleft Szelc.Hestared directlyatBradley and Moors andswallowed his whistle.

Was it because he was employing a no-blood, no-foul policy forthe game’s final minute that he wouldn’thave for the first 39? Or was it because he genuinelybelieved there was nocall to make?Or did henot want to risk overtime becausehehad to catch aflight?Complicatingany analysisisthat Fox Sports 1, curiously, did not showa replay fromtheirdifferentcamera angles.

“Obviously no coach is going to behappywith every call,” coach BrianDutcher said “All you want from anofficiatingcrew is consistency. Ifthey’re callingitall game, callitall game.”

ExhibitA:In the firsthalf, Moorsmade a similar play againstSDSU’s Keshad Johnson wallingupwithhis bodybutpitching hisarms forward and hitting Johnson’s arm Rastatter calleda foul. Thequestion becomes whetherBradleyinitiated the contactor was justlytrying toget to thebasket.

“Verticality is a hard thing to call,”Dutchersaid. “Just because a guy’s armsare up doesn’tmean he’s vertical if he launches himselfinto the guy who’s shooting. Sometimes theysay, well, you’re

No.1 Auburn 74, Georgia 72: WendellGreen Jr madea tie-breakinglayupwith four seconds remaining and the visitingTigers(22-1, 10-0 Southeastern Conference) got pasttheBulldogs (6-17, 1-9), extending the nation’s longestwinningstreak to 19 games.

No.4 Purdue 82 Michigan 76: JadenIveyscored 23 pointsandTrevion Williams added 19 as the hostBoilermakers(20-3, 9-3 Big Ten) snappeda five-gamelosing streak to the Wolverines (11-9, 5-5)and gavecoach Matt Painter his400thvictory asacoach, 375atPurdue and25atSouthernIllinois.

No.5 Kentucky 66, Alabama 55: TyTy Washington scored 15 points,Oscar Tshiebwe had 15 rebounds andthevisiting Wildcats (19-4, 9-2SEC) won their fourth straightwith a victory overtheCrimsonTide(14-9, 4-6).

No.9 Duke 87, North Carolina 67: FreshmanA.J Griffin scored aseason-high 27 pointsinthe Blue Devils (19-3 9-2 ACC) routedthe Tar Heels (16-7, 8-4)in retiringHallof Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final visit to Chapel Hill.

No 10 Kansas83, No.8 initiatingthe contact. No, we’re going to therimand they’re launchinginto us. We have a right togo to the basket.”

Bradley gestured in frustrationafter hisshot bounced harmlessly offthe backboard andorange-clad CSUstudentspouredpast him onto the floor. “I’ve beenplayingforfour yearsnow, Bradleysaid.“I thinktheofficialslike me,although I can give thema hard time sometimes Next time I see them,I’ll askthem aboutit. I don’t think there’s anyillintentonnotcallingit. Itrulybelieve they just didn’t see it. I feel like everybody else in the gym did.” Asfor Szelc henodoubt hasseenthetapebynow.

In a 2012 interview with OnMilwaukee the Wisconsin resident said: “My wife will tell you,I’ll get home at midnightandI’llthrow (onthevideo) and say, ‘There’s a play in the secondhalfI’ve got to see if I got it right. Ifit’s wrong,iteats at you. I always tellpeople, ‘For 38 minutes you canbe really good but thelast two minutes you can’tbewrong.’”

2.Seven days seven games

The issuemayhave been less Szelc thanSzelc’s schedule.

Friday was hisseventh gameinseven days inseven differentstates andthree differenttime zones. A week earlier, he worked Indiana at Maryland The nextnight, Ohio State atPurdue.The next, Iowa atPennState. The next,Providenceat St. John’s Thenext,Butler at Xavier Thenext,UCLAat Arizona.Thenext,SDSUat ColoradoState. Saturday?

He worked Michigan State atRutgers in a4 p.m. ESTtip which meansthe only way togetthere intime was to takea red-eye from Denver after the SDSU-CSU game(and the airport isa good 75 minutes fromcampus) Eight gamesineight days…

Butthis is the nomadic, jet-lagged life of college basketballofficials,whoare

Baylor59: Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji each scored 18 points asthehost Jayhawks (19-3, 8-1) routed the Bears(19-4, 7-3) to hold on to the top spotintheBig 12 Conference race.

No 11 Wisconsin, 51, Penn State 49: Tyler Wahl made atie-breakinglayup with 30.5secondsleft to help extendtheBadgers’(18-4, 9-3 Big Ten)homewinning streakintheserieswith the Nittany Lions (9-10, 4-7) to 21.

No 12 Villanova 85, No 17

UConn 74: EricDixonscored acareer-high24points as the Wildcats (17-6, 10-3)beatthe visitingHuskies(15-6 6-4) to win their fifth gameof the season against a Top25 team Rutgers 84, No 13 Michigan State 63: Paul Mulcahy had his first-career double-

Nevada at SDSU double with 15 points anda career-high 12 assists and RonHarper Jr added 17 points as the host Scarlet Knights (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten) routed the Spartans(17-4, 8-3). No 14 Texas Tech 60, West Virginia 53: Bryson Williamsscored 15 points as theRedRaiders(18-5,7-3Big 12) rallied pastthe Mountaineers (13-9, 2-7)fortheir second wininsix road games. No 18 Illinois 74, Indiana 57: TrentFrazierscored 23 pointsand Kofi Cockburn added 17 as the visiting FightingIllini(17-5, 10-2Big Ten) rolledpastthe Hoosiers(16-6, 7-5)fortheir fourth straightwin. DePaul69, No 21 Xavier 65: Courvoisier McCauley scored 21 pointsand Jalen

Records: Nevada9-11,3-6;SDSU12-6,4-3 Serieshistory: SDSUleads 22-6andhas wonsixstraight (andnine of 10).Both regular-season gameslast year were at ViejasArenaandboth were close— 69-67and 65-60 The Aztecsalso won 77-70in thesemis of theconference tournament. Wolf Packupdate: Theconfoundingseasoncontinues. The Wolf Pack received first-place votesinthepreseasonpolland waspickedthirdbehindColorado StateandSDSU,thenlost itssecond gameagainstUSDandit’s beendownhill ever since. Eight of the11losseshave been by double figures, and SteveAlford’s team comes toViejas Arenahavingdropped fourstraight by 11, 29 nineand 17 points. Nevadahasno advantagein restortravel,alsoplaying Fridaynightonthe road (a 73-56loss at Fresno State) Thehighhopes rested aroundthe returning backcourt ofWichita State transfer GrantSherfieldandBrown transferDesmond CambridgeJr., plus 7-footer Warren Washington(MissionHillsHigh). But Sherfield(18.3points,6.2assists)and Washington(10.1 points,6.2 rebounds) are bothhurt,and Cambridge was removedfromthestartinglineupagainst Fresno State. Texas transfer WillBaker,another 7-footer,hasnotbeentheimpact playermany hoped, averaging 10.7 points butstruggling defensively.Anothertransfer,Oregon’s Addison Patterson, wasdismissedfromthe teamduringthe offseason. His replacement, RobertMorristransferAJBramah, wasbooted after four games. Aztecsupdate: This isthe rescheduled gamefromJan.8, afterNevada raninto COVID-19issues.Mountain West teams typicallydon’tplay twicewithin48hoursduringthe regular season,butTVcommandedanafternoontipdespiteboth teamsplayingonthe road Fridaynight.SDSUcanceledits commercial flighthomeSaturday morning and instead flew charterimmediatelyafterthe game to maximize its preptime Saturday TheAztecs return to thefriendlyconfines ofViejas Arena,wherethey are9-1this seasonand averagenearly 10 pointsmorethantheydoonthe road (wheretheyarenow 1-4 after Friday’s58-57loss at Colorado State).Both teams shouldbetired,butSDSUshouldhave anedge with adeeper rosterand fewerinjuries. TheAztecsalso have this going for them: They’ve won20straight followingaloss when thenext gameis at home,including five timesthis season.Matt Bradley continues to bethe primary offensive weapon, averaging 19.6 points inconference games.Nooneelse averagesmore thanLamont Butler’s 8.5. Despite beingin fifth place,SDSU hastheMountain West’s leading scoring margin at 9.0 points because two of its threeconferencelosseshave been close andtheir threehome winshave been by 30,25and25.

Nextup: at San Jose Stateon Wednesday (8 p.m.,CBSSN) MARKZEIGLER independent contractors withnonational regulation. Szelc primarily works the Big Ten and BigEast. But he’s alsopart ofthe WesternOfficiatingConsortiumthat includesthePac-12 and Moun- tain West, occasionally wedging in a gameor two between trips acrosstheMidwestand East. Sowhat you had Friday night wasa bleary-eyed ref whohadlittlefamiliarity with theplayers or coaches,suddenlythrustinto makinga game-altering decisionon the finalplay of a high-stakes Mountain Westshowdown. Hehad workeda Colorado State gameonce before —a homewin against Utah State last month.He was working justhis third SDSU game— all away, alllosses— and the first inthree seasons. Hedidn’tknow Bradley’s tendenciesondrives.He didn’tknow Moors tendencieson blocks Hehadnever workedinthe crazedenvironment ofColorado State’s annual “Orange Out game atsoldout MobyArena.

Terry had 13 as thevisiting BlueDemons(11-10 2-9 Big East)snappeda four-game losingstreakbybeating the Musketeers(16-6, 6-5).

No 23 Texas 63 No.20 Iowa State 41: MarcusCarr and Andrew Jones each scored 14 pointsasthe host Longhorns(17-6, 6-4 Big 12) routed the Cyclones(16-7, 3-7). No 22 Tennessee 81, SouthCarolina 57: Zakai Zeigler tiedhiscareer high with 18 points allinthe second half, as the Volunteers (16-6, 7-3 SEC)poundedthe Gamecoacks (13-9, 4-6).

Vanderbilt75 No 25LSU 66: Rodney Chatmanscored aseason-high24pointsas the Commodores (12-10, 4-6 SEC)beattheTigers(16-7, 4-6)fortheirbiggestwinof the season.

Andhow much sleep did he get in thelast week, rushing to oh-dark-thirty flights sohecangettothenextgame in a far-flung college locale?

Eight days, 6,262 miles.

Butif you were Szelc you would sign upfortheinsane travel schedule, too. Top conferencescanpay$3,000per game andnonational entity is tellingthem how often they can work.

Saturday was Szelc’s 40th gamesince the Nov. 9 start of theseason,andhe’d be well into the 50s had henot gone without an assignmentbetweenDec.15andJan.11,presumably because of COVID-19 protocols.Roger Ayers an ACC regular has worked 63 games alreadythis season. John Higginshas worked58.

In2018-19, thelastfullpreCOVID season, Szelc worked 87 in 144 days.That’s more than $250,000inless than five months,minus travel expensesthey’re responsible for covering.

Sleep? Who needs sleep?

3. A familiar face WhenDutcher walked into MobyArena for shootaround Fridaymorning, waitingthere was Fox Sports1 color commentator JessSettles.Theysmiledand embraced Ithadbeena while.

Settles grew upon a corn andsoybean farm, a strapping 6-7 country boy who was Iowa’s Mr Basketballin 1993 attiny Winfield High. Dutcher andSteve Fisher

UCSB built a 24-13 leadwithits hotstart,but theTritons answered with a 3-pointer each from JakeKosakowskiandToniRocak, cuttingtheGauchos’lead tofive 24-19 with9:26toplayin the first half.

But the Gauchos(9-9 1-4 Big West) wenton a 18-2 run of their own over thenextthree minutes togo up 42-21 with 6:17 left in the firsthalf and the Tritons wouldnotthreaten again UCSDtrailed46-24at haltime.

TheTritons(10-12 4-7 againstBig West teams) were just18of48fromthefield,a37.5 percent clip. They were led by Bryce Pope’s 10 points,the onlyTritonindouble figures.

Upnext

UCIrvine at Tritons

Thursday: 7p.m.,RIMAC

Arena

Streaming: ESPN+ werecoachingatMichigan, recruitingtheclass that would replace the Fab Five, and targeted Settles. They went on a homevisit to thefarm, 40milessouthof Iowa’scampusandfourmiles northofa town withnostoplights and a population of 1,000

UC Santa Barbara 84 Tritons 48 that wenttheRams way again,thistimebecauseit wasn’t called What made it more suspect was thatBradley didn’tlosetheballand that,unlike Ike, Moors arms were not straightupbut pitched toward Bradley’s body creating contactonhis shot.

“There was no GPS,” Dutcher said.“We called your parentsfor directions.Go to County Road 7, when you hit the double silos turnleft. That’s how we foundthem.”

Settlesnarrowedhisfinalists to Iowa Michigan and Notre Dame.He wentona campusvisitto Michiganand was hosted by Dugan Fife, the same weekend that Juwan Howard hosted Jacque Vaughn (who would pickKansas and now coaches intheNBA).

“We had the most wonderfultime,”Settles said 30 yearslater “AsI was getting ready to go to the airport to leave Fish walkedmeacross CrislerArena andsaid, ‘Is there any way you couldput thisuniform onand wearit in (Iowa’s)Carver-Hawkeye Arenafourtimes during your career?’ I said to him,‘I’d have noproblem.’

“Isaidthat, but my heart was like,there’s no way. But that’s whothey were He wanted to make sure I knew what I was gettinginto.”

Settlesultimatelypicked the school40miles away and becamean all-Big Ten selection.Onething alwaysstuck withhim, though.

“When I was being recruited, I wouldalways try to get coaches to saysomething badaboutotherprograms,” Settles said “A lot of coaches would.Those guys refused to bad-mouthanyotherprogram.Dutch andFish would notdoit.I’dask:‘Whatdoyou thinkabout Notre Dame? What do you think about MichiganState?’They’d say: ‘Greatprograms, great coaches, great men. You’d do wellthere.’

“Mymomanddadandmy grandma alwayshadsuch great respectforthemfor that reason.” mark.zeigler@sduniontribune.com