LAS VEGAS - Seattle U, which returned to the West Coast Conference this season after a nearly half-century absence, took the next step Friday night with a 58-56 second-round victory over San Diego in the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship.
The Redhawks prevailed in what USD head coach Steve Lavin called “a knock-down, drag-out slugfest,” to earn their 20th victory of the season and advance to Saturday’s third round against No. 6 seed Pacific. Tipoff is at about 8:30 p.m. at Orleans Arena.
“It wasn’t our prettiest win of the year,” said head coach Chris Victor, who earned his 100th win in five seasons at Seattle U. “But when you get to this point in the season, it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is if you can score more points than the opponent and find a way to advance.
“This team’s really fun to coach. They really enjoy competing together. So, with a team like this you just want to play as long as possible.”
Sophomore Will Heimbrodt, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, said the No. 7 seed Redhawks (20-12) are super-charged for the opportunity to face Pacific (17-14), which beat them 56-54 earlier this season.
“I think this is one of those wins where early in the season we’d want to get together and watch film and talk a lot about it. Now it’s on to the next,” said Heimbrodt, who led Seattle U with 16 points and nine rebounds. “We played Pacific close last time. They’re a really good team, but definitely a team we can beat.”
Seattle U prevailed on a night when their best offensive player, senior guard Brayden Maldonado shot 1-for-9 and scored just two points, and the Redhawks converted only 3 of 21 from the 3-point arc. But nine different players scored and Maldonado made one of the game’s biggest plays when he dove to the floor to corral a loose ball and called timeout with 38 seconds while his team nursed a two-point lead.
Heimbrodt missed a shot in traffic on the Redhawks’ subsequent possession but the Toreros (12-21) misfired twice in the final five seconds before time expired.
MURPHY STEPS UP: A transfer from Division II Chico State in Northern California, senior guard Jojo Murphy scored 12 points — double his season average — including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half.
“The opportunity is super-exciting,” he said of moving on in the tournament. “It was fun. I feel we made a good adjustment coming out of half time. We were tentative in the first and we wanted to up our physicality.”
Victor said it took Murphy some time to adjust to a new team, new coaches and a new level as a Division I player. Murphy has averaged 10.0 points while starting the past five games. “Beginning of the season he was trying to find his way,” Victor said. “At some point it clicked for him.”
END OF LAVIN ERA: Lavin was informed a couple weeks ago that he will not return for a fifth season as head coach of the Toreros. After his final game, he expressed only gratitude for the experience.
“It was an honor to coach this group. Fourteen new players from four continents. We had nine months together and it really was a joy to work with this group,” said Lavin, who winds up with a record of 47-83 at USD. He previously coached at UCLA and St. John’s and has career ledger of 284-233.
“I’ve had a number of different stops, but this was . . . the most enjoyable four years I’ve had in my career. It’s because of the young people I was able to work with and the prestige of this university.”
Lavin, 61, says he “definitely” would like to coach again. “Partly because I enjoy this experience in a way that rejuvenated me. I feel fresh as a daisy. I’ve got some gas in the tank.”
A HERCULEAN BLOCKED SHOT: Portland was trying to stretch its lead against Washington State with six minutes left in their second round game when Cougars freshman Ace Glass III went up for what briefly appeared to be an open 3-pointer from the top of the key. If it went in, WSU would have cut the gap to 58-56.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Portland freshman Dante Censori-Hercules soared into the picture and blocked the shot. Garrett Nuckolls retrieved the loose ball and fired a pass to Censori-Hercules who converted the breakaway layup for a 60-53 lead.
“He just makes winning plays,” said Portland head coach Shantay Legans.
The victory came six minutes later, a 74-68 triumph that lifts Portland (15-18) into Saturday’s third-round game against San Francisco (16-15) at 6 p.m. at Orleans Arena. The Pilots have won two games at the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time since 1996, when they prevailed three times to capture the title.
Censori-Hercules declined to make too much of his big play. “We knew Glass is a shooter. We can’t let him get open looks,” he said. “I did what I could — winning plays. G got the rebound and I ran on down in transition. Whatever I can do to help the team win, I’m going to try to do.”
Glass was surprised to see a defender arrive in time to block his shot. “Nah, I didn’t see him coming,” he admitted. “If I saw him coming, I would have pump faked.”
Censori-Hercules was targeted to be redshirted as a freshman this season, but the loss of two players penciled into the backcourt rotation opened up an opportunity. “Basketball happens so he was pushed into having to play,” Legans said. “Even in the summer, whatever team he was on won. He’d do all the little things. He’s a confident young man. He’s been our best defender all year long.”
He was again Friday night when it mattered most.
NUCKOLLS DELIVERS HIS BEST GAME: Nuckolls, a junior transfer from junior college, scored a season-high 23 points to go with six rebounds and three assists, sparking the Pilots’ victory. He had the modest total of six points at halftime and Legans thought he needed a lift.
“I saw him at the end of the half and he looked frustrated he wasn’t getting some touches,” Legans said. “We came out of halftime and ran a couple plays to get him going and I think he felt confident the rest of the way.”
“It feels amazing,” said Nuckolls of his 17-point second half, adding that the game felt like so many others. “Just play hard, execute the game plan. Just play my game and shots were falling today.”
GLASS SETS WSU FROSH RECORD: The Portland-USD game featured two of the league’s best freshmen guards — point guard Joel Foxwell of the Pilots and WSU’s Glass. Foxwell had a rough shooting night, but finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and the victory.
Glass would much rather have taken a win, but he had 19 points and five assists and broke the Cougars’ freshman season scoring record. He stands at 522 points. Earlier this season, he set a WSU freshman single-season mark with 40 points against Arizona State.
Head coach David Riley said Glass exceeded anything he could have expected this season.
“Ace had an incredible year for us. What makes it so impressive is not his talent — we knew he was talented walking in the door,” Riley said. “But the way he handles adversity and handles challenges.
“I’ve coached a lot of good players, guys who went to the NBA, and he’s the best at taking something that when it goes wrong, or a team takes something away or they put him at the top of the scouting report, and I challenge him, by the next game he’s already starting to figure it out.”
Glass said having his coach’s confidence meant a lot. “I just had a really blessed freshman season. I came in and earned my spot, DR believed in me for the whole season,” Glass said. “I’m glad I’m here. I feel like I learned a lot.”