PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
Coach wants Tigers to focus
Pacific men's basketball coach Bob Thomason has his own theory about the fight or flight response when it comes to playing games in late December. He asks his players to keep their minds on the proverbial fight, but fears some will be more concerned with catching their flights.
"Sometimes I really worry about the games before the holidays because you're always making plans for the holidays rather than finishing the game," Thomason said.
Thomason said he needs his players' undivided attention when the Tigers play Santa Clara at 7 p.m. today at Leavey Center. The Tigers (7-3) beat the Broncos (6-5) by 27 points earlier this season in Stockton, but Thomason said it won't be that easy this time."We're on the road again, and we've got a dogfight. If our guys think it's any other way, it won't work out well for us," said Thomason, whose team is coming off an 80-65 loss at Saint Mary's in which they trailed by four with five minutes remaining. "I know we can win if we play well, but we've got to play a hard-fought game."
Senior center Michael Nunnally said it is important for the Tigers to rebound following the loss to Saint Mary's.
"We just have to bounce back and go hard," Nunnally said. "They're going to be ready for some of our plays, and they're going to be ready to come at us."
The Tigers held the Broncos to 33.3 percent shooting in an 84-57 victory on Nov. 22 at Spanos Center. Junior forward Sam Willard had 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds with three assists and two steals.
Junior guards Terrell Smith and Demetrece Young scored 16 points apiece, and the Tigers shot 55.6 percent from the field while making 12 of 19 from 3-point range.
"We played really well when they played at our spot," Willard said. "Now we're going to their place, and we know they're going to bring it to us."
The Broncos won four out of five games soon after falling to Pacific, but they lost sophomore guard Kevin Foster in the process.
Foster fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in a 79-68 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Dec.1 and will likely miss the rest of the season. He had 22 points, five steals and four rebounds against the Tigers in November.
Even without Foster, Thomason believes the Broncos will be tougher the second time around. They've lost only twice in the past month, falling 66-63 at home against UNLV and 70-57 on the road against Rice.
Thomason also notes that the Broncos haven't played since Wednesday, while his team played one of its most anticipated nonconference games Friday night at Saint Mary's.
"They've been sitting there for four or five days getting ready for us, and they're going to be totally ready for us," Thomason said.
"Anytime you get beat by as much as they got beat by us, they're really going to be ready to make some adjustments on how they play us."
Willard said the Tigers prefer a quick turnaround after fading in the final minutes against Saint Mary's.
"That's a good thing for us," Willard said. "We've got to play again (today), and we'll bounce back."
