Men’s hoops falls in tourney final

Back to life, back to reality.

The Hornets (4-1) found their first loss of the season, and they found it big.

The University of San Francisco beat Sac State by a tawdry score of 70-35 in the championship game of the Northwestern Mutual Classic at War Memorial Auditorium in San Francisco Saturday.

Senior forward Anthony Flood was selected to the all-tournament team, joining four USF players and one from IUPU at Indianapolis. His 27-point, 11-rebound performance against Citadel in the first-round Friday pretty much clinched the honor, and he added eight points and eight rebounds against the huge frontcourt of the Dons. After the game, Flood voiced his frustration.

“There is nothing you can do, you can’t defend against seven feet,” he said.

Flood added his third double-double of the season in the game against Citadel. It was a season high for rebounds and a career high for points for the 6-6 senior.

On Friday, Sac State made school history. Led by Flood and 12-point nights by forward Ricky Glenn and point guard Rame Batta, the team advanced to 4-0 by beating the Citadel Bulldogs 74-61. Forward Arinze Anouro grabbed seven rebounds behind Flood.

Saturday was not so pretty.

The Hornets, flustered by the flypaper USF defense, shot a frigid 20 percent from the floor for the game and 13 percent from behind the arc. Sac State had only 11 field goals for the game while they committed 23 turnovers. The huge USF front line dominated the boards, 44-36, and blocked six shots. Tournament MVP Kenyon Jones led the Dons with 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

USF guard Ali Thomas drained four of five from three-point land, the first of which set a USF record for career three-point field goals. He finished the contest with 12 points and two assists.

Flood gave credit to USF.

“They came out ready to play and we didn’t,” he said.

At times, Sac State was outsized at every position by three or four inches. USF held the Hornet offense to six points in the paint while the Dons’ Jones and mates did most of their damage down low, scoring 38 points in the paint.

Head coach Tom Abatemarco was disappointed with his team’s execution.

“We were dominated by a better team,” Abatemarco said. “The kids didn’t react well to the pressure, but I don’t think they were 35 points better than us. We missed a lot of shots.”

After the best Hornet start in history, Abatemarco was not overly dejected over the loss to USF.

“We need to play better. I don’t want to get too high or too down,” he said.

The Hornets face the University of Nevada today at Memorial Auditorium. Sac State defeated the Wolf Pack 65-57 at Lawlor Events Center in Nevada on Nov. 26.

“We are happy to be 4-1 but we have to take it one game at a time. We have to concentrate on Nevada. We beat them at home and they are going to be fired up for this game in our place,” Abatemarco said.