COLLEGES / ALAN DROOZ : Westhead Answers Hillock’s Call for Help

Loyola Marymount basketball Coach Jay Hillock has been trying to smooth out rough spots in the Lions’ attack, so the day before his team scored an NCAA-record 186 points against U.S. International, he went to the source: Paul Westhead.

Hillock called his predecessor, who coaches the Denver Nuggets, for a few pointers on how to turn around the Lions’ fortune.

“I told him I was gonna beat one of his records,” Hillock said with a grin. “Not really.”

The two discussed some specific plays and players. “We went over a couple technical things, I took his suggestions and implemented them,” Hillock said.

If the help was apparently an instant success, Hillock says cautiously that this week’s West Coast Conference games against Santa Clara tonight and San Diego Saturday will be better barometers.

In preparing for those games at Gersten Pavilion, Hillock has been getting more help this week from another source: Stu Jackson, recently deposed as coach of the New York Knicks, has been a guest at practices this week.

“He’s been going around to some schools, I’ve known him for a while, he was out here so he stopped by,” Hillock said. “It’s good input. He’s helping us out.”

LMU South?--The Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s basketball team must have been feeling pretty chipper after scoring 94 points Saturday and a school-record 112 the next night in running its winning streak to a record nine games.

The 112 points the Toros scored in a 112-96 shoot-out against visiting Merrimack bested the 13-year-old school record by a point. It was only the fourth time the Toros have ever gone over 100 points and the first time since 1980.

In improving to 11-4, Dave Yanai’s Toros made a few new fans.

Bert Kahn, the veteran coach of Quinnipiac (Conn.) College, was impressed with the quality of Division II play he has seen during his team’s swing through the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. “Is it always that physical out here?” he asked after losing to the Toros, 94-85.

Merrimack (Mass.) Coach Bert Hammel said: “You guys are just so much bigger out here, what do you feed these guys? You have the physicalness out here--if that’s a word--that we don’t see that much back East.”

Hammel’s team also played Cal State Bakersfield, the opponent for Dominguez Hills this week in the CCAA opener for both teams.

“Both teams are very good, but I like Dominguez Hills,” he said. “They play more under control and their offense is so good with the ball. It should be a helluva game.”

During the second half of the Merrimack game, Yanai had all four Toros on the floor who originally attended Division I schools: Michael Moore (Coastal Carolina), Keith Billingslea (Fresno State and Northern Arizona), Brian Jones (Cal State Long Beach) and Robert Barksdale, who briefly attended Oklahoma as a freshman but left before playing there.

It was the first time Yanai has played the quartet together.

What’s a record worth? To U.S. International Coach Gary Zarecky it means a forum, even if most of the records come at his team’s expense. What the heck, he suggested after USIU lost to Loyola on Saturday, 186-140. Everything else has come at the Gulls’ expense this season.

“This team has been devastated since September, when things started going wrong,” Zarecky said, referring to USIU’s monetary problems.

The school recently filed for bankruptcy and will discontinue sports after the spring.

“Several players fled,” Zarecky said. “From that time it’s been nothing but daily problems. It’s been a very stressful time. We had to raise funds to buy socks and balls before the season. If I could sell sand to the Saudis, I would.”

Thus, Zarecky doesn’t mind being part of some record performances. He was especially pleased that guard Kevin Bradshaw, USIU’s standout scorer, set an NCAA record for most points in a Division I game with 72 and could lead the NCAA in scoring.

“We were on the cutting edge offensively,” Zarecky said. “Before Westhead came here we were leading the country in scoring. Six years ago you guys never heard of us. Now they don’t criticize us.

“We have had some great shootouts with Loyola. Kevin is the vehicle from which we can tell our story. This is the best 1-16 team the NCAA ever fielded. Our season deserves an asterisk. But do you think the NCAA is going to print our record with an asterisk? So we have to tell our story.”

Add Zarecky: As the first Division I coach in memory to lose his job because the school is going out of business, the USIU coach is something of a trailblazer.

“My last game is March 3. I’m terminated,” he said. “I’ve had coaches call me and say: ‘Gary, how are you handling this? We don’t know how to approach it because it’s never happened before.’ ”

He’s No. 1: In the latest NCAA statistics, Loyola’s Terrell Lowery leads the nation in assists at 10 per game, a fraction ahead of Nevada Las Vegas’ Greg Anthony. Lowery also ranks fifth in scoring at 29.9. USIU’s Bradshaw leads at 33.9.

In team rankings, Loyola has regained the scoring lead at 115.8, five points ahead of Southern’s 110.6, and the Lions are fourth in three-point baskets per game at 9.6.

Stat of the Week: In the USIU game, Loyola freshman Ross Richardson came off the bench to score nine points in 13 seconds, swishing three consecutive three-point shots. Continuing that pace over a 40-minute game, it figures out to 41.5 points per minute, or 1,661 points per game.

Incidentally, Richardson is shooting 63.3% from three-point range on 19-of-30 shooting.

Notes

The Loyola baseball team will be presented with its West Coast Conference championship rings at halftime of tonight’s basketball game, and the basketball team will get its WCC rings in a pregame ceremony Saturday. . . . Freshman guard Greg Evans has taken a “personal leave of absence” from the Loyola basketball team. It’s unknown if he will return. . . . Another freshman, Karee Bonde of Dominguez Hills, has returned to the women’s basketball team after recovering from a broken nose suffered in preseason practice. . . . Dominguez Hills senior Robert Barksdale leads the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. in assists (4.7 average) and free throw percentage (.829). . . . The Toros’ Michael Moore is second in the CCAA in three-point accuracy at .529. . . . University of San Diego Coach Hank Egan seeks his 250th career victory tonight at Pepperdine.