[ COLLEGE BASKETBALL ]
Santa Clara hopes
to defy the odds again
on MauiUH's first-round foe once beat
UCLA in the Maui Invitational
LAHAINA >> Chaminade isn't the only team on Maui this week with a history of big upsets.
When Santa Clara visited Lahaina on Thanksgiving Week of 1995, few expected the Broncos to cause much of a stir in a Maui Invitational field headlined by North Carolina, Villanova, Michigan State and defending national champion UCLA.
By the time they left the islands, the Broncos, led by a spunky point guard named Steve Nash, had sent UCLA to the losers' bracket with a first-round victory and claimed the third-place trophy by beating Michigan State.
The Broncos finished the season by knocking off Maryland in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Kansas in the second round.
"That year it gave our kids a lot of confidence," Santa Clara coach Dick Davey said yesterday. "They felt like they could compete with most teams and I think that's what Maui can do for teams. The caliber of play is at such a high level, by ... playing well against quality teams you get the idea you can compete against others."
Santa Clara is back on the Valley Isle this week and opens the 20th EA Sports Maui Invitational by taking on Hawaii in a first-round game today at the Lahaina Civic Center. The game tips off at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.
The Maui Invitational was founded largely on Chaminade's penchant for knocking off the Goliaths of college basketball in the early 1980s and Santa Clara added to that legacy with its 78-69 win over No. 4 UCLA eight years ago.
The back-court duo of Nash, now starting for the Dallas Mavericks, and Marlon Garnett combined to score 40 points in the win. A poster-sized photo of Nash playing in that game adorns the wall just outside the door leading to the home locker room in the Lahaina Civic Center.
"My kids had geared for that game six months prior to the game," Davey recalled before the Broncos' practice at Lahainaluna High School yesterday afternoon. "They were really devoted and dedicated and knew they were going to be playing UCLA. It created a real focus in how you practice and how you're preparing."
Davey hopes playing in this year's Maui Invitational will help focus his team on the season ahead following back-to-back 13-15 seasons.
"We've had a couple of rocky years and we think we've got a group good enough to win some games this year and we're hoping that this will be a catalyst and we'll just go on from here," Davey said.
As in the 1995-96 season, guard play will be a key to Santa Clara's fortunes. The Broncos return junior Kyle Bailey after an injury-plagued season.
Bailey was an All-West Coast Conference selection as a sophomore in 2001-02, when he averaged 13.4 points and 3.8 assists per game. He scored 30 points in a game against WCC power Gonzaga that season.
But back and foot injuries forced him to the sideline last year and he redshirted after playing in six games.
"It was real tough being injured and wanting to be out there and seeing the team struggle a little bit," Bailey said. "We had some young guys and I felt I had some things I could have done to help, so it was pretty frustrating."
Said Davey: "We missed him last year, obviously. He's what makes us run and we're hoping he'll be able to get back to his form of a couple of years ago."
But regardless of what happens on the court this week, Davey hopes his team will take more than the memories of wins and losses back to Northern California.
"Coming to a place like this, sharing the experience with the community, and the players having an opportunity to see a life that's so much different than what they're used to is such a gratifying experience for everybody," he said. "It's an educational experience. ... It's just a great atmosphere."
