University of San Francisco Athletics

 
Mark Tollefsen may be best known for what he can do offensively. He is a highlight reel waiting to happen and has near unlimited range on his shot. In the two seasons with the Dons, Tollefsen has played many roles and one of his new ones has become a lengthy tormentor for the league's more explosive scorers.
 
He saw significant time guarding San Diego's Johnny Dee as well as Santa Clara's Jared Brownridge. His length has caused these prime targets to alter their game plans, many times with them giving up the ball.
 
"Mark has great, size and intelligence that he can guard smaller players, chase guys off screens," USF head coach Rex Walters said. "Just be a guy that can bother people with his length and athleticism.
 
The 6-foot-9 Tollefsen is the tallest member of the starting lineup and he has made adjustments from being the power forward or center to being a lengthy small forward with the ability to take guys out of rhythm.
 
"It's something he's worked really hard at but it's also that's God-given as well, you know, his length and size," Walters said. "He also has the intelligence and work ethic to guard guys like that and make them work for everything."
 
Tollefsen drew the assignment of guarding Dee for much of the second half and his impact was felt. The San Diego guard, who averages 17.1 points, scored only four points in the half and went 0-for-3 from the field. Same went for Brownridge who, after hitting three straight shots in the middle of the second half, was terrorized by the USF forward and he did not get another basket until the 2:57 mark.
 
 "There's still so much left in the tank with Mark of the player that he can be. He's still just scratching the surface of what he can be both on the defensive end and the offensive end. With time, with experience and with a lot of hard work, you'll see him do bigger and better things."
 
ROUND TWO BEGINS THIS WEEK
The Dons have finished the first half of league play at 6-3 and only have four of the remaining nine games at home. But this is a team that has played relatively well away from Memorial Gymnasium over the last two seasons. They were 5-3 on the road in WCC play a year ago with the losses coming at Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and Santa Clara. They have already faced both Saint Mary's and Gonzaga on the road.
 
"We still have a long ways to go," Walters said. "We've got a chance to have a really good team, have a really good season. It's still going to come down to the little things of doing a great job of defense. Guarding the ball individually, guarding the ball as a team, understanding personnel and what team's strengths are and doing our best to make sure we take those things away."
 
In the Dons' six conference wins, they have allowed an average of 68 points and in the three losses have surrendered 80 per contest.
 
Rebounding has also been a point of emphasis for the Dons and the evidence is in their record. The team is 11-4 when they outrebound their opponent and are 2-4 in all other games. USF held a +17 rebounding advantage over Santa Clara, the second largest rebounding margin of the season, and took the contest 75-66.
 
"We did do a good job on the glass," Walters said. "I thought, watching tape of it, we did a good job boxing out, pursuing the basketball. You take the W and learn for the past, live for today, work for the future."
 
COLE CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Dickerson entered the game against Santa Clara in 30th place on the Dons all-time scoring list and with his 28 points, he moved into 28th place with 1,062 career points. If he were to continue on his current pace going into the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, Dickerson would pass John Duggan (1993-97) for 20th all-time.
 
AROUND THE WCC
There is only one team in the WCC to have beaten both Gonzaga and BYU and that team is Portland… the Pilots followed up its triple overtime win over BYU with a close loss to San Diego… the Toreros had a chance to beat Gonzaga in the final minutes but Gonzaga's defense was able to keep the ball out of the hands of sharpshooter Johnny Dee, who had 27 points in the game… Saint Mary's continues to roll after a pair of wins over the Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine… the Waves dropped two on the week including a loss at Pacific… Pacific travels to BYU and San Diego this week… BYU is coming off a pair of losses at Portland and Gonzaga and has slipped into fourth place… the top four spots in the conference are separated by three games.
 
--Zack Farmer, Communications Assistant