COMPLETE RELEASE | GAME DAY CENTRAL
USF TRAVELS TO LA FOR LMU: USF closes out the first half of West Coast Conference play in Southern California. The Dons take on Loyola Marymount Thursday, January 27 at 7:00 PM at Gersten Pavilion. The Jesuit Spotlight contest will be aired live on KDIA (1640 AM). San Francisco is fresh off a sweep of Portland (81-74) and Gonzaga (96-91, ot), improving to 4-1 in league. LMU fell 78-75 at rival Pepperdine Saturday in Malibu.
THE LAST TIME... USF's 4-1 start to the West Coast Conference season is the best since the Dons opened at 4-1 in 1982 en route to an 11-3 slate. The Dons have won six of their last seven games.
DONS MOVING ON UP RPI & SOS: USF vaulted 27 spots to No. 96 in RPI in Monday's list released by the NCAA. The Dons own a strength of schedule (SOS) rated No. 23 by realtimerpi.com.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS HEATS UP: Sophomore guard Michael Williams is off to a torrid start to the 2010-11 season and leads the team in scoring at 16.1 points per game on .480 (49-102) from 3-point range, good for second place among West Coast Conference leaders. The Southern California native ranks third among league scoring leaders and made the game-winning free throws in USF's 83-81 overtime win versus Colorado (11/20/10). Williams turned in a big day in the Dons' 50-48 overtime triumph against Montana (12/12/10), scoring 23 points with 13 rebounds in 42 minutes. Williams turned in a career-high with 26 points in a 69-57 win against Hampton (12/30/10) and had a team-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting vs. Portland (1/20/11).
USF AT A GLANCE - 2010-11 SEASON BULLETS
- USF is one of the youngest teams in Division I basketball this season with just seven years of returning Division I experience. The Dons' 2010-11 roster features nine newcomers, seven freshmen, one redshirt freshman and one transfer
- Dons underclassmen average 43.2 ppg accounting for .637 of the team's scoring
- The Dons have held nine of their last 13 opponents under 70 points (65.5 ppg)
- USF has posted 15 double-doubles in 20 games. USF tallied just four in 2009-10.
- USF underclassmen have started 63 times in 100 opportunities through 20 games
- USF leads the West Coast Conference in 3-point defense at .319 (151-473)
- USF is averaging 74.6 points and 36.8 rebounds per game in WCC contests
- The Dons have won 12 of their last 16 contests at War Memorial Gym including overtime wins vs. No. 13/8 Gonzaga 81-77 (1/30/10) and Colorado 83-81 (11/20/10)
- San Francisco dished 20 assists vs. Seattle U. (11/12/10) the most against a Division I foe since recording 20 at Holy Cross (12/27/08)
SAN FRANCISCO PARTICIPATES IN THE 2010-11 JESUIT BASKETBALL SPOTLIGHT: USF is proud of its rich Jesuit heritage and the Dons will compete in no fewer than eight games against fellow Jesuit schools during the 2010-11 season. The Dons take on Loyola Marymount Thursday in their fifth game against a Jesuit foe. San Francisco is taking part in the Jesuit Spotlight Project for the third consecutive season, using Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of the outstanding education available at the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. Last season Dons standout Dior Lowhorn earned Jesuit All-American honors. For more information, log on to www.ajcunet.edu/jesuitbasketball.
USF DONS BASKETBALL ON GREEN 960 AM: USF men's basketball returns to the airwaves and cyberspace for the 2010-11 season and all games will be available live at USFDons.com, with the bulk of the schedule available on Green 960 AM. Join Pat Olson for the play-by-play in his 20th year behind the microphone courtside. USF Hall-of-Famer Jim Brovelli will join Olson on selected broadcasts. Other features available on USFDons.com include live scoring via Primetime, courtesy of PrestoSports and live streaming video of all non-televised home games courtesy of Yahoo Broadcast.
FINDING THE DONS ON THE DIAL: Due to scheduling conflicts, five remaining USF games will be carried on alternate stations. Alternate broadcast locations for Dons basketball runs below.
KNEW (910 AM) Broadcasts KDIA (1640 AM) Broadcasts
2/12 – vs. Saint Mary's 1/27 – at Loyola Marymount
2/26 – vs. Loyola Marymount 2/10 – vs. San Diego
2/24 – vs. Pepperdine
SCOUTING LMU: The Lions enter the fourth week of West Coast Conference play with an 8-11 overall record and fell to 1-4 in league play after dropping a 78-75 decision Saturday at rival Pepperdine. One of the preseason favorites, Loyola Marymount has struggled to achieve consistency with just one win in its last five contests. LMU's lone league triumph came in a 67-58 home win against San Diego in the opening week of WCC play. The Lions dropped a pair of games in the Pacific Northwest, losing a double overtime thriller at Portland (79-78) and a 20-point loss at defending league champion Gonzaga (79-59). As a team LMU averages 71.3 points per game on .427 from the field, while opponents average 70.9 points on .431 shooting. Junior forward Drew Viney leads two Lions in double-digit scoring at 15.6 points per game with 6.9 rebounds. Senior guard Vernon Teel adds 13.6 points to go along with a team-high 7.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Freshman guard Anthony Ireland chips in 9.7 points and 3.9 boards. Max Good is in his third season in Westchester and owns a career record of 271-275 and is 29-51 as the top Lion after taking over for Bill Bayno before the start of the 2008-09 season.
