Box Score (Anchorage) – San Francisco basketball rallied back from the brink multiple times but could not get over the hump and dropped a 70-67 decision to Murray State in the first semifinal of the 2011 Carrs Safeway Great Alaska Shootout Friday at Sullivan Arena. The Dons (5-2) scored 48 second-half points against the Racers (6-0), but could never secure a lead in the first-ever meeting between the two squads.
Senior forward Rashad Green matched his career-high with 23 points, 19 coming in the second half to lead the Dons. Sophomore guard Cody Doolin added a season-high 18 points with five rebounds and five assists. Junior guard Michael Williams added 10 points.
"I won't fault our guys effort – especially in the second half these guys really fought hard," USF head coach Rex Walters said. "The challenge for us right now is not just to come back tomorrow, but to execute a game plan against one of these teams (Southern Mississippi vs. New Mexico State) and both of them are pretty good."
San Francisco just saw way too much of the Racers' backcourt. Donte Poole and Isaiah Canaan combined for 43 points and eight 3-pointers to keep Murray State unbeaten. The Racers were deadly from long distance, connecting at a .579 (11-19) from 3-point range.
USF trailed by eight, 56-48 with 5:35 remaining and looked to be dead in the water. The Dons made it a one-point game, 61-60 with 1:12 to go on a Green lay-up. Then disaster struck for the Green and Gold as senior center Ivan Aska drilled a desperation 3-pointer from 35 feet as the shot clock expired for a 64-60 cushion. It was the first 3-pointer of Aska's Murray State career and his third long range attempt.
"If you're going to lose, lose on a freak shot," Walters said. "I can live with that. The more devastating thing is the first 21 points they score on 3-point shots in the first half. That's devastating for me because we should be able to defend that."
San Francisco closed the gap to one point twice more, but the Racers sealed the game at the free throw line with 0:03 on the clock.
USF held a 25-20 rebound edge and a 32-12 scoring advantage in the paint. Murray State score 20 points off 15 San Francisco turnovers, while the Dons scored 15 on Racer miscues. The Green and Gold connected at a .511 (23-45) clip, but made just four of 16 (.250) of their 3-pointer attempts.
Murray State put on a shooting clinic in the opening period and buried the Dons under an avalanche of 3-pointers, connecting on a sizzling 7-of-10 (.700) from long distance. Murray State made just three 2-point field goals in the opening half. San Francisco shot .444 (8-18) from the field and .333 (2-6) from 3-point range. The Dons did not take good care of the basketball, committing nine first-half turnovers.
After being shutout against Dartmouth, Doolin led the Dons with nine points in the opening 20 minutes. Only two Racers scored in the first half – Poole poured in 16 on 5-of-6 from the floor, 4-of-5 from deep, while Canaan added 14 points on 5-of-6, 3-of-4 from long range – but it was enough for a 30-19 halftime advantage.
San Francisco takes on the loser of the New Mexico State vs. Southern Mississippi State semifinal in Saturday's third-place game. Tip-off is set for 6:30 PM (PT) in a game carried live on USFDons.com via Stretch Internet.
