COMPLETE RELEASE
USF HOSTS SAN DIEGO THURSDAY: USF continues its three-game West Coast Conference homestand Thursday, February 10 when San Diego visits War Memorial Gym. Tip-off against the Toreros is set for 7:30 PM in a game televised live on Comcast SportsNet California and aired on KDIA (1640 AM). San Francisco moved into sole possession of second place in the WCC standings at 6-2 after a 68-60 win against archrival Santa Clara on Saturday. USD broke through for its first league triumph Thursday against LMU.
THE LAST TIME... USF's 6-2 start to the West Coast Conference season is the best since going 6-2 in 1981. The Dons have won eight of their last 10 games and posted a 6-2 slate in January.
DONS RPI & SOS: USF dropped six spots to No. 113 in RPI in Monday's list released by the NCAA. The Dons own a strength of schedule (SOS) rated No. 62 by realtimerpi.com.
GREEN NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior guard Rashad Green continues to contribute for the Dons during his second season on the Hilltop. The Manhattan transfer scored a career-high 21 points at Colorado State (11/29/09) and matched it with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists at Pepperdine (1/29/11). The New Yorker scored 17 points against Hampton (12/30/10). Green leads the Dons in scoring during the WCC season with 15.3 points on .500 shooting to go along with 6.4 rebounds. In USF's 68-62 win against Santa Clara (2/5/11), Green scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Dons to the sweep of the Broncos and captured WCC Player of the Week honors in the process. So far this season, Green adds 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
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 41.6 ppg accounting for .609 of the team's scoring
- USF underclassmen have started 72 times in 115 opportunities through 23 games
- USF leads the West Coast Conference in 3-point defense at .319 (168-526)
- USF leads the WCC in field goal percentage defense (.412) and rates fourth in field goal percentage (.453) during 2011 league games
- The Dons have held 11 of their last 16 opponents under 70 points (66.4 ppg)
- USF has posted 16 double-doubles in 22 games. USF tallied just four in 2009-10.
- USF is averaging 68.3 points and 37.9 rebounds per game in WCC contests
- The Dons have won 13 of their last 17 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)
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, four 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 2/10 – vs. San Diego
2/26 – vs. Loyola Marymount 2/24 – vs. Pepperdine
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO: The Toreros have struggled mightily throughout the 2010-11 season and enter the sixth week of the West Coast Conference schedule with a 5-19 overall record. USD secured its first league win of the season with a 66-63 home triumph against Loyola Marymount last Thursday, before falling to Pepperdine 70-63 in overtime at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday. The Toreros have gone winless (0-10) on the road this season, but did secure a neutral court win against Utah (67-64) in the Hawaii Tournament. As a team, San Diego averages just 61.5 points per game on .424 from the field, while opponents average 71.2 points on .463 shooting. Junior guard Darian Norris leads USD in scoring at 10.3 points per game, while senior guard Matt Dorr adds 9.0 points. Sophomore forward Ken Rancifer chips in 8.8 points. The Toreros get abused on the boards as opponents hold a 36.2-29.5 rebound margin (-6.7). Bill Grier is in his fourth season at USD and owns a 54-70 record as the top Torero. The longtime Gonzaga aide led San Diego to an improbable run to the 2008 West Coast Conference Tournament title and an NCAA opening round upset of UConn. Last season, USD struggled, posting a 11-21 finish and a 3-11 WCC mark, but defeated Santa Clara to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2010 Zappos.com WCC Tournament.
