Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --
Cole Dickerson scored a career high 30 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while De'End Parker added 20 to pace USF to a 93-76 victory over visiting Dominican on Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
The win marks the 100th career coaching victory for USF head coach
Rex Walters, who sees his team improve to 7-6 overall heading into Wednesday's West Coast Conference opener at Santa Clara.
Dickerson's 30 point, 10-rebound effort was the junior's seventh double-double in 13 games this season. He was 11-for-16 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, and made 6-of-10 shots from the line in 35 minutes of action.
Parker made 11-of-11 shots from the foul line and finished with 20 points, his highest scoring game since his 21-point night against St. John's.
Redshirt freshman
Mark Tollefsen came off the bench to score a career high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, while Tim Derksen also reached double-figures with 11 points.
USF shot a season-best 55.9 percent from the field and held a 42-27 advantage on the boards.
The Dons led by as many as 12 points in the first half at 39-27 with 4:35 left. However, Dominican cut the lead to four at 41-37 on a jumper by Matt Hayes with 1:29 left.
A three-point play by Parker and a driving, off-balance jumper by
Cody Doolin with four seconds on the clock gave USF a 46-37 lead at intermission..
USF's lead was nine points at 72-63 with 9:12 remaining but the Dons used an 18-9 run to pull away from the Penguins and give Walters his 100th career win as a head coach.
"I'd like to think we have better talent (than Dominican) but I don't feel the total buy in is there yet in terms of what we are asking our guys to do," said Walters. "I know one thing -- Santa Clara got a lot better today playing against Duke. I'm not sure how much better we got.
"We are going to get better if the guys do what we ask them to do -- that will let the talent shine through."
Walters put his 100th career coaching victory in perspective following the game.
"It's nice, but there's some losses in there, too. It's more about the places I've been. Florida Atlantic gave me a tremendous opportunity and USF gave me an opportunity and stuck with me through some tough times. We're not where I want us to be as a program. We have a lot of work ahead of us but the commitment is there."
USF will open West Coast Conference action on Wednesday night when the Dons travel to Santa Clara for a 7:00 p.m. contest at the Leavey Center. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
The Dons will return home on Saturday to play host to the BYU Cougars. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in Memorial Gym.
