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Game Night: USF Plays Host to Saint Mary's

Game Night: USF Plays Host to Saint Mary's
Avry Holmes scored 17 points in the first meeting with Saint Mary's.
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Game #27
USF Dons (16-10, 9-5 WCC) vs. Saint Mary's Gaels (19-8, 9-5 WCC)
Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 • 8:00 p.m. PT
Memorial Gymnasium • San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: USF leads, 103-73
Last Meeting: Saint Mary's 88-73 (Jan. 11, 2014 in Moraga)
Audio Stream: USFDons.com (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: CSNCA, ROOT (Glen Kuiper, Play-by-Play; Dan Belluomini, Analyst)

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

The Dandy Dons
  • Now 16-10 overall and 9-5 in the West Coast Conference after Saturday night's 69-63 victory at Santa Clara.
  • Enter Thursday night's game tied for third place in the WCC standings with Saint Mary's (19-8, 9-5)...both teams are a half game behind second place BYU and four games behind first place Gonzaga.
  • With 16 wins, the Dons have surpassed their win total (15) from last season...have also won two more conference games than all of last season when the team finished 7-9 in WCC play.
  • Play their final two regular season home games this week against Saint Mary's (2/20) and Pacific (2/22)...are 11-5 at home this season.
  • Are 9-0 in WCC play against teams other than Gonzaga (0-2), BYU (0-2) or Saint Mary's (0-1)....own season sweeps over Santa Clara, San Diego and Portland.
  • Have dropped 17 straight to Saint Mary's, including a 88-73 decision earlier this season in Moraga...Dons last win in the series came on Jan. 10, 2006 here on the Hilltop (53-52).
  • USF is 19-12 over the past four seasons in the month of February...went 5-2 in February last season.
  • USF is 93-92 in six seasons under head coach Rex Walters...Dons are 70-55 (.560) under Walters since the start of the 2010-11 season.
  • Averaging 76.2 points a game to rank as the WCC's fourth-highest scoring team...have scored 80+ points just twice in conference action.
  • Rank second in the WCC and 29th nationally in field goal percentage at 47.3 percent...have shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 12 games this season.
  • Have made just 36-of-117 (30.7) three-pointers over the last five games and are now shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc for the season - sixth best in the WCC.
  • Are 37-for-63 (58.7) from the line over its last three games...rank 10th in the WCC in free throw percentage at 65.2.
  • Have held its last three opponents to under 70 points...rank seventh in the WCC in defense (73.5), field goal defense (44.9) and ninth in three-point defense (37.2).
  • Are 14-4 on the season when outrebounding the opponent...rank sixth in WCC rebounding at 35.3.
  • Balanced scoring column sees the top six scorers averaging between 14.5 and 7.9 points per game...seven different players have taken team high-scoring honors this season.
  • Junior Kruize Pinkins scored a career-high 26 points Saturday at Santa Clara, raising his scoring average to 12.7 on the year...he was named the WCC's Player of the Week for the performance.
  • Cole Dickerson notched his sixth double-double of the season and 20th of his career Saturday at Santa Clara, scoring 13 points to go along with 14 rebounds.
  • Sophomore Tim Derksen is 9-for-11 from the field over his last two games vs. BYU (7-8) and Santa Clara (2-3) and is now shooting 54.9 percent from the floor on the season - 8th best in the WCC.
  • Play host to Pacific Saturday afternoon before closing out the regular season at Pepperdine and LMU.

TIP-OFF: USF (16-10, 9-5 WCC) renews its longtime rivalry with Saint Mary's (19-8, 9-5 WCC) Thursday night in Memorial Gymnasium. The Dons and Gaels are tied for third in the WCC standings, one half game behind second place BYU (18-10, 10-5 WCC) which plays host to Gonzaga on Thursday. The Dons are coming off a 69-63 win at Santa Clara on Saturday while the Gaels split a pair of home games last week, defeating San Diego (69-57) before falling to BYU (60-57).

SERIES HISTORY: USF leads the all-time series with Saint Mary's, 103-73. However, the Gaels have won 17 straight and 21 of the last 22 games against the Dons, including a 88-73 decision earlier this season in Moraga. Saint Mary's current 17-game winning streak is the longest winning skein in the series by either school. USF's last win against Saint Mary's came on Jan, 16, 2006 on the Hilltop, 53-52. The two schools have also met five times in WCC Tournament play, with the Gaels holding a 4-1 advantage.

FIRST MEETING WITH SAINT MARY'S: USF dropped a 88-73 decision to Saint Mary's on Jan. 11 in Moraga. It marked the Gaels 17th consecutive victory over the Dons, including its 11th straight win over USF at McKeon Pavilion. Avry Holmes scored a team-high 17 points, while Kruize Pinkins and Cole Dickerson added 16 and Mark Tollefsen finished with 16 to pace USF in scoring. The Dons shot a respectable 51 percent from the field but allowed the Gaels to clip the nets at 55.8 percent, including 52.4 percent (11-for-21) from three-point range. USF never led in the game and trailed by 15 at the half at 43-28. The Dons whittled the lead down seven at 54-47 before the Gaels went on a 14-0 run to put the game away.

LAST TIME OUT: Kruize Pinkins scored a career-high 26 points while Cole Dickerson notched a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds to lead USF to a 69-63 victory over Santa Clara at the Leavey Center. Mark Tollefsen also added 13. The Dons closed the first half on an 11-1 run to take a 35-33 lead at the break and extended the lead to 41-33 four minutes into the second half. SCU battled back to take a 50-49 lead with 8:47 left but Tim Derksen layup on the Dons next possession gave USF a lead it would not relinquish. USF shot just 37.5 percent from the floor but outrebounded Santa Clara, 43-36.

THE RECORD: At 16-10 overall, USF is five games ahead of last year's pace when the Dons were 11-15 at the 26-game mark of the season. USF's 16 wins surpasses the team's win total from a year ago when the team finished 15-16 overall while it has already surpassed last season's conference win total (7-9). USF is 9-0 against WCC teams not from Gonzaga (0-2), BYU (0-2) or Saint Mary's (0-1). USF's 16 wins are fourth most in the conference behind Gonzaga (22-3) and Saint Mary's (19-8) and BYU (18-10).

USF BASKETBALL UNDER WALTERS: USF is 93-92 in six seasons under head coach Rex Walters, including 44-45 in WCC play. After going 23-37 over his first two seasons, Walters has guided the Dons to a 70-55 (.556) record over the last four seasons.

FABULOUS IN FEBRUARY: In the last four seasons dating back to the 2009-10 campaign, USF has posted a 19-12 record in the month of February, including a 5-2 mark last season.

THE SCHEDULE: USF has four regular season games remaining beginning with tonight's home contest against Saint Mary's. The Dons will play host to Pacific on Saturday afternoon before wrapping up the regular season slate next week at Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

ROAD AND HOME: USF is 5-5 in nine road games this season, including a 4-3 mark against WCC foes. The Dons are 8-3 in their last 10 WCC road games dating back to last season. USF is 11-5 at home this season after going 8-7 on its home floor last season, including 2-6 against WCC foes.

OFFENSIVELY: The Dons are averaging 76.2 points per game this season, which ranks fourth in the WCC. The Dons opened the season by scoring 90+ points in its first four games - a first in school history, but have scored 80 or more points just three time in its last 19 games - twice against Portland (87 and 84) and vs. Pacific (81).

BALANCED SCORING: USF has four players on its current roster averaging in double figures after 25 games, with senior Cole Dickerson topping the team's scoring chart with a 14.5 point per game average. The top six scorers on the current roster are averaging between 14.5 and 7.9 ppg. Seven different players have taken game-high scoring honors at some point this season.

FROM THE FLOOR: The Dons defeated Santa Clara Saturday night despite shooting just 37.5 percent (21-for-56) from the floor, the fourth-worst shootng performance on the season. The Dons have shot 50 percent from the floor in 12 games this season and currently rank second in the WCC and 29th nationally in field goal percentage at 47.7 percent. Mark Tollefsen (55.5), Tim Derksen (54.9) and Cole Dickerson (52.2) rank seventh, eighth and 12th respectively in WCC field goal percentage.

FROM BEYOND THE ARC: USF is just 17-of-58 (29.3) from long distance in in its last three games against San Diego, BYU and Santa Clara, dropping the season percentage down to its present mark of .368, which ranks sixth in the WCC. Avry Holmes ranks ninth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 41.9. USF led the West Coast Conference and ranked fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage a year ago, connecting on 40.1 percent (249-for-621) of its long distance attempts. The Dons have set single-season school records for three-pointers made each of the last three seasons.

ON THE LINE: USF has made just 37-of-63 (58.7) free throws over its last three games and are shooting just 65.2 percent from the line this season, which ranks last in the WCC and 310 out of 345 Division I teams.  Avry Holmes ranks eighth in the WCC with a 84.8 free throw percentage.

BOARD WORK: USF has outrebounded seven of its last nine opponents and rank fourth among WCC teams in rebound average at 35.3 while opponents are averaging 32.6 boards a game, the fifth-lowest average in the conference. USF is 14-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent and 2-6 in all other games. Four players - Cole Dickerson (7.3), Kruize Pinkins (6.6), Matt Glover (5.8) and Mark Tollefsen (4.2) - are averaging at least 4.0 rebounds per game.

SECOND CHANCES: USF is averaging 11.7 offensive rebounds a game, fourth-best in the WCC. Kruize Pinkins ranks first in the conference in offensive rebounds with a 3.3 per game mark

DEFENSIVELY: The Dons have held its last three opponents under 70 points, including BYU, the WCC's highest-scoring team, which managed just 68 points on their homecourt in Provo. USF is yielding 73.5 points a game, which ranks seventh in the WCC, but is allowing just 70.9 ppg in conference games. The Dons rank seventh in the conference in field goal defense (44.9) and ninth in three-point defense (37.2) and blocks per game (2.6). USF's 5.7 steals per game average rank seventh in the conference.

DONS IN OVERTIME: USF is 2-1 in overtime games this season, losing to Idaho State 93-90 while defeating Portland 87-81 and Pacific 81-72. USF is 11-4 in overtime games under head coach Rex Walters.

AVRY FROM DOWNTOWN: Avry Holmes' current three-point percentage of 41.9 (41-for-98) ranks eighth in the West Coast Conference. His career three-point percentage of of 44.3 (82-for-185) ranks second all-time in school history, slightly behind of Shawn Sykes' (1988-90) career mark of 44.4 (98-for-218).

DICKERSON CLIMBING REBOUNDING CHARTS: With 684 career rebounds, senior Cole Dickerson currently ranks 16th on USF's all-time rebounding list. He needs two more boards to tie Marlon Redmond for 15th. Here's a look at where Dickerson stands on USF's all-time career rebounding chart...

11. Joe Ellis (1963-66) 737
12. Erwin Mueller (1963-66) 717
13. Johnny Burks (1968-71) 701
14. Mike Farmer (1955-58) 698
15. Marlon Redmond (1973-77) 686
16. Cole Dickerson (2010-14) 684

DICKERSON ON USF's ALL-TIME SCORING LIST: With 1,133 career points, Cole Dickerson ranks 22nd on USF's all-time career scoring list and needs and 37 more to tie Joel DeBortoli (1987-90) for 21st.

DICKERSON'S DOUBLES: Senior forward Cole Dickerson posted his sixth double-double of the season and 20th of his career against Santa Clara, finishing with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Dickerson finished with conference-high 13 double-doubles (points-rebounds) last season, a figure that ranked 24th nationally among Division I players. He was also a point or rebound away from a double-double in five other games. Dickerson pulled down 10 or more rebounds in 14 games, including a career-high 20 boards against Montana on Nov. 30.
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