Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO --
Mark Tollefsen,
Kruize Pinkins and
Matt Glover each scored 16 points while
Cole Dickerson added 12 to lead USF to a 73-62 win over Saint Mary's Thursday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
The win improves USF's record to 17-10 overall and 10-5 in the West Coast Conference, while the Gaels slip to 19-9 and 9-6 in league play. The Dons have won 10 conference games for just the second time since the 1981-82 season and for the second time under head coach
Rex Walters.
USF sits alone in third place in the WCC standings, one half game behind BYU, which knocked off Gonzaga tonight in Provo.
It's USF's first win over Saint Mary's since Jan. 10, 2006 as the Dons snapped the Gaels' 17-game win  streak in the series.
USF shot 50 percent from the field for the 14th time this season while it limited the Gaels to just 39.7 percent shooting from the floor, a stark contrast to the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season, when the Gaels clipped the nets at 55.8 percent en route to a 88-73 victory in Moraga.
The Dons also did an excellent job in taking care of the ball, commiting just four turnovers while dising out 16 assists in the game.
Glover bounced back from a poor shooting night at Santa Clara in which he made just 1 of 10 shots from the floor to scored 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He also nailed his only three-point attempt on the night.
Brad Waldow was the only Gael starter to score in double figures as he finished with 15 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
USF controlled the contest from the opening tip and built as much as a 12 point lead twice in the first half, the last at 29-17 with 6:04 left before the break.
The Dons settled for a 33-23 lead at intermission but a three-pointer by
Avry Holmes on the first possession of the second half boosted the lead to 13 at 36-23.
A short jumper by Pinkins at the 12:54 mark gave USF its largest lead of the game at 48-32.
The Gaels managed to get the lead under the 10 point mark just once down the stretch at 61-52 with 3:40 remaining.
USF will return to action Saturday afternoon, when the Dons play host to the Pacific Tigers beginning at 3:00 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.
Rex Walters' Postgame Comments
"I didn't broach the subject before hand, but it's been a longtime since we've beaten Saint Mary's. I have the utmost respect for (head coach) Randy Bennett and their program."
"I thought
Matt Glover was fantastic tonight and
Avry Holmes did a great job in running the team and Kruize was a load inside. I'm happy for our guys but now we have to flip the switch and start focusing in on Pacific."
"We really had to put in four new defenses over the last two days and out scout team did a great job in getting us prepared for this game tonight."
