Game #28
San Francisco Dons (11-16, 5-10 WCC) at Pepperdine Waves (16-11, 9-7 WCC)
Saturday,  Feb. 21, 2015 • 1:00 p.m.
Firestone Fieldhouse • Malibu, Calif.
Series Record: USF 73-50
Last Meeting: USF 71-59 (Jan. 22, 2015)
Audio/Video Streaming: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: TWC Network, CSNCA (Steve Quis, Play-by-Play; Casey Jacobsen, Analyst)

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

The Dandy Dons

• Improved to 11-16 overall and 5-10 in the WCC after Thursday night's 72-45 win at Loyola Marymount...have won two straight for the first time since opening the season with three consecutive victories.
• Enter Saturday's game at Pepperdine tied with Santa Clara for seventh place in the WCC standings.
• Have won the last six meetings with Pepperdine, including a 71-59 victory earlier this season on the Hilltop...have won eight of the last nine and nine of the last 11 games in the series dating back to the 2009-10 season...are 6-3 in last nine visits to Firestone Fieldhouse.
• Are 3-7 in true road games this season and 4-9 in all games away from Memorial Gymnasium...however, are 13-8 in its last 21 conference road games dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season.
• Now 24-14 in the month of February dating back to the 2009-10 season, including an 21-6 mark in the last three Februarys.
• Nine of USF's 11 wins this season have been by double digit margins and by and avergage of 22.3 points (80.1-57.8)...have six wins of 20-points or more after Thursday night's 27-point victory at LMU.
• Of USF's 10 conference losses, six have been by eight points or fewer (31 total), including a pair of one point setbacks.
• Shot 50 percent from the floor at LMU marking the eighth time this season the Dons have shot 50 percent or better from the field...have four 50 percent efforts in last eight games...now shooting 46 percent on the season - 4th best in the WCC.
• Have outrebounded each of its last two opponents but have been outboarded in 10 of 15 conference games after holding the advantage on the glass in 10 of 12 non-conference games...were +9.7 on the boards vs. non-conference foes and are -2.4 vs. conference opponents...rank fifth in the WCC in rebound average (35.4) and are sixth in rebound margin (+2.3).
• Three players - Matt Glover (5.6), Kruize Pinkins (5.4), and Mark Tollefsen (5.4) - are averaging at least 5.0 rebounds per game while Tim Derksen is averaging 4.6.
• Were 9-for-23 from long distance at LMU...shooting 35.6 percent from three-point range this season, which ranks sixth in the WCC...however, shooting just 31.4 percent from beyond the arc in conference play.
• Shooting just 62.0 percent from the line, which ranks 10th in the WCC and is the 11th lowest percentage in the nation among Division I teams.
• Junior Mark Tollefsen ranks in the top-10 in three WCC statistical categories, including scoring (10th; 14.4), field goal percentage (5th; 53.7) and blocks (9th; 0.9).
• Wrap up the regular season next week with a pair of home games vs. Saint Mary's and Pacific.

Notables

Opening Tip
USF (11-16, 5-10 WCC) wraps up its Southern California road trip Saurday afternoon in Malibu against the Pepperdine Waves (16-11, 9-7 WCC). Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse and the game will be showcased as the WCC's Game of the Week along the TWC family of networks. Both teams are coming off wins Thursday night, as USF downed Loyola Marymount, 72-45 and Pepperdine turned back Santa Clara, 64-55.

Series History with Pepperdine
In a series that dates back to the 1955-56 season, USF leads the all-time series with Pepperdine, 73-50. The Dons have won six straight and eight out of the last nine games in the series, including a 71-59 triumph earlier this seaso on the Hilltop. The Dons have also won six out of the last nine games played between the two teams here in Malibu. USF swept last year's season series, winning 76-66 in San Francisco on Jan. 4 and 77-53 in Malibu on Feb. 27. The two schools have met seven times in the WCC Championship tournament, with the Pepperdine holding a 6-1 advantage.

First Meeting With Pepperdine
USF turned in one of it's strongest defensive efforts of the season, USF controlled the tempo throughout the game and defeateded Pepperdine, 71-59 on Jan. 22 in Memorial Gymnasium. USF was led in scoring by Devin Watson, who tallied 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. Tim Derksen (15), Kruize Pinkins (12) and Mark Tollefsen (11) also reached double figures. The Dons shot 53.3 percent from the floor and limited the Waves to just 37.7 shooting. After leading 31-28 at intermission, USF made eight of its first nine field goal attempts to start the second half and used a 19-6 run to open a 50-34 lead with 13 minutes left in the game. The Waves could get no closer than 11 points down the stretch.
 
Last Time Out
USF posted a dominating, wire-to-wire 72-45 victory over Loyola Marymount Thursday night in Gersten Pavilion. The 27-point margin of victory was the largest by the Dons over LMU since a 34-point, 86-52 win at Gersten Pavilion in the 1997-98 season. The Dons jumped the Lions early and led by as many as 26 points in the first half at 36-10. The Dons led by 19 (39-20) at the half and outscored the Lions 14-3 over the last 7:06 of the game en route to the 27-point victory. The Dons shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded the Lions 41-27. LMU, playing without leading scorer Evan Payne, managed to shoot just 29.8 percent on the evening. Mark Tollefsen scored a team-high 21 points while Tim Derksen added 19 to pace USF's scoring efforts. Kruize Pinkins and Devin Watson finished with 12 and 11 points respectively.

The Record
At 11-16 overall, USF is six games off its pace from last season when the Dons were 17-10 overall and 10-5 in the WCC at the 26-game mark. The Dons won game No. 28 to improve to 18-10 overall and 11-5 in conference play before ultimately finishing with a 21-12 overall mark and a 13-5 conference ledger. After a 3-0 start, USF is 8-16 over its last 24 games.

The Wins
Of USF's 11 wins this season, nine have been by double digit margins and an average of 22.3 points (80.1 to 57.8). The Dons have posted four wins of 30 points or more against South Carolina State (91-52), Notre Dame de Namur (86-46), Houston Baptist (85-54) and Portland State (77-40) and also own double digit victories over Hawaii (88-73), Montana (76-57), Portland (89-77), Pepperdine (71-59) and Loyola Marymount (72-45).

The Losses
Of USF's 11 conference losses, four have been by eight points or fewer. USF  has lost a pair of one-point games to San Diego (57-56) and LMU (70-69) on its home floor, dropped a six-point decision at Santa Clara (70-64), fell by four points at BYU (78-74) and lost by eight points at San Diego (77-69) after squandering a late lead.

The Road Record
USF is 3-7 in true road games this season and is 4-9 in all games away from Memorial Gymnasium. All three of the Dons road wins came at the expense of WCC foes - 77-71 at Pacific (Dec. 27); 89-77 at Portland (Jan. 10) and 72-45 at LMU (feb. 19). USF is 13-8 in its last 21 conference road games dating back to the 2012-13 season.

Fabulous in February
Over the last five seasons dating back to the 2009-10 campaign, USF has posted a 24-14 (.632) record in the month of February, including back-to-back 5-2 marks each of the last two seasons.