Post Game Interviews and Highlights

SAN FRANCISCO – Ronnie Boyce scored a career-high 25 points while Devin Watson added 21 but USF dropped a 98-84 decision to Pepperdine on Saturday in War Memorial at The Sobrato Center.
 
The loss, USF's third in a row, evens the team's record at 9-9 overall and 3-5 in the West Coast Conference while the Waves improve to 11-7 and 4-3 in league play.
 
Lamond Murray, Jr. led all Pepperdine scorers with 27 points while Jeremy Major added 20. Stacy Davis (12), Jett Raines (11) and Amadi Udenyi (10) also reached double figures for the Waves, which snapped a seven-game losing streak to USF dating back to the 2009-10 season. 
Boyce and Watson were the only two Dons that managed to score in double figures. Tim Derksen suffered through a 3-of-12 shooting performance and finished with eight points while Chase Foster and Dont'e Reynolds added seven each.
 
Pepperdine made eight of their first 10 three-point attempts and finished the game shooting 55.6 percent (10-for-18) from distance, while the Dons managed to make 7-of-22 of their long distance attempts. USF's last three opponents have combined to make 37 three-pointers in the Dons' current losing streak.
 
The Waves also took advantage of 28 free throws compared to USF, which made just 13-of-21 of its attempts. The teams were even on the boards.
 
USF never led in the game and trailed at halftime 51-28, as the Waves shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the first period, including 8-of-12 from distance. Pepperdine never trailed by fewer than 11 points after the 13:52 mark of the first half and opened up as much as a 31-point lead with 16:51 remaining in the game.
 
The Dons could draw no closer than 12 points with :21 left in the game.
 
USF managed to score 36 points in the game's final 10:38 to go over the 80-point mark for sixth time in seven games and are averaging 89 points during that stretch. However, the Dons have allowed 89.2 points a game during their last seven contests.
 
"We have some work to do defensively," said head coach Rex Walters. "They (Pepperdine) had a sense of urgency today and we didn't. They had some focus that we lacked. We don't have that unity we need right now. Some might get fooled that making shots equals good play. We're making a lot of shots but we still have a lot of work to do.
 
"We weren't the tougher team by any means. We can't be a team that gives up 90 points a game."
 
USF will return to action on Thursday night when the Dons travel south to meet the Santa Clara Broncos at the Leavey Center. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m.