Game Highlights and Interviews

SAN FRANCISCO – Tim Derksen's 18 points led four Dons in double figures as USF posted a wire-to-wire, 68-51 victory over San Diego Saturday afternoon in War Memorial at The Sobrato Center.
 
The win improves USF's record to 14-11 overall, matching the team's win total from a year ago, and 7-7 in WCC play. San Diego falls to 8-17 and 3-11 in conference action.
 
Ronnie Boyce went 3-for-3 from the field and added 14 points while Devin Watson and Uche Ofoegbu chipped in with 11 each. Dont'e Reynolds pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with nine points.
 
Olin Carter III led San Diego with 11 points.

One game after allowing BYU to score 114 points, the Dons held the Toreros to the second-lowest scoring total by an opponent this season.
 
USF came out inspired to wash away any bad taste that still might be lingering following Thursday night's 25-point home loss to BYU. The Dons jumped on the Toreros quickly, scoring the first 10 points of the game before San Diego finally got on the board 4:35 into the game.
 
USF led by as many as 17 points at 31-14 in the first half before taking a 14 point advantage into intermission.
 
The Dons increased their lead to 19 points at 38-19 following a three-pointer by Watson with 16:32 remaining. The Toreros did not go down quietly, however, as San Diego went on a 18-5 run to cut USF's lead down to six at 43-37 with 11:51 left.
 
Three-pointers by Derksen and Watson keyed a 10-0 USF run that pushed the Dons lead back to 16 at 53-37 with 10:16 left.
 
San Diego could draw no closer than 12 points down the stretch as USF completed the season sweep of the Toreros with the 17-point victory.
 
"I thought we were really locked in defensively in the first half," said head coach Rex Walters. "I thought Tim's (Derksen) effort and commitment really set the tone for us all game. Uche (Ofoegbu) was really good defensively and Dont'e Reynolds played with high energy all night. Our guards didn't have their best game but they definitely gave us enough to get the win."
 
USF's next three games will be on the road, starting with Thursday night's contest at Pepperdine, the team that sits immediately in front of the Dons in the WCC standings. The trip will wrap up with an afternoon game Saturday at Loyola Marymount.
 
Walters knows these next two weeks are pivotal to build momentum for what will be hopefully be a long run at the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas.
 
"The big question is how hard we are going to push ourselves over these next two weeks leading up to Las Vegas. We have to grind out every possession. I didn't think our energy was great at the start of the second half but we managed to work through it."