Game 26
San Francisco Dons (14-11, 7-7 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (16-10, 9-6 WCC)
Thursday,  Feb. 18, 2016 • 7:00 p.m.
Firestone Fieldhouse • Malibu, Calif.
Series Record: USF 74-51
Last Meeting: Jan. 16, 2016 (Pepperdine 98-84)
Audio Stream: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: CSNBA (Steve Quis, Play-by-Play; Doug Christie, Analyst; Kelli Tennant, Sidelines)
Live Stats: GameTracker

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

Opening Tip
USF (14-12, 7-7 WCC) begins its Southern California road swing Thursday night in Malibu against the Pepperdine Waves (16-10, 9-6 WCC). Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse. The game will be televised in the Bay Area on CSNBA with Steve Quis, Doug Christie and Kelli Tennant calling the action from courtside. The Dons are coming off a 68-51 victory over San Diego last Saturday while the Waves picked up a 65-63 overtime win at Pacific. With the Waves and Dons currently holding the fourth and fifth positions in the WCC standings, tonight's game could be a possible prelude to a first round matchup at the WCC Championships in Las Vegas.

USF at a Glance

• Now 14-11 overall and 7-7 in the WCC after Saturday's 68-51 home victory over San Diego...are 5-2 over last seven games and have matched last year's win total with at least five games remaining.
• Enter Thursday's game alone in fifth place in the WCC standings behind fourth place Pepperdine (16-10; 9-6) and two games ahead of Santa Clara (9-17, 5-9), Portland (11-16, 5-9) and Pacific (7-17, 5-9).
• Play the next three games on the road beginning with Thursday's contest at Pepperdine...are 4-5 on the road this season and 17-11 in last 28 WCC road conference games dating back to 2012-13.
• Boast a 29-16 (.644) record in February since the 2009-10 campaign...went 4-3 last February and after back-to-back 5-2 marks in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
• Dropped a 98-84 decision to Pepperdine earlier this season after winning seven straight and nine out of 10 in the series...have won three straight games against the Waves in Malibu.
• Are averaging 84.0 points per game (1171 total) over the last 14 games...rank fourth in WCC scoring at 77.3 ppg...on pace to become highest scoring team by average since 1993-94 (88.9).
• Allowing 77.5 points a game, including 83.8 ppg to WCC foes...held San Diego to 51 points on Saturday after allowing 114 points in its previous game against BYU - a swing of 63 points.
• Rallied from deficits of 19 (Pacific) and 15 (Portland, Santa Clara) points in three of six conference wins.
• Of the Dons 13 wins this season, six have been by a combined total of 22 points...were 1-4 in games decided by five points or fewer last season.
• Have trailed at halftime in 16 of its 25 games this season and are 6-9 in those contests...are being outscored 931-852 and shooting 41.6 in the first half compared to the second when the Dons are outscoring the opponent 1045-969 and shooting 46.7 percent from the floor after intermission.
• Sophomore point guard Devin Watson ranks second in the WCC and 31st nationally in scoring average at 19.8 ppg...he has scored in double-figures in 24 of 25 games this season including 14 games of at least 20-points...he also ranks as the seventh-highest scoring sophomore in the nation.
• Senior guard Tim Derksen ranks ninth in the WCC in scoring (16.0), eighth in rebounding (6.6) and fourth in three-point percentage (43.8)...joins Kyle Wiltjer of Gonzaga as the only player to rank in the top-10 in all three of those categories.
• The duo of Watson and Derksen is averaging 35.8 ppg (896 total) and account for 46.3 percent of USF's season point total (896 of 1932)...they are the second-highest scoring tandem by average in the WCC behind Kyle Wiltjer-Domantas Sabonis (1003; 38.5) of Gonzaga.
• Junior Ronnie Boyce has scored in double figures in 12 of 14 WCC games and is averaging 15.9 ppg in conference play....USF is averaging 84.3 points per game (1012 total) in Boyce's 12 starts this season.
• Wrap up the trip Saturday afternoon at Loyola Marymount...meet Pacific next Thursday in Stockton.

The Matchup

About Pepperdine
Now 16-10 overall and 9-6 in the West Coast Conference…holding onto fourth place in the conference standings…won a pair of road games last week, defeating Saint Mary's, 69-63 and Pacific, 65-63 in overtime…have conference wins over Saint Mary's and BYU but have also absorbed losses to Santa Clara and Portland…led in scoring by Lamond Murray Jr., who is averaging 15.8 points a game…he scored 20 points in the Waves overtime win at Pacific on Saturday…Stacy Davis ranks second in the WCC in rebounding with a 8.7 per game mark…he has 1,693 career points and needed just 12 to tie Dane Suttle as the school's all-time leading scorer.

Series History with Pepperdine
In a series that dates back to the 1955-56 season, USF leads the all-time series with Pepperdine, 74-51. Pepperdine claimed the first meeting between the two schools, 98-84 on Jan. 16 in San Francisco, snapping USF's seven-game winning streak in the series. The Dons have won seven of eight, nine out of 11 and 10 of the last 13 meetings with the Waves dating back to the 2009-10 season.  USF has won three straight over the Waves in Malibu. The two schools have met seven times in the WCC Championship tournament, with the Pepperdine holding a 6-1 advantage.

First Meeting With Pepperdine 
Ronnie Boyce scored a career-high 25 points while Devin Watson added 21 but USF dropped a 98-84 decision to Pepperdine on Jan. 16 in War Memorial at The Sobrato Center. Lamond Murray, Jr. led all Pepperdine scorers with 29 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. Pepperdine made eight of their first 10 three-point attempts and finished the game shooting 55.6 percent (10-for-18) from distance. The Waves also took advantage of 28 free throws compared to USF, which made just 13-of-21 of its attempts. 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's lead was never fewer than 11 points after the 13:52 mark of the first half and the Waves 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.

Dons' Notebook

The Record
At 14-11, USF has matched its win total from a year ago when the Dons finished 14-18 overall and 7-11 in the WCC. USF is five games ahead of its pace of last season, when the Dons were 9-16 at 25 game mark. At 7-7 in the WCC, the Dons are four games ahead of last year's conference pace when USF was 3-11 after 14 conference games. Enter Thursday's game in fifth place in the WCC standings.

What's Left
Following Thursday's game at Pepperdine, USF will play road games at Loyola Marymount (Feb. 20) and Pacific (Feb. 25) before wrapping up the regular season at home against Saint Mary's (Feb. 27). The Dons are combined 1-2 against those teams this season.

The Road Record
USF is 4-5 on the road this season but boast a 17-11 in last 28 WCC road conference games dating back to 2012-13. The Dons are averaging 69.5 points a game and shooting 39.5 percent from the field away from home this season compared to 81.7 ppg and 46.4 shooting in 16 games on the Hilltop.

Fabulous in February
USF boasts a 29-16 (.644) record in the month of February dating back to the 2009-10 season. The Dons went 4-3 last February after posting back-to-back 5-2 marks in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

The Lineups
The quintet of Devin Watson-Ronnie Boyce-Tim Derksen-Uche Ofoegbu and Dont'e Reynolds has been intact for nine consecutive games and 12 total of the season, giving the Dons four players no taller than 6-foot-4 in the starting five. USF is averaging 84.3 points per game (1012 total) in Boyce's 12 starts this season. A total of eight players have drawn starts this season with Devin Watson, Tim Derksen and Dont'e Reynolds holding their sports of all 25 games. Nate Renfro (10), Chase Foster (11), Ronnie Boyce (12) and Montray Clemons (1) have also earned starts this season.

The Comebacks
USF has erased sizeable deficits in three of its five conference wins this season. Against Pacific, the Dons rallied from a 19-point deficit (43-24; 3:35 1st) to post a 89-76 victory over the Tigers. On New Year's Eve, USF rallied from a 15-point, 81-66 deficit to defeat Portland, 107-95. Last Thursday at Santa Clara, the Dons spotted the Broncos a 13-2 lead out out of the gates and trailed by as many as 15 points (26-11) before rallying for a 74-61 victory. USF has faced deficits of at least 10 points in 12 of 22 games this season, including eight of 11 conference games

The Wins and Losses
Of the 14 victories, six have been by a combined total of 23 points (78-75 at Illinois-Chicago; 58-57 vs. UC Riverside; 65-61 CSUN; 96-93 vs. Coppin State; 73-65 at San Diego; 89-86 vs. Santa Clara). USF erased a 19-point deficit to defeat Pacific and rallied from 15 down to defeat both Portland and Santa Clara. The Dons never led in losses to Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, Montana, Saint Mary's, Pepperdine or Gonzaga and led for only briefly in losses to Eastern Washington and BYU. USF squandered a 16-point lead with 8:49 left to play before falling to Gonzaga at home, 102-94 in overtime and dropped games to BYU and LMU when those two teams combined to make 44 three-pointers. 

Non-Conference vs. Conference Opponents
In 11 non-conference games this season, USF averaged 73.0 points and shot 47.5 percent from the floor, including 32.2 percent from distance. In 14 WCC games, the Dons are averaging 80.6 ppg and shooting 43.6 from the floor, including 37.1 percent from beyond the arc. USF allowed just 69.5 ppg to its non-conference foes but are yielding 83.8 ppg in conference action.

The Half of It
USF has trailed at haftime in 15 of 25 games and is 6-9 in those contests. The Dons have been outscored 931-852 while shooting 41.6 from the floor over the first 20 minutes of games this season compared to after intermission when USF is outscoring the opposition 1045-969 and shooting 46.7 percent from the floor.

Watson Ranks 31st Nationally in Scoring
Sophomore point guard Devin Watson is averaging 19.8 points a game, which ranks second in the WCC and 31st nationally among all Division I players. He is the seventh-highest scoring sophomore in the nation. The last USF player to win a conference scoring title was Dior Lowhorn who averaged 20.1 pgg in 2008-09. Watson has been in double-figures in 24 of 25 games this season, including 14 games of at least 20 points (24 at Fresno State; 27 vs. UC Riverside; 25 vs. Eastern Washington; 31 vs. Coppin State; 23 vs. Pacific; 22 vs. Portland; 33 vs. Gonzaga; 25 at BYU; 20 LMU; 21 vs. Pepperdine; 22 at Santa Clara; 20 vs. Menlo; 24 vs. Santa Clara; 29 vs. BYU).

Sharing the Wealth
The Dons are 9-2 this season when at least four players score in double figures, with the only losses coming against Gonzaga and BYU.

RBIII Heating Up
Junior Ronnie Boyce III has scored in double figures in 12 of 14 conference games and is averaging 15.9 ppg against WCC foes this season. He has scored 20 or more points in five games this season, including a career-high 25 points vs. Pepperdine. Boyce scored in double figures in each of the first two games of the season vs. Illinois-Chicago (13) and Rice (11), but scored just six points over his five appearances before this recent stretch. He made his first career start against Pacific on Dec. 23.

No Rest for the Weary
Devin Watson (4th; 34.4) and Tim Derksen (9th; 31.8) both rank in the top-10 among all WCC players in minutes played. Derksen has logged 3,171 minutes over his career, which ranks seventh on USF's all-time career list. At his present rate, Derksen will move into USF's top-5 for minutes played at year's end.

Derksen 15th on USF's All-Time Scoring List
With 1,330 career points, senior Tim Derksen ranks 15th on USF's all-time scoring list and needs 46 more points to tie Mark McCathrion (1985-89) for 15th place. Here's a look at where Derksen ranks on USF's all-time scoring list...

USF's Career Scoring Leaders
13.    Pete Cross (1967-70)    1,415
14.    Mark McCathrion (1985-89)    1,376
15.    Tim Derksen (2012-Present)    1,330

For more news and notes on USF Basketball, click on the link.

Last Time Out 
Tim Derksen's 18 points led four Dons in double figures as USF posted a wire-to-wire, 68-51 victory over San Diego last Saturday in War Memorial at The Sobrato Center. 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. 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.

This Week in USF Basketball History
Feb. 20, 1976 – Chubby Cox dishes out a school-record 15 assists in an 81-70 loss at Seattle. Orlando Smart would later match the record on two occasions – Dec. 8, 1990 vs. Farleigh Dickerson and Feb. 23, 1991 at Portland.