A Look Back at Last Night
12/6/2018 10:34:00 AM | Men's Basketball
First off: It has to be noted that the Dons 8-1 start is the best since the 1999-00 team. That season the Dons dropped the season opener on the road to Maryland 71-61 at the Preseason NIT. Following that, under former head coach Phil Matthews, the Dons rattled off 12-straight wins to enter WCC play 12-1. Thank you to Pat Olson, the voice of the Dons, and Ryan McCrary of the WCC for the note.
The Dons' 19 point win over the Golden Bears was the second largest road win by margin of victory in the series history for USF. The record was set on Dec. 3, 1976 when Haas was known as Harmon Gym. The 10th ranked Dons defeated Cal 93-70 that day. Wednesday's win is the third largest win in the series home or away, second all-time was accomplished by Bill Russell and K.C. Jones when they defeated the Bears 84-62 on Jan. 29, 1955.
With the win, USF is now 31-46 all-time against the Bears. Against the Pac-12 the Dons are now 73-88 against the Pac-12. Under head coach Kyle Smith, USF is 2-2 against the Pac-12, the last win against a Pac-12 team came on Dec. 22, 2016 when the Dons defeated Utah in the Diamondhead Classic.
In the pregame shoot around at Haas yesterday afternoon, Dan Belluomini, former USF player and head coach who served as the analyst for the Pac-12 Network's coverage of the game last night, was talking to head coach Kyle Smith. Belluomini said the Dons backcourt trio of Frankie Ferrari, Charles Minlend and Jordan Ratinho is the best he's seen for USF since the Dons boasted a guard trio of Phil Smith, Mike Quick and John Boro on the 1972-73 team. High praise considering that two of the three players mentioned (Smith and Quick) are in the USF Hall of Fame.
Following the win, the Dons moved up seven spots to 53rd in the KenPom.com standings, the highest USF has ever been in the history of the basketball analytical site. USF's adjusted defensive efficiency (key stat for the NET) is 94.5 which is 29th best in the nation.
FYI: The Dons get another crack at a Pac-12 foe on Dec. 22 when Stanford comes to the Hilltop. As of this morning, there are less than 20 lower bowl seats left and less than 500 seats overall.
Now for some highlights from yesterday:
Sports Illustrated on Frankie Ferrari and his in-game snacking habits:
No one in college hoops has as much swagger as San Francisco's Frankie Ferrari https://t.co/iDctLfP58i
— SI College Hoops (@si_ncaabb) December 6, 2018
Charles Minlend with the elevation:
Aside from the video of @FrankieFerrari2's midgame snack that's circulating the Twitterverse - here's another highlight from last night's win over Cal. @CminlendJr. Goodness. 😳#changemakers | #USFDons | #WCCHoops | #TopPlayTuesday pic.twitter.com/aIup5oy74A
— USF Basketball (@USFDonsMBB) December 6, 2018
What they are saying about the win:
From the SF Examiner:
Last night, @USFDonsMBB looked every bit a Tournament team as they blasted #Cal at Haas Pavilion: https://t.co/Q0DyXhvDLX
— SF Examiner Sports (@sfexsports) December 6, 2018
Via Rusty Simmons and the Chronicle:
USF men use experience to rout Cal at Haas Pavilion https://t.co/HuYO6FBEMM
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) December 6, 2018
From Dave Miller College Basketball Analyst:
HUGE win for @USFDonsMBB and @WCChoops A good team ALWAYS takes on the personality of their coach! SMITH is a competitive guy and a WINNER on and off the court! WCC play is going to be lots of FUN this season!
— Dave Miller (@coachdavemiller) December 6, 2018
