Dons Advance to First Postseason Finals Appearance Since 1956

Thursday, March 22

San Francisco

7:00 p.m.

University of San Francisco

21-15

Campbell

18-16

Team	1	2	F
Campbell	37	25	62
San Francisco	39	26	65

Matt-McCarthy-USF-Dons-Mens-Basketball-freethrow-vs-Campbell

Photo by: Christina Leung

Dons Advance to First Postseason Finals Appearance Since 1956

3/22/2018 10:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SAN FRANCISCO – For the first time since the 1956 NCAA Tournament, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team is in a postseason tournament final. The Dons advanced to the College Basketball Invitational finals with a 65-62 win over visiting Campbell on Thursday evening at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

USF (21-15) led by as much as nine late in the second half and received several tremendous individual performances, however it was the collective defensive effort that stood out. The Dons held Campbell (18-16) to 62 points, 14 points below their season average. They also held Chris Clemson, the nation's fourth leading scorer, to a quiet 18 points. Well below his season average.

The Dons had four players finish in double figures, leading the team was guard Frankie Ferrari who scored a game-high 18 points, he was followed by Matt McCarthy's 15, while Chase Foster and Jordan Ratinho both added 12.

After missing his first field goal attempt, Ferrari got hot in a hurry going 6-for-6 in his next six attempts, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. He finished the night going 7-for-15 from the field, while dishing out a game-high six assists.

McCarthy absolutely owned the key. The Don's center scored 11 of his 15 points after the intermission and recorded his third double-double of the year, second on the CBI, after grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds.

GAME NOTES

The Dons have improved to 15-6 at War Memorial at the Sobrato this season, it is the most home wins in a season for the Dons since they went 16-8 in 1995-96. The best record ever was in 1980-81 when USF was a perfect 18-0 at home.
The last time the Dons were in a semifinal game in a postseason tournament was in 1957 when the Dons lost to Kansas 80-56 in the Final Four, USF went on to defeat Michigan State 67-60 in the consolation game that year.
At 21-15 the Dons are six games over .500 for the first time this season.
The Dons improve to 10-5 when committing more turnovers than their opponent. USF had 16 on the night.
USF also improved to 17-2 when leading at the intermission and 19-2 when leading with five minutes to play.

NEXT UP
The Dons will begin a home and away best of three series with North Texas on Monday. The Mean Green will make the trip to War Memorial with the game slated for a 7:00 p.m. tip. It will be televised live on ESPNU. The series will resume on Wednesday in Denton, Texas.