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Dons vs Gonzaga
Christina Leung

Men's Basketball

Five Takeaways From Last Night

Five Takeaways From Last Night
 
 
SAN FRANCISCO — The Dons gave the No. 5 team in the country all it could handle Saturday night on national television in War Memorial at the Sobrato Center, but visiting Gonzaga came out on top in the waning minutes in front of a full house.
 
San Francisco still has plenty of positive things to take away from Saturday's game versus No. 5 Gonzaga. Here are five takeaways from the Dons' 96-83 defeat, their first loss in conference play:
 
  1. NET update – In the all-important NCAA Evaluation Tool, the Dons fell from 37th to 44th – not a steep fall. The WCC has two teams in the top-45, the Pac-12 only has one.  The Dons rank ahead of 11 of 12 teams from the Pac-12 Conference.
 
  1. According to Will Maupin of "Mid-Major Madness," the Dons scored 1.187 points per possession against Gonzaga. Only Duke, Creighton and North Carolina scored more against the Bulldogs. All three of those programs are likely NCAA Tournament teams.

    Saturday night was USF's sixth-most efficient night on offense, according to KenPom.com (more on that later). Combine Saturday's offense with the defense USF is capable of playing and that will continue to equal plenty of wins.
     
  2. KenPom.com's metrics liked what they saw Saturday. Following the Dons' tremendous effort, USF didn't fall at all in their standings and remained at 45th. The Pac-12 has three teams inside the Top-50.  According to the website, the Dons boast the 47th most efficient defense and 56th most efficient offense.
     
  3. The Dons stood toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs, and War Memorial at the Sobrato Center was rocking.  The final score showed a margin of 13 points, but the Dons led with less than five minutes to play and trailed by as much as 10 in the first half before knotting things up at 37 going into the locker room at half.

    Make no mistake, this Dons team is not afraid to compete with anyone.
     
  4. The national media is buying in. Even in defeat, many of college basketball's top media personalities lauded over the Dons' effort on Saturday evening.  Here is what they had to say:
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