SAN FRANCISCO — Four members of the University of San Francisco men's basketball team finished in double-figures with Matt McCarthy setting the tone with a career-high of 20 points as the Dons (17-3, 5-1 WCC) dominated against the Portland Pilots (7-14, 0-6 WCC), 83-61, Thursday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

McCarthy's strong finish in the paint at the 7:30 minute mark, set the new career-mark of 20 points, shooting a stunning 90.0 percent from the field and grabbed five rebounds in 20 minutes of play. Frankie Ferrari recorded 18 points to go with four assists, his 14th game scoring in double-digit points this season. Nate Renfro and Charles Minlend offered 10 points apiece, with both players pulling down five boards.

Holding on to a big lead midway through the first half, the Dons defense held the Pilots to 2-for-14 from the field over the final four minutes.  For the half, Portland shot just 29.0 percent going 9-for-31 overall from the field. It was Minlend's and McCarthy's two-hand slams, Jamaree Bouyea's dagger from beyond the arc and Ferrari's back-to-back layups that closed out the half with the Dons up 42-21. McCarthy piloted the offense with 12 points, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. USF dominated the paint making 28 of its first half points in the paint and 20 coming from the bench.

Out of the break, USF's senior guard got it going early, connecting on four-straight 3-point field goals.  Once again, Ferrari scored a bulk of his points after the intermission, scoring 12 of his 18 in the final 20 minutes of work.  The last of his 3-point field goals coming with 14:32 in the second half to put USF up 30, 58-28 and the route was on.

GAME NOTES

• USF's 17-3 start through 20 games is the best since the era of Cartwright, Boynes, Redmond, Hardy, and Cox who helped guide on the 1976-77 to a 20-0 start.  This year's squad is the ninth team in USF history to start the year 17-3 or better through the first 20 games, the eight other teams all advanced to the postseason, with six going to the NCAA Tournament.
• USF's 5-1 start through six games is the best start in WCC play since USF started the year 5-1 in 1981-82.  That season the Dons finished 11-3 in the old WCAC en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
• The Dons have scored 82 points in back-to-back games, and it is the seventh time this season they've scored 80 or more.  The Dons improve to 47-13 when they score 70 or more in the Kyle Smith era.   
• You aren't imagining things, Frankie Ferrari does get better as the game wears on.  Ferrari is second on the team in points per game at 14.0 ppg, in the first half he averages 5.5 in the second he's averaging 8.6.  
• The Dons continue to shoot well, for the second game in a row and eighth time this season USF shot better than 50.0 percent from the field.  USF is 7-1 when they shoot 50.0 or better this season, their lone loss came at the hands of Buffalo.

UP NEXT
The Dons will return to action on Saturday when they begin a crucial three-game road trip starting in San Diego.  The Dons and Toreros will tip off at 7:00 p.m. live from the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game will be streamed live on TheW.tv with Dave Friedman and Dave Miller calling the game live.