SANTA CLARA, Calif. – This summer, University of San Francisco men's basketball senior center Jimbo Lull made the mountains and closed ski resorts of New Hampshire his own personal training grounds. "Everybody wants to be the guy," said Lull. "I always train like I've got to be the guy."
 
Knowing he'd be the Dons' primary option down low, he woke up every morning and would climb mountains to work on his conditioning. Sometimes, he'd wear a weight vest and climb the same mountain twice in one day. 
 
For the past month, with San Francisco in the middle of a grueling conference schedule, Lull has been the Dons' most consistent player, averaging 12 points and seven rebounds. On Thursday, he turned in his fourth double-double of the season as San Francisco erased an eight-point first-half deficit, held Santa Clara scoreless for nearly 11 minutes and broke a three-game losing streak, sweeping the rival Broncos with an emphatic 70-61 win.
 
"He was huge tonight," head coach Todd Golden said of Lull, who added two steals and two blocks. "For us to play our best basketball, he needs to perform … That was a first-team, all-league performance."
 
Lull was one of four Dons in double figures, scoring 16 and pulling down a season-high 14 rebounds, joining Charles Minlend (11), Jamaree Bouyea (17) and Dzmitry Ryuny (10).
 
While San Francisco (17-10, 6-6 in WCC) got a well-rounded scoring effort, they struggled early against the Broncos, who rank 34th in the nation in pace of play. When the Dons couldn't shoot to start the game — going down by eight and hitting just one of their first five 3-pointers — they went inside to Lull.
 
The seven-foot senior poured in 12 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting as the Dons scored 18 of their first 23 in the paint.
 
"Part of our game plan is to get the ball inside," Lull said. "I can't do what I do unless the guys throw me the ball."
 
It was Lull's steady presence in the low post against freshman center Jaden Bediako that allowed San Francisco to reel off a 20-4 run to end the first half, turning their eight-point deficit into a 36-27 lead.
 
The Dons did it through defense, holding Santa Clara (18-8, 5-6) to 0-for-9 from the field over the final 8:03 of the first half and forcing three turnovers. That slump extended into the first three minutes of the second, as the Dons' lead ballooned to 40-29 at the 17-minute mark.
 
San Francisco used Herb Sendek's strength against him, turning tenacious defense into transition offense. They denied the 3-point line (the Broncos were 0-for-5 over the first 32 minutes) and forced bad shots, picking the ball off the rim and getting out to run. San Francisco's quickness and physicality in the lane — with Minlend, Bouyea and Shabazz finishing in the paint — kept Santa Clara from finding its own defensive rhythm. 
 
Lull grabbed his 10th rebound with 13 minutes to go against Bediako, and the Dons soon went up by as many as 12, but Santa Clara found its transition game to pull to within five. 
 
San Francisco and the Broncos traded 3-pointers with six minutes to go, before Lull took a foul from Bediako on a second-chance attempt under the basket.
 
Just two minutes earlier, Lull had taken a scary fall when he was undercut by Keshawn Justice going to the basket, and missed the ensuing free throw. After he took the foul from Bediako, Lull — a 75% career free-throw shooter — gnawed on his mouth guard as he drained both freebies with five minutes left in regulation. 
 
"It was huge, because it never got down to one possession," Golden said. "It was never super, super, super tight, and it allowed us to play free. Between him and Jamaree really making big-time plays."
 
After a Minlend three, Lull took a feed from Bouyea — one of his game-high seven assists on the night — and dropped it in to give the Dons a 12-point lead once again. A layup by Bouyea grew it to 14 — the largest margin of the night.

"We knew they were going to make a run," Golden said. "It was going to be dependent upon us holding them at bay and not letting them get back in the lead. On the road, it's really hard to do that, especially against a team that you're vying for tournament seeding against. It was a really, really good win for us."
 
"We don't fold," Lull said. "We fight 'til the end. Everybody knew we had to stay strong."
 

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The Dons will be off on Saturday, they will return to action on Thursday the 20^th when they travel to Spokane to take on the second ranked Bulldogs at the McCarthy Center.  The game between the Dons and Bulldogs is slated for a 8:00 p.m. tipoff and will be televised on ESPNU.

USF's next home game takes place on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3:00 p.m. when the Dons host Pepperdine. It will be part of a Saturday doubleheader with the women who take on BYU at Noon.  Tickets for next Thursday's game at available at USFDons.com/mbbtix  

Please mark your calendars for the Hall of Fame Dinner on February 21st at 6:30 PM in the McClaren Conference Center on USF's campus. We will honor our Dons of the Year, Kevin and Susan Hanley, as well as our inductees that include Dior Lowhorn (men's basketball, 2010), Joy Boyenga (women's basketball, 1992), and Kyle Zimmer (baseball, 2012). Tickets are available now at usfdons.com/halloffame.