The University of San Francisco men's basketball team has new life as they begin the post season on Thursday.  The Dons travel to the Orleans Arena where they will face the No. 9 seed San Diego in the first round of the UCU West Coast Conference Tournament.  The Dons and Toreros are slated to tip-off at 6:00 p.m. and will be streamed by Stadium.  Dave McCann and Blaine Fowler will handle the play-by-play duties on the TV side.  Pat Olson will have the Dons' radio call on the home of USF Dons Basketball, KNBR 1050-AM.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Mar. 4 – 6:00 p.m. PT
Opponent: San Diego Toreros (3-10)
Site: Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nev.)
TV: Stadium
Talent: Dave McCann (play-by-play); Blaine Fowler (analyst)
Radio:  KNBR 1050-AM
Talent: Pat Olson (play-by-play)
Live Stats: Statbroadcast.com
 
USF AT A GLANCE
• The Dons enter Thursday's game mired in a six-game losing streak. It is the longest losing streak since the Dons lost seven in a row in the 2007-08 season.  As a team, the Dons are averaging 71.9 points per game while shooting 42.5 percent from the field.  Their opponents are averaging 70.0 ppg and shooting 45.4 percent from the field.
 
• The Curse of the Two-Week Break: Prior to the Dons' pause for COVID USF was 10-8 averaging 73.3 points per game and shooting 43.5 percent from the field (36.3 from three).  After the break the Dons are 0-5 and averaging 66.8 points per game while shooting 38.7 percent from the field (25.2 percent from beyond the arc.)
 
• Three Earn All-Conference Honors: The Dons had three players earn All-WCC honors - Senior guard Jamaree Bouyea earned first team accolades with juniors Khalil Shabazz and Dzmitry Ryuny earning second team and honorable mention honors.
 
• Tournament Time:  Since 1987 the Dons are 20-33 all-time in the WCC Tournament.  Since the tournament shifted to Las Vegas in 2009 USF is 8-12.  As the No. 8 seed the Dons are 1-1. Against San Diego USF is 3-6.  In the first round the Dons are 9-11. Last season, USF went 2-1 as the No. 6 seed, knocking off Loyola Marymount and Pacific before falling to Gonzaga in the semi-finals 81-77.
 
• Rishwain Heating Up: The sophomore transfer from Boston College is catching fire - after back-to-back 20-point games he is averaging 13.8 ppg and shooting 54.8% over the last five contests.
 
•Bouyea With Back-to-Back 400 Point Seasons: With his 402 points senior guard Jamaree Bouyea has scored 400 or more points in back-to-back seasons.  In doing so, he joins Charles Minlend (2018-20), Frankie Ferrari (2017-19), Tim Derksen (2014-16), Kruize Pinkins (2013-15), and Cole Dickerson (2012-14) as the only players in the last 10 years to accomplish this feat.
 
• More on JB: In the loss at Pacific Jamaree Bouyea had his second career double-double.  Bouyea finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds - both figures led the Dons in the losing effort.  His last double-double game on Nov. 11, 2019 - a 84-79 overtime win over Yale.  In that game he had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
 
• Two Over 20: In the loss at Pacific the Dons had two players finish with 20+ points in the same contest with Jamaree Bouyea went for 22 and Julian Rishwain went for 21. The last time the Dons had two payers score 20+ in the same game came in the thrilling win over BYU on Jan. 25, 2020 when Khalil Shabazz had 32 and Bouyea had 23 in the Dons' 83-82 win over the Cougars.
 
• Struggles in Close Games:  USF is 3-10 this year in games decided by 10 or fewer points - but has lost seven-straight.  In those games the Dons are averaging 66.2 points per contest while shooting 39.8 percent from the field. Their opponents are averaging 70.4 ppg and shooting 48.8 percent from the field in those games.  This list does include the Dons thrilling 61-60 win over then No. 4 Virginia. 

Series vs. SAN DIEGO
Thursday will be the 86th time the Dons and Toreros square off.  All-time, USF owns a 44-41 advantage in the series that goes back to Nov. 28, 1980 when the Dons defeated the Toreros 78-63. The Dons are 2-3 against USD at a neutral site.  The two teams have met nine times in the WCC Tournament nine times with USF hosting the Toreros once and the Dons playing at Jenny Craig Pavilion three times, USF is 3-6 against USD in the WCC Tournament. The last time they faced in the WCC Tournament came in the quarterfinals in 2014 with #3 USF defeating the #6 Toreros 69-60.  In the regular season this year, USF was 1-0 against San Diego, defeating USD 70-62 at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Dec. 31, 2020.
 
About the TOREROS
The Toreros have played just 13 games this year due to various Covid pauses - they enter Thursday's game with 3-10 overall record and are 2-7 in their nine WCC games this season.  They have yet to play a neutral site game but went 3-5 in their games away from Jenny Craig Pavilion.  As a team, they average 67.4 points per game while shooting 42.2 percent from the field.  Their opponents are averaging 77.8 points per game and shooting 47.4 percent from the field.  They also have a big disadvantage on 3-point field goal percentage with their opponents shooting 39.0 percent from beyond the arc. On the glass, the Toreros are -5.8 in rebound margin and average 33.4 rebounds per game.  Two players average in double figures - leading the team in scoring is guard Joey Calcaterra at 13.8 points per contest.
 
Last Time Out Versus SAN DIEGO
The Dons found themselves trailing at home by 10 late the first half thanks to gritty play by visiting San Diego. However, USF was able to erase that lead thanks to the strong play by senior guard Jamaree Bouyea who took over in the second half, leading the Dons to a 70-62 win on Thursday afternoon.
 
In the opening half, USF looked more like the team that had played just four games.  The Dons went cold midway through the first half and the Toreros capitalized going on a 15-2 run taking a 27-17 lead with 4:20 to play in the period. 
 
After trailing 31-30 at halftime, the Dons played much better basketball overall. A big part of that was the play by Bouyea.  He led all scorers with a game-high 24 points, 18 coming in the second half.