SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Following two victories to open the season last week, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (3-0) returned to the hardwood in a big way on Wednesday night as the Dons coasted to an 84-54 victory against Long Beach State (1-2) at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Wasting no time to start the contest, Marcus Williams opened the ballgame with a downtown hit followed by an and-one from Malik Thomas to give San Francisco an early 6-0 advantage at 16:52.
- Two TJ Wainwright free throws put Long Beach State on the board, but the Dons quickly strung together 10 unanswered points, capped off by a Jason Rivera-Torres dunk, to take a 16-2 lead with 11 minutes to play in the first half.
- Without a field goal through the first nine minutes of play, back-to-back baskets from Cam Denson and Andrew Nagy helped the Beach cut their deficit to 16-7, but Thomas and Ndewedo Newbury scored six straight for USF to push the lead back up to 15, 22-7, at 8:30.
- Narrowing the gap, LBSU put together an 11-4 spurt, including three shots from Devin Askew, but Long Beach State still trailed, 26-18, at 5:31.
- Rebuilding the lead for the green and gold, a Carlton Linguard Jr. transition layup, Williams three-pointer and a James O'Donnell bucket put the Dons back up 15, 33-18, with under four minutes remaining in the half.
- Closing out the first twenty minutes of action, Askew and Wainwright scored six of the final nine points of the period as San Francisco headed into the break with a 36-24 advantage.
- In the first two minutes of the second half, Newbury set up a Tyrone Riley IV layup for the first score of the period, then hit a three and a layup of his own, as the Dons grew their lead to 15 again, 43-28.
- Four Dons scored over the next five minutes, including an O'Donnell layup off a Newbury steal, to build the USF lead to 20, 52-32, with 13:15 remaining.
- Putting the ballgame out of reach, San Francisco reeled off a 15-2 burst, including the first two baskets of the season for Junjie Wang, to take a 71-40 lead with 7:20 to play.
- San Francisco maintained the wide gap to close out the contest, including eight points and two threes from Riley IV, to secure the 84-54 victory over Long Beach State.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Seeing another balanced effort, San Francisco saw five players score in double figures for the second consecutive game as the Dons were led by reigning WCC Player of the Week Malik Thomas, who finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
- Riley IV continued his stellar start to his freshman season, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and 2-of-2 from distance for 14 points. The reigning WCC Freshman of the Week is now shooting 62.5 percent (20-for-32) from the field to begin his collegiate career.
- Rivera-Torres led all bench players with 12 points and a career-high four assists. The New York native is shooting a team-best 64.3 percent (9-of-14) on the season through his first three games in the green and gold.
- Capping off the double-digit scorers, Williams and Newbury had 11 and 10 points on the night, respectively, to combine for four of San Francisco's seven threes. Notably, Williams led the Dons with a +31 mark in 24 minutes of action.
- Nearing a double-double, Linguard Jr. put up eight points and a game-high seven rebounds.
POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
San Francisco will close out a season-opening homestand on Saturday night as the Dons are set to host Chicago State for a 7:00 p.m. matchup at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. The game will stream live on ESPN+ with Barry Tompkins and Ben Braun on the call as well as on KNBR 1050 with Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli on the call. Live streaming, radio, live statistics and ticket links are available via the
team's schedule page.
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons
@USFDonsMBB on Twitter,
@USFDonsMBB on Instagram and
@USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today!
Click here to purchase.
SPONSOR US:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor -
Park 'N Fly - for their continued support of San Francisco Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact
Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.
