LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Heading into the conference tournament as a top three seed for the first time since 2013-14, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (22-9, 11-5 WCC) will open its 2024 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Championship slate on Saturday night in a 9:30 p.m. quarterfinal game at Orleans Arena.

Airing live on ESPN2, the Dons will face the winner of Friday night's second round contest between 6-seed Portland (11-20, 5-11 WCC) and 7-seed LMU (12-18, 5-11 WCC).

GAME 32 INFORMATION:
Date: Saturday, Mar. 9, 2024
Time: 9:30 p.m. PST
Opponent: 6-seed Portland (11-20, 5-11 WCC) or 7-seed LMU (12-18, 5-11 WCC)
Site: Orleans Arena
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Watch: ESPN2
Listen: KNBR 1050
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Single Session Tickets
 
DONS AT A GLANCE:

• San Francisco heads into Vegas looking to bounce back after dropping their final two regular season contests as the Dons fell to then-ranked No. 23/22 Gonzaga and Santa Clara last week.
• Despite the defeats, Ryan Beasley impressed for the green and gold in the final week of the season as the San Ramon native earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors for the third time this season on Monday, Mar. 4. Overall, the first-year guard averaged 16.0 points on 12-of-26 shooting in USF's two games last week.
• On Tuesday morning, the conference unveiled that five Dons earned All-WCC honors, highlighted by two All-WCC First Team selections in Jonathan Mogbo, who also won WCC Newcomer of the Year, and Marcus Williams. Additionally, Ryan Beasley was tabbed WCC Freshman of the Year and made the WCC All-Freshman Team while both Malik Thomas and Ndewedo Newbury were named Honorable Mentions.
• At the conclusion of regular season play, the Dons finished first in the WCC in conference play in free throw percentage (76.2), turnovers forced per game (12.9), and steals per game (7.88) while also ranking second in the league in points per game (79.0).
• Within WCC action, Mogbo finished regular season play as the only player in the league to average a double-double, tallying 15.6 points per contest (sixth in WCC) on 62.3 percent shooting (third in WCC) and a conference-high 10.4 rebounds per game. Williams and Thomas also finished as top 20 scorers in league play, averaging 13.6 points per game (13^th in WCC) and 13.3 points per game (15^th in WCC), respectively. Thomas also finished with the second-highest free throw percentage in WCC games, shooting 86.0 percent from the stripe. Defensively, Newbury owns the third-highest block average in the WCC at 1.3 blocks per game, and Beasley holds the conference's third-highest steal average at 1.5 steals per contest.
• A victory in the quarterfinals on Saturday would advance San Francisco to the semifinal round of the WCC Tournament for a third consecutive season.

SCOUTING THE PILOTS:

• Closing out the regular season, Portland squeezed out an overtime victory at home against Santa Clara, 80-75, last Thursday, Feb. 29 to end a five-game losing streak before outlasting LMU, 70-60, at Chiles Center on Saturday, Mar. 2. With their win over the Broncos, Portland clinched the tiebreaker over both the Lions and the Waves, which helped the Pilots earn the six seed in this year's WCC Tournament.
• Across Portland's wins last week, senior Tyler Robertson and sophomore Juan Sebaastian Gorosito led the way for the Pilots to clinch the sixth seed. Robertson averaged 24.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game on 18-of-39 shooting in the two victories while Gorosito averaged 20.5 points per game on 15-of-31 shooting.
• Earning WCC Freshman of the Week honors three times this season, Hayward native Tyler Harris led all WCC freshmen in minutes per game in conference play at 33.1 minutes per contest in addition to averaging 9.9 points (second among WCC freshman), 6.3 rebounds (second), 1.3 assists (fourth), and 0.6 steals (fourth) per game across conference action.
• Portland shoots from deep more than any other WCC team heading into the conference tournament as the Pilots led the league in three-point field goal makes (9.3) and attempts (26.1) per game during conference action.
• Set to face LMU in the second round on Friday night, the Pilots are looking to win a WCC Tournament game for a third consecutive season, having beaten San Diego in each of the last two years in the conference tournament (2023 - First Round, 2022 - Second Round).

SCOUTING THE LIONS:

• Ending its 2024 regular season, LMU trounced San Diego at home last Thursday, Feb. 29 in a 96-62 victory over the Toreros before falling to the Pilots by ten in Portland last Saturday, Mar. 2.
• With the Pilots taking the initial tiebreaker over the Lions and Pepperdine due to their record against higher-seeded teams, LMU took the final tiebreaker over Pepperdine via NCAA NET rankings to claim the seventh seed in the WCC Tournament.
• On Tuesday, senior Alex Merkviladze was also selected as an Honorable Mention as the forward has averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds (fourth in WCC) per game on 41/39/79 splits in conference action.
• In WCC play, the Lions have the most double-digit scorers in the conference with six players averaging over 10 points per game, led by redshirt junior Dominick Harris, who has averaged 14.0 points per game on 45.6 percent shooting from downtown in conference games.
• Heading into Friday night's second round matchup against Portland, LMU is looking for its first conference tournament win in two years, when the Lions took down Pacific, 86-66, in the first round of the 2022 WCC tournament.

SERIES HISTORY:

• If Portland beats LMU on Friday night, San Francisco will face Portland on Saturday for the 100^th time in program history as the Dons hold the all-time series lead, 69-30. The Dons took both games of the season series this year against the Pilots by an average margin of 19.5 points. USF would face Portland in the WCC Tournament for the first time in 2005, when the green and gold beat the Pilots, 65-60, in a first round game at Leavey Center in Santa Clara.
• If LMU beats Portland on Friday night, the Dons and Lions would face off on Saturday for their 170^th all-time meeting as USF currently holds a 120-49 lead in the all-time series. San Francisco swept this year's season series against LMU, taking both victories over the Lions by an average of 19.5 points. The Dons have won four consecutive games against LMU, with USF's last loss against the Lions coming in the second round of the 2021 WCC Tournament.

TRACK THE ACTION:
Saturday's WCC Tournament quarterfinal will air live on ESPN 2 with Dave Flemming and Corey Williams on the call from Orleans Arena. The contest will also air live on KNBR 1050 with Pat Olsen and Jim Brovelli on the call. Live streaming, radio and live statistics links are available above and 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 THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - Toyota - for their continued support of USF 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.