Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. - Fighting hard throughout the contest, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (20-7, 10-4 WCC) was unable to squeeze out a victory in the Kennel on Thursday night as the Dons fell to Gonzaga (19-7, 10-3 WCC), 88-77, at McCarthey Athletic Center.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Quick to catch fire, Malik Thomas scored the game's first seven points, including two made threes, to give the Dons an early 7-0 lead four minutes into the contest.
- Gonzaga wasted no time to take control with a 17-9 run, with eight points coming from Ryan Nembhard, to give the Bulldogs a 17-16 advantage with 11:27 remaining.
- USF countered with a 7-0 burst courtesy of buckets from Thomas, Ryan Beasley and Tyrone Riley IV to put the Dons up 23-17 with nine minutes to play in the half.
- The Bulldogs tied the score at 25, but the green and gold would not falter as the Dons regained a six-point lead, 36-30, heading into the four-minute media timeout.
- Ending the first half, a Michael Ajayi tip-in buzzer beater capped off an 8-2 spurt by Gonzaga to even up the game at 38-38 going into halftime.
- Coming out of the break, Gonzaga promptly took control of the ballgame by building a 54-44 lead through the first four and a half minutes of the second period.
- San Francisco could not penetrate Gonzaga's lead as the Bulldogs ballooned their advantage to as much as 13 in the second half, up 76-63 with 3:55 remaining.
- Trimming the deficit, a Thomas four-point play and Carlton Linguard Jr.'s first made three of the night brought the Dons within two possessions, 76-70, with three minutes to play.
- The final push was not enough for San Francisco as the green and gold were unable to get the deficit below six points down the stretch as Gonzaga hung on to take down the Dons, 88-77.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Thomas led the way for the Dons with 26 points on four made three-pointers and 8-of-10 shooting from the foul line, his highest scoring output since Jan. 4 (34 points at Washington State).
- Extending his double figure scoring stretch, Beasley scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor in 26 minutes off the bench, reaching double-digit scoring for a fifth straight game.
- Rounding out the double figure scorers, Riley IV and Linguard Jr. scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, combining for 11 rebounds and shooting 7-of-15 from the field.
- Marcus Williams dished out a team-high eight assists against the Bulldogs, tying his season-high.
POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
San Francisco will close out a three-game road stretch this weekend as the Dons will head to San Diego for a matchup with the Toreros on Saturday evening. Tipoff from Jenny Craig Pavilion is scheduled for 7:00 pm as Jack Cronin and Johnny Dee will have the call on ESPN+ while Pat Olson will have the call live on KNBR. Live streaming, radio, and live statistics links are available via
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 -
Planet Orange - 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.
