LAS VEGAS, Nev. - With the game within reach throughout all 40 minutes, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (24-9, 13-5 WCC) was unable to overcome a late surge from Gonzaga (24-8, 14-4 WCC) on Monday night as the No. 2 Bulldogs bested the No. 3 Dons, 85-76, at Orleans Arena.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Continuing off last night's brilliant performance, Ryan Beasley connected on his first three shots of the night, scoring the first seven points of the night for San Francisco as the guard gave the Dons an early 7-2 advantage less than three minutes into the contest.
• Responding abruptly, Gonzaga scored eight unanswered points over the next three minutes, including five from Graham Ike, to take a 10-7 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half.
• The two teams went scoreless for the next three minutes, but Junjie Wang ended the drought with a dunk off an offensive rebound at 12:11. Shortly after, Tyrone Riley IV scored five quick points to give the Dons the lead back, 14-12, with 10:36 remaining.
• Gonzaga fired back with buckets from Michael Ajayi and Nolan Hickman, but Malik Thomas got on the board with an and-one and his first trey of the night to maintain the lead for USF, 20-19, with just under nine minutes to play in the first.
• Ajayi free throws and a Braden Huff layup put the Bulldogs back in front, 24-23, but it was short lived as Wang hit back-to-back threes to give the Dons a five-point lead, 29-24, with 4:22 left.
• A Khalif Battle layup trimmed the lead to three, but a tough Thomas step-back triple gave the green and gold its biggest lead of the first half, 34-28, with just under three minutes to play in the half.
• Storming back, the Bulldogs strung together a 7-0 run, with five more points from Ike, to put Gonzaga back in front, 35-34. Beasley made sure the Dons would go into the half in control as he cashed in his second three of the night to end the first period and help the green and gold go into the break with a 37-35 advantage.
• Fired up coming out of the locker room, the Bulldogs scored the first six points of the second half, all from Ike, to go up 41-37 two minutes into the period.
• Buckets from Linguard Jr. and Saba Gigiberia helped bring the Dons within three, but a Battle three-pointer gave the Bulldogs a six-point advantage, 48-42, with 15:50 remaining.
• Jumpers from Thomas and Wang shrunk the Gonzaga lead to 54-53, but five more quick points from Battle replenished GU's lead, 59-53, halfway through the second period.
• San Francisco would not let Gonzaga get too far ahead as baskets at the rim from Thomas and Riley IV brought the Dons back within one, 60-59, with 7:47 to play.
• The pattern continued as GU went on a 7-2 run with five more points coming from Ike, taking a 67-61 advantage and causing USF to call another timeout with 6:17 left.
• Huff and Ryan Nembhard inflated the Bulldogs' lead to nine, 71-62, but Thomas converted on another and-one to bring the Dons back within six, 71-65, with three and a half minutes to play.
• Four quick points from Ike and Nembhard gave Gonzaga its first double-digit lead of the night, 75-65, with just under three minutes remaining.
• The Bulldogs' lead proved to be too much for USF to overcome as Gonzaga defeated San Francisco, 86-75, on Monday night.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Putting up another stellar performance, Thomas had his highest scoring game in over two months with a game-high-tying 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor as the guard connected on a season-high five made threes while also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds in 37 minutes of action.
• Ryan Beasley followed up last night's career-high outing with 13 points against Gonzaga, hitting two threes and dishing out a team-high five assists.
• Wang had a second consecutive 10-point night, cashing in on two three-pointers to go along with six rebounds. Riley IV and Linguard Jr. also each scored nine points tonight.
• As a whole, San Francisco shot 44.0 percent from deep (11-of-25), marking its fourth game of at least 40.0 percent shooting from three-point range since the start of conference play. 

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, Malik Thomas and Ryan Beasley, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will await its postseason opportunity as the Dons head into Selection Sunday with a 24-9 overall record. The NCAA Tournament's 68-team field will be unveiled on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. PT on CBS followed by the NIT's 32-team field later that day at 6:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2. 
 
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.