LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of San Francisco men's basketball team (11-6, 3-1 WCC) begins its Southern California road trip in the City of Angels as the Dons will travel to LMU (10-7, 1-3 WCC) for an evening bout at Gersten Pavilion on Thursday.
 
GAME 18 DETAILS:
Opponent: LMU (10-7, 1-3 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026
Time: 8:00 p.m. PT
Location: Gersten Pavilion/Los Angeles, Calif.
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Dan Dickau)
Listen: KNBR 1050 (Pat Olson)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
DONS AT A GLANCE:

• Defending the Hilltop this past week, USF went 2-0 in its first home stand of conference action, most recently taking down Portland, 73-68, on Sunday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, the win over the Pilots marked the largest comeback victory for the Dons this season, and the largest comeback win for the program since USF's 19-point comeback victory over Santa Clara (W, 71-70) on Feb. 10, 2024.
• San Francisco dominated the offensive glass against Portland, grabbing a season-high 20 offensive rebounds, with David Fuchs tying his career-high with six offensive boards en route to his second double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) in the last three games and third overall this season.
• Providing a spark off the bench, Veniamin Abosi led the green and gold against the Pilots with a career-high 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from deep in a season-high 29 minutes. The sophomore excelled on the glass in USF's home stand, grabbing a career-high nine rebounds against both San Diego (1/2) and Portland (1/4).
• After winning the rebounding battle on Sunday night (43-26), San Francisco improved to 10-1 on the season when outrebounding its opponent as the Dons look to continue dominating the glass, with Fuchs leading the WCC in rebounds per game within conference play at 9.3 rebounds per contest.
• Following the first week of WCC play, San Francisco is one of five teams with at least three victories through the first four games of conference action, proving themselves as one of the best defensive teams in the league early on. Heading into Thursday, USF leads the league in opponent three-point percentage in WCC games, holding opponents to just 26.4 percent shooting from beyond-the-arc so far. San Francisco also ranks in the top three in the conference in opponent points per game (second, 65.3), opponent field goal percentage (third, 40.4), and rebounds per game (third, 39.5). 

SCOUTING THE LIONS:

• LMU has opened WCC action with a 1-3 record through the first week of conference play, most recently falling to No. 7/7 Gonzaga, 82-47, on Sunday. Prior to the loss in Spokane, the Lions' two other conference losses were by five points or less, including a nail-biting 78-73 defeat at home against Saint Mary's on Dec. 28 that came down to the final seconds.
• The offensive output has been balanced for LMU this season as four Lions are averaging double-figures, led by junior guard Rodney Brown's 14.6 points per game (10th in the WCC). Brown has been the WCC's best shooter from distance this season as he leads the league in both three-point percentage (40.8) and three-pointers made per game (3.2). Right behind Brown, redshirt senior guard Myron Amey, Jr. is averaging 14.1 points (11th in WCC) and 2.8 threes per game, good for second in the league.
• Slovenian junior Jan Vide has upped his aggressiveness offensively to open league play as he leads LMU in scoring in WCC action, averaging 16.5 points per game (fifth in the WCC) on 48.2 percent shooting from the floor. Vide's 28-point performance on Jan. 2 at Washington State is tied for the second-highest scoring game of WCC action this season (30, SMC's Paulius Murauskas on Jan. 2 vs. Seattle U).
• In his sixth season as head coach at LMU, Stan Johnson looks to lead the Lions to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in his tenure as head coach, finishing with a 17-15 record last season in 2024-25. Johnson is hungry to take LMU to its first postseason berth since its CBI appearance in 2019.

SERIES HISTORY:

• Thursday night's nationally televised contest in L.A. will be the 172nd all-time meeting between San Francisco and LMU, with the Dons holding a 122-49 record in the all-time series. Last season, the green and gold completed the season sweep over the Lions, first securing a 70-55 victory on the Hilltop on Dec. 28, 2024, followed by a 72-66 road victory at Gersten Pavilion on Feb. 8, 2025. San Francisco has won its last six meetings against LMU, with head coach Chris Gerlufsen holding a perfect 5-0 record against the Lions.

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 University 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.