Skip To Main Content

University of San Francisco Athletics

Events

Composite Calendar +

USF Hosts BYU in Nationally-Televised Game on Thursday

USF Hosts BYU in Nationally-Televised Game on Thursday
Avry Holmes leads the Dons in WCC scoring with a 15.3 ppg average.
Share:
Bookmark and Share
Follow USF Basketball on Facebook | Purchase Tickets to Upcoming Games

Game #19
USF Dons (11-7, 4-2 WCC) vs. BYU Cougars (11-7, 3-2 WCC)
Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014 • 6:00 p.m.
Memorial Gymnasium • San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: BYU leads 8-7
Last Meeting: USF 99-87 (Feb. 9, 2013 at Provo)
Audio Stream: USFDons.com (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein, Play-by-Play; Corey Williams, Analyst)

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

The Dandy Dons
  • Are 11-7 overall and are tied for second place in the WCC with a 4-2 record...split a pair of road games last week, defeating Pacific in overtime, 81-72 before falling to Saint Mary's, 88-73.
  • Begin a stretch of five consecutive home games tonight...also face San Diego (Saturday), Santa Clara (1/25), Portland (1/29) and Gonzaga (2/1) before heading back out on the road.
  • Are 8-3 at home this season after going 8-7 on its home floor a year ago, including 2-6 against WCC foes.
  • Have won three of the last four games and are 8-4 in over the last 12 games following a 100-82 road loss at No. 17 Oregon on Nov. 24.
  • Were 7-11 at the 18-game mark a year ago and 1-5 in the WCC after six conference games.
  • Split last year's season series with BYU with each team winning on the other's homecourt...dropped a 80-76 decision here on the Hilltop and rallied to post a 99-87 victory later in the season in Provo on the stength of 14 three-pointers.
  • Averaging 78.4 points per game, which ranks fourth in the WCC...scored a season-low 41 points at Gonzaga but have averaged  76.2 ppg (305 total) in last four contests in which the team has gone 3-1.
  • Shot 51 percent from the floor at Saint Mary's, marking the ninth time this season the team has shot 50 percent or better...rank second in the WCC and 28th nationally in field goal percentage at 48.3 percent.
  • Shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point range, which ranks fifth in the WCC...are 33-for-90 (36.7) from long distance in the last five games after making 25-of-54 (46.2) 3's in its previous four contests.
  • Have made 51-of-68 free throws (75 percent) over the last three games but still rank last in the WCC in free throw percentage at 64 percent.
  • Allowing 75.4 ppg which ranks eighth in the WCC...also rank 10th in field goal defense at 46 percent and eighth in 3-point field goal defense (35.1).
  • Balanced scoring column sees the top six scorers averaging between 13.5 and 9.0 points per game...seven different players have taken team high-scoring honors this season...rank as the WCC's fourth-highest scoring team despite not having a player higher than 14th among conference scoring leaders.
  • Sophomore Avry Holmes leads USF in scoring in conference games with a 15.3 ppg average...he has led USF in scoring four times in the last seven games and is shooting 57.6 percent (15-for-26) from three-point range during that span.
  • Junior Kruize Pinkins is averaging 3.3 offensive rebounds a game - tops in the WCC.
  • Are 2-1 in overtime games this season and 11-4 in extra period games under Rex Walters.
  • Team is 3-1 with Kruize Pinkins in the starting lineup....Pinkins made his first career start on Jan. 2 vs. Loyola Marymount.
  • USF will retire Ollie Johnson's No. 32 on Jan. 25th when the Dons play host to Santa Clara (5:00 p.m.)

TIP-OFF: USF (11-7, 4-2 WCC) opens a five-game homestand Thursday night against the BYU Cougars (11-7, 3-2 WCC) in a nationally-televised contest on ESPNU. The Dons split a pair of road games last week, defeating Pacific in overtime, 81-72 before falling at Saint Mary's, 88-73. The Cougars topped Pepperdine (84-72) and Loyola Marymount (91-68) at home and have won three straight after opening the conference season 0-2.

SERIES HISTORY: BYU leads the all-time series with USF, 8-7. The two teams split last year's season series, with each winning on the other's home court. The Cougars claimed an 80-76 decision in San Francisco on Jan. 4 only to see USF bounce back to post a 99-87 win in Provo on Feb. 9. The teams have met once in NCAA Tournament play, with the Dons scoring a 86-63 victory in a second round game played in Tucson, Ariz. in 1979.  The two schools have never met in WCC Tournament action.

LAST YEAR'S GAMES VS. BYU: USF squandered a seven-point lead with 8:31 remaining and dropped a 80-76 decision to the Cougars on Jan. 4 in San Francisco. The Dons trailed by six points with 1:51 left but had two opportunities to either tie or win the games down the stretch. Cole Dickerson and Cody Doolin each had 22 points to pace USF scorers. The Dons shot 50 percent from the field, including 61.5 percent in the first half, but committed 14 turnovers. Tyler Haws and Matt Carlino had 22 points to lead BYU. In the return game at the Marriott Center on Feb. 9, USF nailed 14 three-pointers and defeated the Cougars, 99-87 to earn its first-ever victory in Provo. The Dons shot 72 percent in the second half and made 9-of-10 three-pointers to rally from a 15-point deficit. USF trailed by 12 with 11:47 left before going on a 18-4 tear to take a 72-70 lead with 6:37 remaining. Leading 83-79 with 2:28 left, the Dons iced the game with a 12-0 spurt. De'End Parker led all USF scorers with 23 points while Chris Adams and Avry Holmes finished with 17 each. Cody Doolin (16) and Cole Dickerson (14) also reached double figures for the Dons.

LAST TIME OUT: USF saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Dons dropped a 88-73 decision to Saint Mary's in Moraga. It marked the Gaels 17th consecutive victory over the Dons, including its 11th straight win over USF at McKeon Pavilion. Avry Holmes scored a team-high 17 points, while Kruize Pinkins and Cole Dickerson added 16 and Mark Tollefsen finished with 16 to pace USF in scoring. The Dons shot a respectable 51 percent from the field but allowed the Gaels to clip the nets at 55.8 percent, including 52.4 percent (11-for-21) from three-point range. USF never led in the game and trailed by 15 at the half at 43-28. The Dons whittled the lead down seven at 54-47 before the Gaels went on a 14-0 run to put the game away.

THE RECORD: At 11-7 overall, USF is four games ahead of last year's pace when the Dons were 7-11 at the 18-game mark of the season. USF won games 19 and 20 last season to improve to 9-11 overall. USF was just 1-5 after its first six conference games a year a go before improving to 2-5 after seven conference tilts. USF's 11 wins are tied for third most in the WCC with BYU (11-7) and Pepperdine (11-7), trailing Gonzaga (14-3) and Saint Mary's (13-5).

FIVE-GAME HOMESTAND: Thursday's contest against BYU marks the first of five consecutive home conference games for USF over the course of the next three weeks. San Diego follows BYU into Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday night. The Dons will also play host to Santa Clara (Jan. 25), Portland (Jan. 29) and Gonzaga (Feb. 1) before its next road game at San Diego on Feb. 6. The Dons are 8-3 at home this season after going 8-7 on its home floor last season, including 2-6 against WCC foes.

OFFENSIVELY: After scoring a season-low 41 points at Gonzaga, USF has bounced back to average 76.2 points (305 total) in its last four games vs. Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Pacific and Saint Mary's. The Dons are averaging 78.4 points per game this season, which ranks fourth in the WCC. USF averaged 88.4 ppg (619 total) over their first seven games and have scored at a 72.0 per game clip (792 total) over its last 11 contests. The Dons opened the season by scoring 90+ points in its first four games - a first in school history.
BALANCED SCORING: USF has four players on its current roster averaging in double figures after 18 games, with senior Cole Dickerson topping the team's scoring chart with a 13.5 point per game average. The top six scorers on the current roster are averaging between 13.5 and 9.0 ppg. Seven different players have taken game-high scoring honors at some point this season. Despite ranking as the the conference's fourth-highest scoring team, the Dons do not have a player ranked in the top-10 in scoring (Dickerson 14th at 13.5).

FROM THE FLOOR: USF ranks second in the WCC and 28th nationally in field goal percentage at 48.3 percent. USF has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in nine of 18 games this season, including a season-best 60.9 percent vs. American on Dec. 22, USF is shooting 44.3 percent from the field in conference games,  thanks largely in part to an icey 25.5 percent (14-for-55) effort at Gonzaga. Mark Tollefsen (57.9) and Tim Derksen (55.0) rank seventh and ninth respectively in WCC field goal percentage.

SPLASH CITY: The Dons have made 39.1 percent (27-for-69) of its three-point attempts over the last four games and are now shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc this season - fifth-best in the WCC. USF averaged 28.7 three-point attempts through its first four games but are averaging 16.7 (234 total) long distance tries over its last 14 games. USF led the West Coast Conference and ranked fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage a year ago, connecting on 40.1 percent (249-for-621) of its long distance attempts. The Dons have set single-season school records for three-pointers made each of the last three seasons.

ON THE LINE: The Dons have made 75 perent (51-of-68) of their free throws over the last three games but are shooting just 64 percent from the line this season, which ranks last in the WCC and 315th out of 345 Division I teams.

BOARD WORK: USF ranks eighth among WCC teams in rebound average at 35.1. Opponents are averaging 32.5 boards a game, the fourth-lowest total in the conference. Last season, the Dons finished eighth in the conference in rebounding (32.5) and ninth in rebound margin (-2.5), despite having the top rebounder in the WCC in Cole Dickerson (9.8).

SECOND CHANCES: USF is averaging 12.2 offensive rebounds a game, third best in the WCC. Kruize Pinkins leads the conference in offensive rebounds with a 3.3 per game mark

DEFENSIVELY: USF allowed 88 points to Saint Mary's last Saturday, the most points scored by an opponent since Illinois State posted a 90-76 win over the Dons on Nov. 30. Prior to Saturday, USF had held its previous four opponents to an average of 67.0 points a game (268 total). The Dons are yielding 75.4 points a game, which ranks eighth in the WCC. The Dons rank 10th in the conference in field goal defense (46.0), eighth in three-point defense (35.1) and ninth in blocks per game (2.8). USF's 6.7 steals per game average ranks third in the conference.

THREE'S BETTER THAN TWO: Of Chris Adams' 85 career field goals, 75 have come from beyond the arc.

DONS IN OVERTIME: USF is 2-1 in overtime games this season, losing to Idaho State 93-90 while defeating Portland 87-81 and Pacific 81-72. USF is 11-4 in overtime games under head coach Rex Walters.

POINT AVRY: Avry Holmes has scored in double-figures in each of the last seven games and is averaging 15.2 points a game (107 total) during that stretch, raising his season scoring average from 6.6 to its present mark of 11.4 ppg. He has also made 57.6 (15-of-26) percent of his three-point attempts during that span, raising his season percentage from 33.3 to its present mark of 42.4 percent. for his career, Holmes is shooting 45 percent (69-for-153) from beyond the arc.

DICKERSON'S DOUBLES: Senior forward Cole Dickerson posted his fourth double-double of the season and 18th of his career against Portland, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Dickerson finished with conference-high 13 double-doubles (points-rebounds) last season, a figure that ranked 24th nationally among Division I players. He was also a point or rebound away from a double-double in five other games. Dickerson pulled down 10 or more rebounds in 14 games, including a career-high 20 boards against Montana on Nov. 30.
Print Friendly Version