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Game #21
USF Dons (12-8, 5-3 WCC) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (10-11, 3-5 WCC)
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 • 5:00 p.m.Â
Memorial Gymnasium • San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: Santa Clara leads, 111-101
Last Meeting: Santa Clara 85-54 (Jan. 17, 2013 in San Francisco)
Audio Stream: USFDons.com (
Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: CSNCA, ROOT, TheW.tv (Glen Kuiper, Play-by-Play; Dan Belluomini, Analyst)
Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)
From the Panhandle to the Golden Gate
The Dandy Dons
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Improved to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the West Coast Conference following Saturday's 64-62 home win over San Diego...win snapped a two-game losing streak.
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Begin the week tied with Pepperdine for fourth place in the WCC standings behind Gonzaga (6-1), BYU (5-2) and Saint Mary's (4-2).
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Continue a stretch of five consecutive home games Saturday night against Santa Clara...face Portland (1/29) and Gonzaga (2/1) next week before heading back out on the road.
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Are 9-4 at home this season after going 8-7 on its home floor a year ago, including 2-6 against WCC foes.
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Are 9-5 over the last 14 games following a 100-82 loss at No. 17 Oregon on Nov. 24.
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Were 9-11 at the 20-game mark a year ago and 3-5 in the WCC...dropped games 21 and 22 to fall to 9-13 overall and 3-7 in conference play.
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Dropped the season series to Santa Clara last year, falling 74-69 at the Leavey Center and 85-54 on the Hilltop..
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Averaging 77.6 points per game, which ranks third in the WCC behind BYU (87.2) and Gonzaga (81.6).
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Rank second in the WCC and 32nd nationally in field goal percentage at 48.3 percent...have shot 50 percent or better from the floor 10 times this season...shot 45.3 percent as a team last season.
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Made 6-of-11 three-pointers vs. San Diego and are now shooting 38.6 percent from long distance on the season, which ranks third among WCC teams.
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Were just 12-of-22 from the line Saturday vs. San Diego...rank last in the WCC in free throw percentage at 64.3 percent.
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Limited San Diego to 62 points and 42.9 shooting from the floor...however, rank eighth in the WCC in defense (75.1) and field goal defense (45.9)...rank ninth in three-point field goal defense (38.8).
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Balanced scoring column sees the top six scorers averaging between 14.0 and 8.8 points per game...seven different players have taken team high-scoring honors this season...rank as the WCC's third-highest scoring team despite not having a player higher than 15th among conference scoring leaders.
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Sophomore Avry Holmes leads USF in scoring in conference games with a 15.4 ppg average...he has led USF in scoring five times in the last nine games and is shooting 61.2 percent (19-for-31) from three-point range during that span.
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Cole Dickerson posted his fifth double-double of the season and 19th of his career Thursday vs. BYU, finishing with 26 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.
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Junior Kruize Pinkins is averaging 3.4 offensive rebounds a game - tops in the WCC...he registered his fourth double-double of the season Saturday vs. San Diego, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
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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 (12-8, 5-3 WCC) continues its five-game WCC homestand on Saturday as the Dons play host to the Santa Clara Broncos (10-11, 3-5 WCC) beginning at 5:00 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium. USF split a pair of home games last week, falling to BYU 83-76 on Thursday before bouncing back to down San Diego 64-62 on Saturday. Santa Clara dropped a pair of home games to San Diego 69-66 and BYU 91-81. Saturday's game will be televised locally on CSNCA with Glen Kuiper and former USF head coach Dan Belluomini calling the action from courtside.
SERIES HISTORY: In a series that dates back to 1908-09, Santa Clara leads the all-time series with USF, 111-101. USF has won five out of the last eight and six out of the last 10 in the series following a seven-game Santa Clara winning streak. However, the Broncos swept last year's season series, claiming a 74-69 victory at the Leavey Center on Jan. 2 and posting a 85-54 win on the Hilltop on Jan. 17. The 31-point loss was USF's worst home loss in Memorial Gymnasium. The two schools have met eight times in WCC Championship play, with Santa Clara holding a 6-2 advantage.
LAST YEAR'S GAMES VS. SANTA CLARA: Santa Clara swept the season series against USF last year, winning 74-69 at the Leavey Center and 85-54 in San Francisco. In the Jan. 2 game at Santa Clara, the Dons trailed by as many as 19 points (48-29) in the second half but rallied to cut the lead down to two at 67-65 with 1:26 left. Three USF players scored in double-figures, led by
Cole Dickerson, who finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. USF shot 47.3 percent from the field, including 53.8 percent in the second half, but were outrebounded 42-33 and victimized by 12 turnovers. In the return game on the Hilltop on Jan. 17, USF managed to shoot just 32 percent from the floor and suffered its worst home loss in school history. Santa Claara outscored USF 17-2 to start the second half and opened a 52-26 lead with 14:29 remaining.
Matt Christiansen led all USF scorers with a career-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor.
LAST TIME OUT: USF snapped a two-game losing streak with a 64-62 victory over San Diego as
Avry Holmes floater on the right baseline with 0.5 remaining accounted for the victory. Holmes scored nine of his team high 15 point over the final 3:16 of the game.
Kruize Pinkins posted his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds while
Cole Dickerson added 10. The Dons shot 53.5 percent from the floor and held San Digeo to 42.9 percent. There were 13 ties in the game, eight lead changes and the two teams were never separated by more than four points in the second half.
