Game 4
San Francisco Dons (2-1, 0-0 WCC) vs. UC Riverside Highlanders (2-0, 0-0 Big West)
Saturday,  Nov. 21, 2015 • 7:00 p.m.
War Memorial at The Sobrato Center • San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: First Meeting
Audio/Video Streaming: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: None

Live Video-Stats-Social Media at WCC Game Center

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

USF at a Glance

• Now 2-1 on the season after Thursday night's 78-71 loss at Fresno State...sophomore Devin Watson scored a career high 24 points in the loss.
• Meet UC Riverside of the Big West Conference for the first-time on Saturday...marks the first of three games against Big West schools (UC Santa Barbara 11/25; CS Northridge 12/7).
• UC Riverside improved to 2-0 on the season with a 77-63 victory over Santa Clara on Thursday.
• Saturday's game against the Highlanders closes out a busy stretch which has seen the Dons play four game in eight days to start the season.
• Saturday's game marks the first contest in the newly named War Memorial at The Sobrato Center...the largest individual gift ($15 million) in USF history by John A. and Susan Sobrato will be used for significant renovations of the basketball facility and support the construction of a baskeball practice facility.
• Will play six of its last seven non-conference games at home prior to opening WCC play on Dec. 21 at Saint Mary's.
• Sophomore point guard Devin Watson scored a career-high 24 points at Fresno State...he leads the team in scoring with a 17.0 point per game average after three contests..Tim Derksen (13.0) and Ronnie Boyce III (10.0) are also scoring in double-figures.
• Devin Watson has dished out 19 assists and has commited just five turnovers over the first three games.
• After contributing 36.0 points a game against Illinois-Chicago and Rice, USF's bench scored just 12 points at Fresno State.
• After going 22-of-39 from the free throw line in the opener at Illinois-Chicago, USF is 30-for-38 (78.) over its last two games against Rice (10-for-12) and Fresno State (20-for-26).
• After outrebounding Illinois-Chicago and Rice, narrowly lost the battle of the boards Thursday in Fresno, 38-35...are +15 in the rebound column after three games.
• Shooting 43.5 percent from the field...shot just 26.9 percent in the first half at Fresno State but warmed up to 55.6 percent in the second half.
• Were picked seventh along with Pacific in the WCC's Preseason Coaches Poll...both teams received 32 points.Return just five players including two starters from last year's squad...welcome 11 newcomers to this year's roster, including seven freshmen, including three walk-ons.
• Departed players accounted for 67 percent of the rebounding, 78% of the scoring, 70.9% of minutes played and combine to make 112 starts a year ago.
• Breakdown of newcomers include seven freshmen, one sophomore, two junior college transfers (Ronnie Boyce and Dont'e Reynolds) and one graduate transfer (Sean Grennan).
• Return to the Hilltop Wednesday night to face UC Santa Barbara beginning at 7:30 p.m....USF's women's team will face North Dakota in the first half of the DH beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Notables

Opening Tip
USF (2-1, 0-0 WCC) plays the first of four consecutive home games this evening as the Dons play host to the UC Riverside Highlanders (2-0) of the Big West Conference. The Dons are coming off a 78-71 loss Thursday night at Fresno State while te Highlanders improved to 2-0 on the season following a 77-63 victory over Santa Clara.

USF-UC Riverside Series History
Tonight's game marks the first ever meeting between USF and UC Riverside. The Highlanders are one of three Big West schools on USF's schedule this season, including UC Santa Barbara (11/25) and Cal-State Northridge (12/7) and one of four first time opponents (Illinois-Chicago, UC Riverside, Coppin State and Cal-State Northridge).

Last Time Out
Senior guard Cezar Guerrero made 6-of-10 three-point attempts and scored 22 points while Marvelle Harris added 16 to lead Fresno State (3-0) to a wire-to-wire victory over USF, which suffered its first setback of the season after two wins to open the year. Devin Watson finished with a career-high 24 points for the Dons while Tim Derksen (11) and Chase Foster (10) also reached double figures for USF. The Bulldogs scored the first eight points of the game and took a 37-27 lead into intermission, largely on the strength of Guerrero's four first-half 3-pointers and icy shooting by the Dons. Fresno State built its largest lead of the game at the 6:27 mark of the second half when the Bulldogs opened an 18-point, 68-50 advantage. The Dons scratched their way back into the game to cut the Bulldog lead down to seven with :38 seconds remaining. However, free throws by Guerrero and Harris in the final seconds closed the door on the Dons hopes for a miracle finish.

War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
USF plays its first game this evening in the newly named War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. USF received the largest individual gift ($15 million) in the history of the University from John A. and Susan Sobrato, which will the athletic department's facility master plan, which includes significant rennovations to the basketball facility and the construction of a practice facility.

Home for Awhile
Tonight's game against UC Riverside begins a stretch that will see the Dons play fur straight and six of their next seven non-conference games at home leading up to the WCC opener at Saint Mary's on Dec. 21. The Dons final non-conference road game will take plce on Dec. 4 at Montana.

Watson Tops Scoring Charts
Three games intot the season sophomore point guard Devin Watson leads the Dons in scoring with a 17.0 point per game avergage. He opened the season by scoring 15 points at Illinois-Chicago, followed with 12 against Rice and poured in a career-high 24 points Thursday night at Fresno State. He previous career high was 21, scored last season at Portland.  He is also averaging 6.1 assists per game and hs commited just five turnovers in three games.

The Bench
After averaging 36.0 points a game over the first two contests at Illinois-Chicago (35) and vs. Rice (37), USF's bench was held to just 12 points Thursday night at Fresno State. Junior Ronnie Boyce III ranks as the Dons third-leading scorer, averaging 10.0 ppg off the bench in the early going.

Derksen on USF's 3-Point Charts
Tim Derksen has made 5-of-7 of his 3-point tries over his first two games, improving his career percentage to 40.3 percent (102-for-253) from long distance, good for sixth on USF's all-time career list. Shawn Sykes (1988-90) is USF's all-time leader in 3-point percentage at 44.4 (98-for-218).

USF's Career Three-Point Percentage Leaders
1.    Shawn Sykes (1988-90)    98-218    .444
2.    Danny Cavic (2005-08)    130-295    .440
3,    Avry Holmes (2012-14)    98-223    .439
4.    Kevin Weeks (1990-92)    60-142    .423
5.    Joel DeBortoli (1987-90)    60-142    .423
6.    Tim Derksen (2012    102-253    .403
7.    Gerald Walker (1992-96)    142-359    .395
8.    Shamell Stallworth (1999    153-389    .393
9.    Darrell Tucker (1999-03)    116-301    .385
10.    Tim Owens (1990-92)    65-170    .382

From the Line
After making just 22-of-39 (56.4) of its free throws Friday night at Illinois-Chicago, USF has knocked down 30-of-38 free throws over its last two games and is now shooting 67.5 percent from the line this season. Last season, USF ranked last in the WCC with a 62.9 free throw percentage, which was the lowest mark since the 1985-86 season (62.4).

Shooting 50 Percent
The Dons shot 50.8 percent from the floor in Monday night's win over Rice and are now shooting 43.5 percent after three games this season. USF shot 50 percent or better from the field just eight times all last season and finished fourth in the WCC in field goal percentage at 45.1 percent.

Board Work
USF has outrebounded two of its first three opponents and is +15 in the rebound column after three games. The Dons outrebounded 10 of its 12 non-conference opponents last year but was outrebounded in 15 of its last 20 games of the year against WCC foes.