Game 16
San Francisco Dons (9-6, 3-2 WCC) vs. BYU Cougars (11-5, 2-1 WCC)
Saturday,  Jan. 9, 2016 • 6:00 p.m. PT
Marriott Center • Provo, Utah
Series Record: BYU 13-6
Last Meeting: Jan. 29, 2015 (BYU 78-74)
Audio Stream: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: BYUtv (David McCann, Play-by-Play; Blaine Fowler, Analyst)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

Opening Tip
USF (9-6, 3-2 WCC) makes its annual visit to the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday night to meet the BYU Cougars (11-5, 2-1). Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m. PT and the game will be televised live on BYUtv with Dave McCann and Blaine Fowler calling the action. Both teams are coming off wins on Thursday night. USF posted a 73-65 victory at San Diego while BYU blitzed Santa Clara, 97-61.

USF at a Glance

• Now 9-6 overall and 3-2 in the WCC after Thursday night's 73-65 victory at San Diego...four Dons scored in double figures led by Ronnie Boyce's career high 22 points.
• Have won three of four and five of the last seven games dating back to Dec. 7.
• Averaging 90.7 points (363 total) over its last four games and 81.5 (489) over its last six contests...averaging 74.5 ppg on the year - fifth best in the WCC.
• Were swept by BYU last season and have dropped five straight to the Cougars since its last win during the 2012-13 season here in Provo.
• Are 2-3 on the road this season but are 15-9 in its last 24 WCC road games dating back to 2012-13.
• Of the Dons nine wins this season, five have been by a combined total of 19 points while four others have been by a combined total of 72 points...were 1-4 in games decided by five points or fewer last season.
• Have not led in four of its six losses and led for only a combined :32 seconds in a loss to Eastern Washington...rallied from a 19-point deficit vs. Pacific and were 15 down to Portland with 12:59 to play.
• Have made 46-of-93 (49.4) of its three-point tries over the last four games, including a season-high 14 vs. Gonzaga...Devin Watson (14-for-26) and Ronnie Boyce (16-for-28) are a combined 30-for-54 (55.5) during that stretch.
• Have trailed at halftime in 10 of its 15 games this season and are 5-5 in those contests...averaging 31.5 points and shooting 39.4 percent in the first half this season compared to 41.4 and and 48.8 percent after intermission.
• Have had four players score in double figures in each of the last four games and six total on the season..are 5-1 in games when four players hit double digits.
• Sophomore point guard Devin Watson is now averaging 20.0 ppg this season, which ranks third in the WCC...he has been in double-figures in 14 of 15 games this season including seven games of at least 20-points.
• Senior guard Tim Derksen is averaging 14.9 ppg and 6.9 boards a game...he ranks ninth in the WCC in scoring and eighth in rebounding.
• The duo of Watson and Derksen is averaging 34.9 ppg (524 total) and account for 46.8 percent of USF's season point total (524 of 1118).
• Junior Ronnie Boyce has scored in double figures in all five WCC games and has tallied at least 20 points in three of his last four contests, including a career high 22 at San Diego...he is averaging 17.4 ppg in WCC.
• With 121 wins in seven-plus seasons on the Hilltop, Rex Walters is ranks sixth on USF's all-time career win list among coaches...he has coached 239 games, which ranks third all-time behind only Jim Brovelli (286) and Phil Mathews (262).

The Matchup

About BYU
Now  11-5 overall and 2-1 in the WCC after Thursday night's 97-61 win over Santa Clara…led in scoring by senior Chase Fischer, who is averaging 17.7 points per game…Bob Cousy Award candidate Kyle Collinsworth is scoring at a 14.9 per game clip…Collinsworth posted his ninth career triple double against Santa Clara with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists…he is the NCAA's career (9) and single-season (6 in 2014-15) triple-double record holder…freshman point guard Nick Emery is scoring 14.9 ppg and has made 39 three-pointers on the year…are the highest-scoring team in the WCC averaging 83.8 points per game…shooting 38.7 percent from long distance, which ranks second in the conference behind Saint Mary's…head coach Dave Rose, who was a member of Houston's famed Phi Slamma Jamma teams of the early-80's, is BYU's all-time leader in winning percentage (74.2) and ranks second in career wins (286)…he has led the Cougars to 10 straight 20-win season and eight NCAA Tournament appearance during that stretch.

Series History vs. BYU
BYU leads the all-time series with USF, 13-6. The Cougars swept the season series with the Dons last year, winning 99-68 on the Hilltop and 78-74 in Provo. BYU has won five consecutive games in the series dating back to the Dons last victory on Feb. 9, 2013, when USF nailed 14 three-pointers in a 99-87 victory in Provo. USF is 1-8 vs. BYU since the Cougars joined the WCC for the 2011-12 season. 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 and once in WCC Championship action, with BYU prevailing 79-77 in overtime in 2014.

Last Year's Meetings With BYU
USF was victimed by 15 three-pointers by BYU and dropped a 99-68 decision to the Cougars on Jan. 3 in Memorial Gymnasium. The 31-point loss equaled USF's largest margin of defeat on its home floor. BYU made 12 of its 15 three-pointers and shot 74.1 percent from the field in the first half to open a 57-29 lead at the break. The Cougars led by as many as 35 points in the second half at 68-33 before winning by the final 31-point margin. Chase Fischer, who finished with 20 points, accounted for six of the Cougars 15 three-pointers. Tyler Haws (22), Jake Toolson (11) and Anson Winder (17) made three treys each. Kyle Collinsworth recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Kruize Pinkins scored 15 points to pace the Dons, while Devin Watson (13), Mark Tollefsen (12) and Tim Derksen (11) were also in double-figures.

In the return game in Provo, USF dropped a 78-74 decision on Jan. 29. The two teams were never separated by more than eight points during the course of the game but it was an uphill struggle for the Dons, whose last lead in the game was at 8-6 3:56 into the game. Trailing 71-70 with 2:16 left, USF had two chances to tie or take the lead three times in the game's final minutes, but came up empty on each possession. The two teams combined to make just 8-of-41 three-point attempts and were whistled for 50 fouls. BYU made 23-of-33 free throws to fend off the Dons' upset bid. Mark Tollefsen led all USF scorers with 22 points while Matt Christiansen scored a career high 13 points off the bench. Devin Watson and Chris Adams each finished with 10. Matt Glover pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Tyler Haws scored a game-high 28 points for BYU while Anson Winder added 11.
 
Worth Watching

• BYU is the highest scoring team in the WCC at 83.98 ppg while USF has averaged 90.8 ppg over its last four contests.
• Four of the WCC's top-10 leading scorers will be on display in Devin Watson (3rd; 20.1), Chase Fischer (5th; 17.7), Kyle Collinsworth (8th; 15.1) and Tim Derksen (9th; 14.9).
• The Dons have made 46-of-93 (49.5) of its three-pointers over the last four games.
• Ronnie Boyce has three 20-point games in his last four outings, including a career high 22 points at San Diego.
• USF is 5-1 when four players score in double figures and 4-5 in its nine other games.

Dons' Notebook

The Record
At 9-6, USF is two games ahead of its pace of last season, when the Dons were 7-8 at the 15-game mark on its way to a 7-10 start. The Dons have won three of four and five of their last seven games dating back to Dec. 7.

The Road Record
USF is in a stretch that will see the team play five of its seven games on the road. The Dons are 2-3 on road games this season with victories at Illinois-Chicago and San Diego. USF has dropped road games to Fresno State (71-76), Montana (50-82) and Saint Mary's (52-74). The Dons are 15-9 in their last 24 WCC road games dating back to the 2012-13 season.

Lineups
USF employed its fifth starting lineup of the season at San Diego, with Chase Foster returning to the starting five. A total of eight players have drawn starts this season with Devin Watson, Tim Derksen and Dont'e Reynolds holding their sports of all 15 games. Nate Renfro (10), Chase Foster (10), Ronnie Boyce (3) and Montray Clemons (1) have also earned starts this season.

The Wins and Losses
Of the nine victories, five have been by a combined total of 20 points (78-75 at Illinois-Chicago; 58-57 vs. UC Riverside; 65-61 CSUN; 96-93 vs. Coppin State; 73-65 at San Diego) while four others have been by a combined total of 72 points (80-54 vs. Rice; 67-47 vs. Delaware State; 89-76 vs. Pacific; 107-95 vs. Portland). USF erased a 19-point deficit to defeat Pacific and rallied from 15 down with 12:59 left to play against Portland. The Dons never led in losses to Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, Montana or Saint Mary's and led for only :32 seconds in a loss to Eastern Washington. USF squandered a 16-point lead with 8:49 left to play before falling to Gonzaga, 102-94 in overtime.

The Half of It
USF has trailed at haftime in 10 of 15 games and is 5-5 in those contests. The Dons being outscored 529-473 while shooting 39.4 from the floor over the first 20 minutes of games this season compared to after intermission when USF is outscoring the opposition 621-550) and shooting 48.8 percent from the floor.

The Scoreboard
USF has scored 363 points (90.8) over its last four games and 511 (85.1) over its last six contests. The Dons have enjoyed four of their highest scoring outputs of the season in the last five of the last games vs. Coppin State (96), Pacific (89) and Portland (107) and Gonzaga (94). USF is averaging 74.5 ppg this season, which ranks fifth in the WCC. USF's 107-95 win over Portland marked the first time the Dons had scored a 100 points in a game since they defeated the Pilots, 104-70 on Jan. 12, 2012. It was also the Dons highest scoring output since tallying a school record 129 points against Holy Names on Jan. 2, 2010.

Century City
USF's 107-95 win over Portland followed by a 102-94 overtime loss to Gonzaga marked only the second time in school history the Dons had scored 100-points only to give up a 100 in its next game. On Feb. 4, 1990, USF suffered a 157-115 loss at Loyola Marymount and then played the Lions again five days later on the Hilltop, falling 137-123.

Dons Defensively
After allowing its two-highest point totals of the season against Portland (95) and Gonzaga (102), USF limited San Diego to just 65 points on Thursday. The 102 points scored by Gonzaga were the most points USF has allowed since suffering a 104-65 loss at Arizona State on Nov. 20, 2009 and were the most scored by a WCC opponent since Feb. 23, 1995, when Gonzaga defeated the Dons, 106-67 in Spokane. The Dons have allowed 81.0 points (729 total) a game in its last nine games and are allowing 73.9 ppg this season, which ranks eighth in the WCC. Opponents are shooting 42.6 percent from the field, including 35.8 percent from long distance, against the Dons this season.

From the Floor
After shooting a season-low 28.3 percent at Saint Mary's, the Dons have shot 48.9 percent 121-for-247) from the field over its last four games and are now shooting 44.1 from the floor on the season, which ranks fifth in the WCC. The Dons have shot 50 percent of better in four games this season (50.8 vs. Rice; 55.8 vs. Montana; 55.0 vs. Coppin State; 58.3 vs. Portland). Junior Uche Ofoegbu ranks 10th in the WCC in field goal percentage at 53.5.

Toeing the Line
After making just 22-of-39 (56.4) of its free throws at Illinois-Chicago, USF has knocked down 218-of-312 (69.8 percent) of its free throws over its last 14 games and is now shooting 68.4 percent from the line this season -- sixth best in the WCC. After 15 games last season, USF was converting just 57.8 percent of its free throw attempts. Tim Derksen (78.3) and Devin Watson (77.3) rank seventh and eighth respectively among all WCC players in free throw percentage. 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).

From Distance
USF has made 46 three-pointers in its last four games against Pacific (13), Portland (11), Gonzaga (14) and San Diego (8) and is shooting 49.4 percent (46-for-93) from distance during that stretch. Devin Watson (14-for-26) and Ronnie Boyce (16-for-28) are a combined 30-for-54 (55.5) over the last four games from beyond the arc. The 14 threes against Gonzaga were the most in a single game since the Dons drilled a school-record 17 treys against Idaho State in 2013-14. The Dons are now shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range on the year, which ranks fifth in the WCC. Tim Derksen ranks ninth in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage at 43.1 while Watson ranks eighth in 3's made per game (2.2).

Board Work
USF has outrebounded nine of its first 15 opponents and is +60 in the rebound column on the year. The Dons are averaging 38.8 boards a game, which ranks third in the WCC and are fourth in rebound margin (+3.9). USF ranks third in the WCC in offensive rebounds per game at 12.3. Three players - Dont'e Reynolds (6.8), Tim Derksen (6.9) and Uche Ofoegbu (4.3) - are averaging at least 4.0 boards per game. Derksen's 14 rebounds vs. Pacific were the most by a USF player since Kruize Pinkins also pulled down 14 boards last season vs. Eastern Washington. Derksen ranks eighth in the WCC with  6.9 average while Reynolds ranks ninth at 6.8.

Assists, Turnovers and Steals
USF has turned the ball over at least 15 times in seven of the 15 games this season and are averaging 13.5 turnovers a game, compared to the opponents at 11.6 per game. USF ranks 10th in the WCC in turnover margin (-2.47) and ninth assist-turnover ratio (0.9). Of the Dons 379 total field goals, 188 (49.6 percent) have come via an assist. USF is also averaging 4.7 steals a game to rank ninth in the WCC.

The Bench
USF's reserves are averaging 18.6 ppg this season (280 total), compared to the opponent's at 23.3 (350). The bench scored a season-high 37 points against Rice and has scored 20 or more points in four of its last six games.

High Scoring Tandem
Devin Watson and senior Tim Derksen has combined to average 34.9 ppg (524 total) points a game this season to rank as the WCC's second-highest scoring tandem behind Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer and Damontas Sabonis, who are averaging 39.0 pr outing (586 total). BYU's high-scoring duo of Chase Fischer and Kyle Collinsworth are averaging 32.7 ppg (524). Either Watson or Derksen have led the team in scoring 13 of 15 games this season and have accounted for 46.8 percent (524 of 1118) of USF's total point production. Watson has scored 20 or more points in seven games this season, including a pair of 30-point games,  while Derksen has three 20-point contests.

Watson Ranks Third in WCC Scoring
Sophomore point guard Devin Watson is averaging 20.0 points a game, which ranks third in the WCC behind Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer (20.8) and Santa Clara's Jared Brownridge (20.2). The last USF player to win a conference scoring title was Dior Lowhorn who averaged 20.1 pgg in 2008-09. Watson has been in double-figures in 14 of 15 games this season, including seven games of at least 20 points (24 at Fresno State; 27 vs. UC Riverside; 25 vs. Eastern Washington; 31 vs. Coppin State; 23 vs. Pacific; 22 vs. Portland; 33 vs. Gonzaga). He is also averaging 5.5 assists per game to rank sixth in the WCC.

Sharing the Wealth
USF had four players score in double-figures for the fourth straight game Thursday night at San Diego, with Ronnie Boyce (22), Devin Watson (16), Tim Derksen (12) and Uche Ofoegbu (11) accounting for all but 12 of the Dons 73 points. USF is 5-1 this season when four players score in double figures, with the only loss coming in overtime against Gonzaga.

RBIII Heating Up
Junior Ronnie Boyce III has scored in double figures in all five conference games and is averaging 17.4 ppg against WCC foe this season. He has scored 20 or more points in three of his last four games, including a career-high 22 at San Diego, and is averaging 19.3 ppg during that stretch. He is also shooting 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from distance over the last four games in which the Dons have averaged 90.8 ppg. Boyce scored in double figures in each of the first two games of the season vs. Illinois-Chicago (13) and Rice (11), but scored just six points over his five appearances before this recent stretch. He made his first career start against Pacific.

Uche's Last Seven
Junior Uche Ofoegbu has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games, including a career-high 18-point effort against Gonzaga. Over the last seven games, he is averaging 13.1 ppg (92 total), 6.0 rpg (42) and shooting 55.0 (33-for-60) from the field, including 42.9 (9-for-21) from long distance.

No Rest for the Weary
Devin Watson (4th; 34.5) and Tim Derksen (10th; 31.6) both rank in the top-10 among all WCC players in minutes played. Derksen has logged 2,850 minutes over his career, which ranks 10th on USF's all-time career list. At his present rate, Derksen will move into USF's top-5 for minutes played at year's end.

Derksen Joins 1,000-Point Club
With 1,154 career points, senior Tim Derksen ranks 23rd on USF's all-time scoring list and needs 16 more points to move into a tie with Joel DeBortoli (1987-90) for 22nd place all-time. Here's a look at where Derksen ranks on USF's all-time scoring list...

USF's Career Scoring Leaders
20.    Ali Thomas (1997-01)    1,237
21.    John Duggan (1993-97)    1,175
22.    Joel DeBortoli (1987-90)    1,170
23.    Tim Derksen (2012-Present)    1,142

Derksen on USF's 3-Point Charts
Tim Derksen has made 22-of-51 (.431) of his 3-point tries this season and ranks ninth among all WCC players in three-point field goal percentage. He is now shooting 40.1 percent (119-for-297) from long distance for his career, which ranks 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-    118-294    .401
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

Walters on USF's All-Time Coaching Charts
With 121 wins in seven-plus seasons on the Hilltop, Rex Walters ranks fourth on USF's all-time win list and is one of seven coaches in USF history to win a 100 games. Only Jim Brovelli (296) and Phil Mathews (262) have coached more games than Walters (239) among all USF coaches. Here's a look where Walters ranks on USF's all-time coaching lists.