Game at a Glance
San Francisco Dons (1-0, 0-0 WCC) at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (0-1, 0-0 Big West)
Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 • 7:00 p.m.
The Thunderdome • Santa Barbara, Calif.
Series Record: USF 23-13
Last Meeting: Nov. 25, 2015 (UCSB 68-61)
Audio Stream: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Video Stream: BigWest.TV
Live Stats: Presto Sports
Television: None

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

San Francisco will take to the road for the first time this season Wednesday night when they face the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the Thunderdome. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

USF successfully ushered in the Kyle Smith Era last Friday night with a 82-80 victory over Illinois-Chicago on the Hilltop. Ronnie Boyce scored a career-high 28 points while Nate Renfro added 12 to pace the Dons' offense. Junior Chase Foster grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. The Dons built a 48-37 lead at intermission and led by as many as 17 at 62-45 with 12:02 remaining before the Flames went on a 21-14 run to tie the game at 76-76 with 2:26 left. A pair of free throws by freshman Remu Raitanen with :23 left accounted for the final 82-80 score.

The lone senior on the Dons' roster, Boyce made 11-of-19 shots from the field, including 4-of-9 from distance, and added a pair of free throws. It marked the seventh 20-point game of his career and eclipsed his previous career high of 25 points, achieved twice last season, both against Pepperdine.

UC Santa Barbara, 19-14 a year ago, was surprised in their home opener by Nebraska-Omaha, which came away with a 74-60 victory. Gabe Vincent and Ami Lakoju each had 12 points to pace the Gauchos.

USF will be looking to avenge a 68-61 loss to UC Santa Barbara last year on the Hilltop. The Dons never led in the game and trailed by as many as 28 points before making a late run to trim the lead to seven with just over two minutes remaining. Wednesday's game will mark the Dons first trip to Goleta since Nov. 23, 2009, when USF dropped a 76-65 decision to the Gauchos.

The Dons have been a decent road team over the years, going 23-24 on the opposition's home court. USF head coach Kyle Smith welcomes the challenge of taking his young USF club on the road for the first time this season.

"I might be crazy about this but these millennials might be better on the road," said Smith. "There's so much attention on them at home. It's harder to win but at the same time easier to focus because of less distractions."

USF faced its first bit of adversity last weekend when it learned Frankie Ferrari, who was penciled in as the team's starting point guard, would be lost to the team for an indefinite period of time with a hand injury. The starting duties were turned over to sophomore Mladen Djordjevic and the second-year player was up to the task in Friday's opener, finishing with nine points, four assists and four steals in a 31-minute playing stint.

"I don't think we have one guy on the team who was playing the same role as last year," said Smith. "We're all trying to sort ourselves out and received a bit of a thunderbolt with Frankie going down. Mladen had a nice game, especially defensively with the four steals. Jordan (Ratinho) is also capable at the point and we'll put the ball in Ronnie's (Boyce) hands, as well.

"Mladen is a little bit like Brett Favre in that he's got a little riverboat gambler in him. His errors are of commission, which you can live with."

The Match Up

A Look at UC Santa Barbara
Opened the season by dropping a 74-60 decision at home to Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday night…finished 19-14 a year ago and fourth in the Big West Conference with an 11-5 record…were 9-12 and 3-5 in conference action before turning the fortunes on the season by ripping off nine straight wins…fell to Hawaii in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament but landed a postseason invitation in the Vegas 16…return nine letterwinners including three starters off of last year's team…junior guard Gabe Vincent is the team's top returning scorer after averaging 14.1 points last season…point total included a team-high 80 three-pointers…a product of St Mary's High School in Stockton, Vincent was an honorable mention All-Big West selection as a sophomore…Eric Childress, who averaged 4.3 assists and had 41 steals last season returns to the point guard position…Jalen Canty, a native of Vallejo who was named the California Community College Player of the Year last season at City College of San Francisco, should give the Gauchos immediate help on the frontline…head coach Bob Williams is now in his 19th season in Goleta and 28th year overall…he is the longest tenured Division I head coach west of East Lansing, Mich.

Series History With UC Santa Barbara
In a series that dates back to the 1960-61 season, USF leads the all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 23-13. UCSB claimed last year's meeting on the Hilltop, 68-61 and have won seven of the last nine meetings with the Dons since USF won 15 of 16 games between the two schools from 1974-2001. The two schools last met in Santa Barbara on Nov. 23, 2009, with UCSB claiming a 76-65 win. USF's last win in the series came on Nov. 24, 2008 in San Francisco, 73-72,  when the Dons used a late 15-0 run to come away with the one-point victory. UC Santa Barbara was a member of the West Coast Conference from 1964-69.

Last Year's Meeting With UC Santa Barbara
USF suffered a 68-61 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 25 of last season on the Hilltop. The Dons never led in the game and trailed by as many as 28 points in the first half before heading into the locker room down 15 at 45-20. USF made just five field goals and shot 22.7 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes. USF still trailed by 22 points at 60-38 with 9:40 left before the Dons found their first offensive rhythm of the game. A 13-0 USF run, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by Devin Watson and one by Mladen Djordjevic cut the Gaucho lead to 60-51 with 6:32 remaining. The Dons whittled the lead to seven on a Tim Derksen layup with 2:12 left. However, a layup by John Green and a tip-in by Michael Bryson boosted the Gaucho lead back to double-digits at 66-55 with :56 seconds left. Derksen led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Watson finished with 17. The Dons were plagued by 13 turnovers which led to 16 Gaucho points and had only nine assists on the night.