Game at a Glance
USF Dons (3-0, 0-0 WCC) vs. Sacramento State Hornets (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
Saturday,  Nov. 26, 2016 • 7:00 p.m.
Reece Court • Cheney, WA
Series Record: USF 9-3
Last Meeting: Nov. 17, 2007 (USF 93-63)
Audio: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Television: None

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

Opening Tip
USF (3-0, 0-0 WCC) returns to action on Saturday afternoon when the Dons meet the Sacramento State Hornets (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky) as part of the Eastern Classic hosted by Eastern Washington University. Tip-off is set for 3:35 p.m. The Dons are coming off a 79-67 win over Troy on Wednesday while the Hornets fell at UC Davis, 81-72 on Monday night. USF will wrap up the Eastern Classic on Sunday with a game against the host Eagles at 6:05 p.m.
 

• Off to a 3-0 start after Wednesday night's 79-67 home win over Troy...last started 3-0 in 2014-15 with wins over South Carolina State, Notre Dame de Namur and Hawaii...looking for first 4-0 start since 1986-87.
• Meet Sacramento State for the first-time since the 2007-08 season on Friday as part of the Eastern Classic in Cheney, Wash....are 9-3 all-time vs. the Hornets...wrap up the weekend against host Eastern Washington on Sunday.
• Senior Ronnie Boyce has taken game-high scoring honors in each of the first three games... coming off a 25-point performance vs. Troy and ...after two games, Boyce is averaging 29.5  now averaging a conference-high 28.0 points per game...Boyce now has nine 20-point scoring games in his career.
• Freshman Charles Minlend is the only other Don averaging in double figures at 11.3 ppg...scored a season-high 16 points at UCSB, 12 of which came in the first half.
• Improved season shooting percentage to 48.9 with a 51.9 percent effort against Troy...five Dons shooting 50 percent or better from the field, led by Jimbo Lull at 70 percent (7-for-10).
• Made a season-high 12 three-pointers against Troy and are now shooting 35 percent from distance after three games.
• Finished 15-15 overall last season and were 8-10 (5th in the West Coast Conference)...are 29-33 over last two seasons after a 21-12 (13-5 WCC) campaign in 2013-14.

Scouting Report

A Look at Sacramento State
Are 1-3 following a 81-72 setback to UC Davis on Monday night…suffered road losses at Colorado (90-53) and Nebraska (83-61) out of the gates before posting its only win of the season over Antelope Valley (82-60)…three players are scoring in double figures, led by senior forward Nick Hornsby and junior forward Justin Strings, who are both averaging 12.0 points per game…junior guard Marcus Graves is scoring at a 11.3 ppg clip….Graves was the only player to start all 31 games a year ago and had five games with at least 20 points…shooting 39.4 percent from the field over the first four games of the season while opponents are shooting 47.5 percent…finished 14-17 overall a year ago and 6-12 in the Big Sky Conference…advanced to the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament…welcome back nine players and a redshirt from last year's team, including four of its top five scorers…under the direction of head coach Brian Katz, who is in his ninth season at Sacramento State…was named the 2015 National Mid-Major Coach of the Year after guiding the Hornets to a 21-12 record in 2014-15.

Series History with Sacramento State
In a series that dates back to the 1951-52 season, USF leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 9-3. The two teams last met on Nov. 17, 2007, with the Dons posting a 93-63 victory on the Hilltop. USF and Sacramento State were once regular opponents, meeting for six for consecutive seasons (2002-07).
 
A Look at Eastern Washington
Off to a 3-2 start...have won its last two games over Bryant (81-77) and Seattle (80-76)…win over the Seattle came in double overtime as Jacob Wiley scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds…return three starters off of last year's 18-16 team, including junior Bogdan Bliznyuk alog with seniors Felix Von Hofe and Julian Harrell…junior Sir Washington also returns after averaging 5.7 points a game a year ago…lost to graduation was Venky Jois, who departed as Eastern Washington's all-time leading scorer…were 18-16 last season and won a game in the College Basketball Invitational postseason tournament…went 27-9 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament two years ago…head coach Jim Hayford is in his sixth season in Cheney after spending 10 seasons at Whitworth College in Spokane.

Series History with Eastern Washington
USF and Eastern Washington have met just three times over the years, with the Eagles holding a 2-1 advantage. USF scored a 66-48 victory on Dec.. 1, 1995 on the Hilltop as part of the Met Life Classic. The Eagles have handed the Dons losses each of the last two seasons on the Hilltop, 81-76 on Dec. 11, 2014 and 81-77 on Dec. 1 of last season.

Last Year's Meeting With Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington canned 14 three-pointers and defeated USF 81-77 on Dec. 1, 2015 in War Memorial at The Sobrato Center. Devin Watson led USF in scoring with 25 points, Tim Derksen added 16 and Don't'e Reynolds recorded his first double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Felix Van Hofe's 20 points led a balanced Eagle scoring attack. Austin McBroom made 5-of-9 three-pointers and finished with 19 points while Bogdan Bliznyuk added 17 and Venky Jois contributed 11. Van Hofe and McBroom accounted for nine of the Eagles 14 three-pointers on the night. USF shot 55.9 percent from the field and outrebounded EWU, 36-22. However, the Eagles dialed in 14-of-30 of their three-point tries compared to USF, which made just 3-of-15 shots from long distance. USF fell behind by as many as 17 points midway through the first half and trailed 40-29 at intermission after the Eagles drained seven of their 14 3-pointers over the first 20 minutes. The Dons trailed by 11 at 78-68 with 2:45 remaining but used a 11-2 run to cut the lead to 80-77 with :50 remaining. The Dons missed a chance to tie the game with :07 left when Mladen Djordjevic's three-pointer was off the mark.

Dons Notebook

The Start 
USF is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2014-15 when USF posted wins over South Carolina State, Notre Dame de Namur and Hawaii. The Dons are looking for their first 4-0 start since the 1986-87 season when Jim Brovelli's Dons opened the year with wins over St. Thomas (Minn.), Nevada, Pacific and California. The 1985-86 Dons also won their first four games of the season, downing St. Thomas (Minn.) twice, Eastern Oregon and Nevada.

RBIII 
Three games into the season, senior Ronnie Boyce III is averaging 28.0 points per game, which leads the WCC and ranks third nationally behind Wright State's Mark Alstork (30.3) and Marcus Keene (29.3) of Central Michigan. Boyce opened the year by scoring 28 points in USF's season opening win against Illinois-Chicago  and  with a 31-point outburst at UC Santa Barbara. Both performances bettered his previous career high. He notched his ninth 20-point game of his career Wednesday night vs. Troy finishing with 25 points. The lone senior on the Dons' roster, Boyce has made 30-for-54 shots (55.5) from the field.

On a Roll 
With USF notching wins in each of its first three games to open the season, Kyle Smith-led teams have won 11 straight games dating back to last season. Smith's Columbia Lions won four straight games to capture the CollegeInsider.com championship. The Dons won all four games on their European summer tour and have opened the 2016-17 season with three wins out of the gate.

Doubling Up 
Ronnie Boyce has recorded double-doubles in each of the last two games against UC Santa Barbara (28-10) and Troy (25-10). He was three assists shy of a triple-double against Troy.

From the Field 
The Dons recorded their first 50 percent shooting performance of the season Wednesday against Troy, finishing at 51.9 (28-for-54). USF also canned a season-high 12 three-pointers (12-for-28). USF shot 50 percent of better from the field in six games last season.

The Dons Bench 
USF's reserves have outscored the opponent 57-20 over the last two games (33-7 at UCSB; 24-13 vs. Troy) after being outscored, 28-21 in the season-opener against Illinois-Chicago.

Last Time Out

USF 79, Troy 67 
Ronnie Boyce notched his second consecutive double-double, scoring a game-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds and a career-best seven assists as USF turned back the Troy Trojans, 79-67 Wednesday night on the Hilltop. Freshmen Charles Minlend and Jordan Ratinho came off the bench to score 11 each while Nate Renfro turned in a solid stat line with nine points, nine rebounds and six assists. Ratinho made 4-of-5 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from distance, while Minlend drilled 3-of-5 shots from beyond the arc. The Dons also shot a season-best 51.9 percent from the field and canned 12-of-28 three-pointers. USF also had the better of it on the boards, 36-28.