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HONOLULU – On a night the three-pointers weren't falling with the same regularity and its two top scorers were held in check, USF still found a way to pave its path to the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 66-58 win over Illinois State on Friday.

The Dons (10-2) will face San Diego State (7-4) in the title game on Christmas Day beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT. The game will be televise nationally on ESPN2.

USF's second win in Honolulu over Illinois State, a team picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference, couldn't have been more different than the night before, when the Dons used 16 three-pointers to upset Utah, 89-86.

The Dons scored a season low 66 points – 16 below its season average - shot just 36.7 percent from the field while leading scorers Ronnie Boyce and Chase Foster combined for just five points. However, USF compensated with its best defensive effort of the season in limiting the Redbirds to just 30.3 percent shooting, including 22.7 (10-of-44) in the second half. 

So effective was the Dons defense Illinois State managed to make just four of its final 23 shots from the floor over the last 8:05 of the game after the game was tied at 45.
  Freshman Charles Minlend led all USF scorers with 17 points while sophomore Frankie Ferrari finished with a career high 16. Both players nailed three 3-pointers. Matt McCarthy turned in a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Remu Raitanen was in double figures for the second straight game, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor.

MiKyle McIntosh led Illinois State (7-4) in scoring with a game-high 20 point.

The two teams were never separated by more than five points in the first half before the Redbirds took a 31-29 lead at the break, marking the first time this season the Dons had trailed at intermission.

The Dons trailed by four points at 35-31 early in the second half but ran off seven straight points, capped off by a Minlend three, to take a 36-35 lead with 14:47 left. USF would never trail again, although the teams were tied at 45 with 8:37 left when Ferrari drained a three to give the Dons a 48-45 lead with 8:05 left.

Illinois State then went ice cold from the floor, missing 19 of their final 23 shots down the stretch. USF opened a 10 point lead at 60-50 with 1:09 left and fended the Redbirds off at the line to earn a spot in Sunday's championship game against one of the west coast's strongest programs.

"Nate (Renfro) and Remu did a great job for us defensively on their forwards and the glass, as did Matt (McCarthy)," said USF head coach Kyle Smith. "We were tough-minded tonight. It's hard to pick up wins on back-to-back nights but our guys were up to the task tonight. We were the younger, but tougher team tonight."

A team with 13 underclassmen on its 15-man roster that was picked to finish ninth in the WCC this season now finds itself in the championship game of one of the most prestigious holiday tournaments. Let that sink in for a while before seeing what the upstart Dons have in store on Christmas Day.