Game at a Glance
San Francisco Dons (10-2, 0-0 WCC) vs. San Diego State Aztecs (7-4, 0-0 Mountain West)
Sunday,  Dec. 25, 2016 • 3:00 p.m. (HT) / 5:00 p.m. (PT)
Stan Sheriff Center • Honolulu, Hawaii
Series Record: San Diego State 3-2
Last Meeting: Dec. 22, 2012 (San Diego State 80-58)
Audio Stream: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: ESPN2 (Roxy Bernstein, Play-by-Play; Dino Gaudio, Analyst)

Opening Tip
USF (10-2, 0-0 WCC) faces the the San Diego State Aztecs (7-4, 0-0 Mountain West) in the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Christmas Day beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT. The Dons advanced to the title game with wins over Utah (89-86) and Illinois State (66-58) while the Aztecs took down Southern Miss (66-61) and Tulsa (82-63). Sunday's game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Dino Gaudio calling the action.

The Dandy Dons

• Advanced to the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with wins over Utah (89-86) and Illinois State (66-58)...Charles Minlend (17) and Frankie Ferrari (16) ca,e off the bench to lead USF scorers vs. Illinois State.
• At 10-2, are off to its best 12-game start since the 1999-2000 team was 11-1 after 12 games on the way to a 12-1 start...have won three straight and six of seven games.
• Dons' record under Kyle Smith also marks the best start by a USF first-year coach since Pete Barry's 1980-81 USF team got off to a 10-1 start.
• Face San Diego State in the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Christmas Day...the Aztecs lead the all-time series, 3-2 with the last meeting occuring in this same tournament four years ago, when San Diego State posted a 80-58 win over the Dons in a first round matchup.
• Making a return visit to the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic after going 1-2 in the 2012 event...dropped games to San Diego State and Ole Miss before downing East Tennessee State...are 22-14 against teams in this years field.
• Defeated Illinois State despite scoring a season-low 66 points, shooting 36.7 percent from the field and its top two scorers Ronnie Boyce and Chase Foster combining for just five points.
• Shooting 49.2 from the field this season and rank first the WCC and 24th nationally in field goal percentage...have shot better than 50 percent from the field in seven of 12 games this season...shot 50 percent or better in six games last season.
• Also top the WCC and rank fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (42.7)...rank fourth nationally in three-pointers made per game (11.2)...made 16-of-28 (57.1) of its long distance tries against Utah, marking the seventh game this season USF has connected on 10 or more treys in a game, including a school-record 18 against Eastern Washington.
• Three players - Boyce (27), Minlend (23) and Foster (22) -- have made 20+ threes this season while a total of seven players have made 10 or more shots from distance.
• Have outrebounded seven opponents this season and are even on the boards in two other games..are +70 on the boards over the last 11 games and rank third in the WCC in rebound margin (+5.3)...sophomore Nate Renfro leads the Dons in rebounding at 5.8.
• Put forth one of its best defensive efforts of the season against Illinois State in limiting the Redbirds to 58 points and 30.3 shooting from the floor, a season-low for a Dons opponent this season.
• Averaging 81.1 points a game this season -- third-highest in WCC...have score 90+ points twice this season vs. Eastern Washington (90) and San Francisco State (91).
• USF's reserves have combined to score 155 points over the last three games against Abilene Christian (58), Utah (52) and Illinois State (45)...Don's bench has outscored the opponents 410-237 (+173) over the last 11 games
• Senior Ronnie Boyce ranks seventh among WCC scoring leaders with a 16.5 points per game average...he has scored 20 or more points in four of 12 games this season, including a career-high 31 at UCSB...Boyce has 10, 20-point scoring games for his career.

Scouting Report

About San Diego State
Are 7-4 on the year after posting wins over Southern Miss and Tulsa to reach the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game…also played in the 2012 championship game but dropped a 68-66 decision to No. 3 Arizona…have won three straight after dropping three in a row to Loyola-Chicago, Grand Canyon and Arizona State…led in scoring by Jeremy Hemsley, who is averaging 16.6 ppg…backcourt mate Trey Kell is scoring 14.3 a game while Zylan Cheatham is also scoring in double figures at 11.4…Cheatham also tops the team in rebounds at 6.5…averaging 71.8 points a game but are limiting opponents to just 62.5 an outing…have compiled the eighth highest winning percentage in the nation since 2010-11 season…under the direction of veteran coach Steve Fisher, who is in his 18th season at San Diego State.

Series History with San Diego State State
San Diego State leads the all-time series with USF, 3-2. The teams last met here at the 2012 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, when the 18th-ranked Aztecs downed the Dons, 80-58 in a first round matchup. USF and San Diego State also squared off in the 2010 Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic, with the 7th-ranked Aztecs earning a hard-fought, 62-56 decision. USF and San Diego State first met on Dec. 29, 1954, with the Dons scoring a 70-56 victory, the sixth win in USF's historic 60-game winning streak that produced back-to-back NCAA Championships. The two teams also met in consecutive seasons in 1978-79 and 1979-80. The Aztecs upset 17th-ranked USF, 77-75 on Dec. 5, 1978 in Memorial Gymnasium, but the Dons returned the favor the following season with a 99-71 victory on Dec. 22 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

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