STOCKTON, Calif. – USF used a familiar formula for success in its 81-60 win over the Pacific Tigers Saturday afternoon at the Spanos Center.
 
The Dons made 13 three-pointers while leading scorer Ronnie Boyce scored a game-high 24 points to lead USF to its fifth win in six games and a sweep of the season series with the Tigers.
 
The win improves USF's record to 15-8 overall and 5-5 in the West Coast Conference while the Tigers drop to 8-15 overall and 2-8 in the WCC after suffering their fifth straight loss. USF's record is their best at the 23-game mark of the season since 1999-2000 squad was 17-6 at the same point of the season.
 
Junior Chase Foster added 13 points and Remu Raitanen finished with 12 while Ray Bowles scored a team-high 19 points for Pacific.
 
The Dons shot 48.3 percent from the field while the bench scored 56 of USF's 81 points. It marks the fifth consecutive game USF has held an opponent under the 70 point mark.
 
USF connected on seven of their 13 three-pointers in the first half and built as much as a 13-point lead at 33-20 with 2:41 remaining before the break. Boyce made six of nine shots from the floor, including a pair three-pointers and scored 14 of his 24 points over the first 20 minutes.
 
The Tigers scored the last four points of the first half and the first four of the second period to cut the Dons lead to 33-28. USF was still nursing a five point lead at 37-32 with 16:22 left when the Dons went on a 14-4 run to open a 51-36 lead with 13:07 remaining.
 
USF extended its lead to 20 at 66-46 following a pair of free throws by Charles Minlend and led by as many as 22 point before winning by the final 81-60 count.
 
The Dons posted their highest point total since tallying 89 in a win over Utah at the Diamond Head Classic.
 
"I thought we were pretty locked in all game," said USF head coach Kyle Smith. "We went 2-1 on this little three-game road swing and that's pretty good. It's tough to win on the road especially with a young team."
 
For Boyce, it was the sixth game this season scoring 20 or more points but his first double-figure scoring game since Jan. 7 against Saint Mary's – a span of six games.
 
"Ronnie has been coming on in practice. At certain times this season it hasn't been easy for him but he has stuck with it and hopefully he can sustain it."
 

Up Next
USF returns to the Hilltop on Thursday night to play host to the Pepperdine Waves. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. Thursday's game has been designated as Dons of the 70's Night as USF will pay tribute to its legendary teams and players of the 1970s. Some of the players and coaches expected to be in attendance include three-time All-America selection Bill Cartwright, 2017 USF Hall of Fame inductee James Hardy, Mike Quick, Rod Williams, Bart Bowers, Wallace Bryant, Bob Gaillard, Dan Belluomini along with members of the late Phil Smith's family. USF legends Bill Cartwright and James Hardy will also sign autographs following the game.

Tickets for next week's games against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount are available on USFDons.com/tickets. 

Free Parking Information
Parking is available free of charge two hours prior to tip-off until one hour after the conclusion of the game in any campus lot, with the exception of designated green parking spots at the top of Hayes-Healy garage on Golden Gate Avenue adjacent to the gymnasium. Campus parking lots of choice include the lot at the Koret Center, located at the corner of Turk and Parker and the Hayes-Healy underground garage, located on Golden Gate Ave. just past the Sobrato Center. Due to expected large turnouts for both games, fans are encouraged to arrive early. View campus parking map here.
 

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Tickets are available for USF's Hall of Fame dinner to be held on Feb. 3 at the McLaren Conference Center on campus. Former men's basketball standout James Hardy '78 joins Eduardo Rangel '66 (men's soccer), Patrick McGuigan '06 (baseball), Tami Adkins '93 (women's basketball), and Dr. Sandee Hill (special category) as the 2017 class of inductees into the Father Hubert "Hub" Flynn Hall of Fame. Click here to purchase your tickets today