STANFORD, Calif. – The University of San Francisco men's basketball team made a tremendous late run, but ultimately could not overcome a slow offensive start, falling to host Stanford 71-59 on Sunday afternoon at Maples Pavilion.
 
USF (6-4) did not have a player in double figures till late in the second half, the Dons shot 19.2 percent from the field in the first half, going 5-for-26.  For the game, USF shot a chilly 16-for-59 (27.1 percent) in large part because they were just 8-for-30 from beyond the arc.
 
In the opening half USF took an early lead, and was up on the Cardinal (6-6) for six minutes in the contest.  Helping that run was the Dons strong showing at the free throw line and Matt McCarthy's hot start.  The junior scored all eight of his points in the first period, including the first and only made 3-point bucket in the first half. 
 
Stanford closed out the first half on a on an 18-4 run late, and went into the locker room up 38-21. Out of the intermission, the interior play of Reid Travis allowed the Cardinal to pull away.  Travis finished with a game-high 29 points. 
 
With 15:08 in the contest, Stanford had their largest lead of the evening, going up 25.  From there, the Dons made a change and went smaller.  Souley Boum flourished in the period, scoring all 14 of his points, he continues to excel at the free throw line where he was a perfect 8-for-8.  USF went on a 24-11 run late in the contest and eventually cut the deficit to nine with 3:07 in the game on a made 3-point field goal from Remu Raitanen.  But the run ended there and Stanford held on for the 12-point win.
 
GAME NOTES

• The 21 points scored by the Dons in the opening half is a season low, USF had been averaging over 30 points a game prior to tonight.  The only other contest in which USF was held to less than 30 before intermission came against Arizona State on Dec. 2.
• Souley Boum was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.  The freshman entered tonight's game as one of the nation's leading free throw shooters, hitting 90 percent of his attempts.He is now 53-for-58 (91.3 percent) on the year.
• The Dons featured a lot of youth on the court tonight.  No strangers to playing underclassmen, the Dons had five freshman and sophomores play 15 or more minutes tonight.  Taavi Jurkatamm played a career-high 26 minutes.
• The Dons are now 0-2 on the road this year, both road losses coming at the hands of Pac-12 teams. Against the Pac-12 Conference, USF is now 830138 all-time against teams from the Pac-12.
• Chase Foster got hot in the second half and finished with 14 points as well, to go along with his seven rebounds.  He has led the Dons in scoring four times and has scored 10 or more seven times.

 
 
NEXT UP
The Dons will return home for their final home non-conference contest on Tuesday night when USF hosts Radford at 7:00 p.m.  Tuesday's contest will be aired on 95.7 The Game, and can be streamed live via TheW.tv.