Game at a Glance
San Francisco Dons (4-3, 0-0 WCC) vs. Eastern Washington (3-5, 0-0 Big Sky Conference)
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 • 7:05 p.m.
War Memorial at the Sobrato Center • San Francisco, Calif. 
Series Record:  Eagles lead 3-1
Last Regular Season Meeting: Nov. 27, 2016 - EWU 96 - Dons 90 in Cheney, Wash. 
Video: TheW.tv (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Radio: 95.7 The Game (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Television: None
 
 
SAN FRANCISCO – The University of San Francisco men's basketball team looks to go 2-0 this week when it hosts Eastern Washington on Thursday night for a non-conference clash against the Big Sky foe.  The game is slated for a 7:00 p.m. tip.  Tickets are available at the Dons Ticket Central or by calling 415-422-2USF (2873).
 
USF (4-3), is averaging 71.4 points per game which ranks ninth in the WCC.  Defensively, the Dons are holding their opponents to 69.6 points per contest which is fourth in the WCC. For the season, USF is shooting 39.1 percent on the year (169-432), but at home, the Dons are connecting on 40.9 percent of their shots (151-369). 
 
On Monday, the Dons overcame a slow start offensively, and rallied from nine down in the first half to defeat Central Arkansas 78-76 in a thrilling victory that was not secured until the Bears desperation 3-point field goal at the buzzer bounced long off the iron.  Frankie Ferrari got the Dons offense in gear, scoring 11 of his season-high 15 points in the opening half.
 
Three players are averaging 10.0 points per game or more, led by freshman Souley Boum who is tops on the team with 15.0 points per contest.  Jordan Ratinho and Chase Foster and second and third on the team, averaging 12.7 and 11.3 points per contest respectively.
 
Against UCA, USF received a tremendous performance off the bench by Mladen Djordjevic and Remu Raitanen.  Djordjevic scored a season-high eight points, going 3-for-5 from the field in 16 minutes of action, while Raitanen scored nine points, while grabbing five rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
 
Eastern Washington enters tomorrow night's contest in the middle of a season-long 10 game road trip. The Eagles are currently 3-5, but have notable wins over Portland and Stanford earlier this year.
 
Thursday's contest will be the fifth time these two teams have squared off, with Eastern Washington holding a three-game winning streak over the Dons.  The series dates back to 1995 when USF defeated EWU 66-48 at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.  Last year, the Eagles defeated the Dons 96-90 in Cheney Wash.
 
ABOUT THE DONS

• The Dons are 4-0 this season when leading at halftime, to that end, the first half has been the Dons most productive. USF has outscored its opponents 256-224 in the first half (+32) for the season.  In the four wins, USF is averaging 39.0 points in the half, while holding their opponents to 26.5 points.
• In the Dons' seven contests this year, four have come during the week.  USF is 2-0 on Monday's, and 1-1 on Tuesdays.  In those four contests, USF is averaging 75.8 points per game, while holding their foes to 68.2.  USF is also shooting 43 percent from the field in midweek games, going 102-for-237 and 31.3 percent from 3-point range, going 35-for-112.
• The Dons are currently 10th in the WCC, shooting 39.1 percent from the field going 169-for-432.  The Dons love the 3-ball, taking 208 3-point field goal attempts on the year, where USF is shooting 29.3 percent (61-for-208).  From inside the arc this season, USF is shooting 48.2 percent (108-for-224). 
• As previously mentioned, the Dons love the 3-point shot.  USF has taken 208 3-point field goal attempts on the year, which ranks 65th in the nation.  In the game against Arizona State, USF attempted 40 3-point field goals, which is the 22nd most this season by any team in the NCAA.  The most in the NCAA this season was attempted by Savannah State, who attempted 55 shots from beyond the arc in a 112-66 loss against Wichita State on Nov. 28.

 
ABOUT THE EAGLES

• Have lost two-straight after falling to Seattle 84-65 on Dec. 3. 
• Now 3-5 this season, the highlight thus far was a Nov. 14 visit to the San Francisco bay area. The Eagles picked up a 67-61 victory at Stanford that day in EWU's first win over a Pac-12 opponent since 2002. 
• The Eagles are in the midst of a stretch of 36-straight days without a home game – one of just four NCAA Division I teams with such a road stretch this year. 
• The Eagles are shooting at below 40 percent for the season, at 39.7 percent overall and 29.8 percent from the 3-point stripe. 
• Eastern is holding opponents to 43.4 shooting overall and 37.5 from the 3-point stripe. As a result, Eastern is just 11th in the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage, but is fifth in the league defensively. The Eagles are 3-0 when they out-shoot their opponents and 0-5 when they don't.
• Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan Bliznyuk is shooting at a 41.0 percent rate, and three other starters are at 31.3 percent (Mason Peatling), 31.3 percent (Benas Griciunas) and 29.5 percent (Sir Washington).
• One of the team's top long-range shooters, Ty Gibson, has made only 34.1 percent of his 3-pointers and 37.5 percent overall, but made 3-of-6 (2-of-5 from the 3-point stripe) in EWU's last outing versus Seattle on Dec. 3.

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