MBB | Dons Come Back From 13 Down But Fall to BYU - University of San Francisco Athletics

Thursday, January 4

San Francisco

8 p.m.

University of San Francisco

9-7, 1-2WCC

BYU

14-3, 2-1WCC

Team	1	2	F
BYU	33	36	69
San Francisco	26	33	59

Matt-McCarthy-USF-Dons-Mens-Basketball-vs-BYU

Photo by: Gerome Wright

MBB | Dons Come Back From 13 Down But Fall to BYU

1/4/2018 11:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SAN FRANCISCO – A strong second half surge was not enough as the University of San Francisco men's basketball team fell to visiting BYU by a final score of 69-59 on Thursday evening at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Junior Matt McCarthy and senior Chase Foster led the Dons with 16 and 14 points respectively.

USF (9-7, 1-2 WCC) trailed for most of the game, after BYU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. The Cougars (13-3, 2-1 WCC) went into the locker room leading 33-26 after shooting 47.8 percent from the floor in the first half.

Coming out of the break, the Dons played tremendous defense, holding BYU to 0-for-5 to begin the half. The Dons eventually tied the game 44-44 following a Nate Renfro dunk to cap a 16-11 run. USF's defense would force several turnovers, one of which led to a Jordan Ratinho 3-point field goal from the top of the key that gave the Dons a 53-51 lead with 8:35 in the game.

BYU turned the tide, going on a quick 6-0 run of their own and took the lead for good on a 3-point field goal by Elijah Bryant. Bryant led all scorers with 17, he was one of three Cougars in double figures.

GAME NOTES

The Dons Were held to just eight free throw attempts on the evening, going 3-for-8. BYU finished the night 18-for-25 from the charity stripe.
The Dons fall to 4-6 on the year when turnovers are tied or USF has few turnovers than their opponent. Tonight, the Dons and Cougars each had 15 turnovers apiece.
USF was held to a season-low 25 rebounds on the evening, their previous low was 27 which came in the loss at Stanford on Dec. 17. Nate Renfro finished with nine boards, a season-high for the junior.
The Dons lost for just the seventh time under head coach Kyle Smith when holding an opponent under 70. They entered tonight 24-6 in those contests.
BYU's largest lead of the night was 13 points with 9:06 in the first half. That is the largest lead the Dons have overcome this season.

NEXT UP
USF will travel south to Malibu for a quick one game road trip when the Dons take on Pepperdine at 1:00 p.m.