SAN FRANCISCO – The University of San Francisco men's basketball team was simply too much for visiting Northern Arizona on Wednesday night, defeating the Lumberjacks 76-60.  USF had an off night offensively but it did not matter, the defense created a plethora of easy buckets as the Dons collected its ninth win by 15 or more.
 
USF (11-1) finished with three in double figures and were led by Charles Minlend's game-high 18 points.  Minlend had a strong night from the field going 5-for-11 from the floor and 1-for-4 from beyond the arc, but a bulk of his handy work came at the charity stripe where he finished 7-for-9.
 
Joining Minlend in double figures were Frankie Ferrari with 17 and Matt McCarthy who had 11.  Ferrari had four assists and a season-high five steals.  McCarthy missed a double-double by one rebound, finishing with a game-high nine boards. 
 
In the early going, the Dons offense struggled.  USF opened the game 0-for-8 from beyond the arc before Ferrari hit the first triple of the game at the 10:13 mark.  Seven of the Dons' first nine points were created via a Lumberjack turnover that led to an easy transition bucket. 
 
A triple by NAU's Nik Mains gave the Lumberjacks their largest lead of the night, up 14-8 at the 12:56 mark.  After a quick timeout by USF, the Dons began to take over going on a 23-7 run over the remainder of the half. 
 
Out of the break, the Dons extended their lead.  The defense switched to the zone to contain NAU's efficient 3-point shooting, and allowed the Dons to crash harder on the boards.  The Dons trio of Minlend, Ferrari, and McCarthy were enough steady offense to build the Dons lead to 21 with 2:19 to play.  Ferrari finished with 10 in the second half, Minlend and McCarthy had nine each.
 
NAU (2-7) had two players finish in double figures and was led by Andrew Bernie's team-leading 13 points.  Joining him in double figures was Luke Avdalovic who had 12. 
 
GAME NOTES

• The Dons improve to 2-0 against teams nicknamed the Lumberjacks.  USF defeated Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 30 in Belfast. Northern Arizona and Stephen F. Austin are the only two Division I schools that use Lumberjacks as their mascot.
• With the win, the Dons extend their winning streak to four games.  It is the second such streak of at least four games this season.  Last year, the Dons longest winning streak all season was four games that came during USF's run in the CBI.
• The Dons' 11-1 start is the 10th in program history of 11-1 or better, of those previous nine teams, eight advanced to the postseason with seven going to the NCAA Tournament.
• USF's 49 points scored in the second half are tied for the second most scored by the Dons this season.  USF is averaging 41.4 points per game in the second half and have only been outscored by their opponents twice, both coming in wins – first against Harvard and last against Cal State Fullerton.
• The Dons struggled to contain the Lumberjacks on the glass, USF entered the game +12.4 in rebound margin but was outrebounded 21-19 in the first half.  Out of the break, USF did much better and finished +2 in rebounds overall, 39-37.
• With 8:05 in the second half, sophomore Charles Minlend scored his 500^th career point.  He accomplished that feat in his 45^th game.  Minlend joins Jordan Ratinho (813 points), Frankie Ferrari (735), Matt McCarthy (716) and Nate Renfro (582) with 500 or more points.

 
POSTGAME QUOTES WITH HEAD COACH KYLE SMITH
 
WHAT CAN YOU TAKE AWAY FROM TONIGHT'S GAME?
"I thought we did some good things. I thought we only turned over the ball four times. Our defense was great in the first half, but we couldn't find the basket. I thought we were playing right by putting the ball inside while they were doubling us and we were able to throw it out. We weren't a great shooting team tonight and people are going to test us on that. We will put it behind us and get ready for Stanford."
 
ON DZMITRY RYUNY'S PERFORMANCE:
"We were struggling to score and they were packing it in. They weren't really guarding the four spot instead the five. I stuck him in there and I thought he made a couple of good looks. He seems to find shots and he is a pretty confident guy. I have confidence in him too. He is still learning and we will see how the season progresses."
 
ON MATT MCCARTHY'S LATE DUNKS:
"We are taking what the defense gives us by that time of the game. We exchanged a little bit of the pick-and-roll action with Matt (McCarthy) that changed their coverage. Frankie (Ferrari) and Jamaree (Bouyea) was able to find Matt on the pick-and-roll a couple of times, which really helped us. I think our bigs were surprised about their physicality earlier." 
 
THOUGHTS ON SATURDAY'S GAME AGAINST STANFORD:
"Saturday will happen one way or the other. Our guys have been pretty good about staying in the moment." 
 
NEXT UP
The Dons will play their final non-conference home game on Saturday when Bay Area foe Stanford comes to the Hilltop.  The game is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start and will be televised on Pac-12 Network with Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini on the call.  Fans can also tune in to Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli as they call the game courtside on the home of USF Basketball, 1550-AM The GAME.