On Saturday night the University of San Francisco men's basketball team takes on a former conference rival and looks to wrap up a historic non-conference run when the Dons battles UC Santa Barbara at The Thunderdome.  Saturday's game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed online at the BigWest.tv. Fans can also tune in to the official home of USF Dons Basketball, 1550-AM The GAME, to hear Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli call all the action live courtside. 

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Dec. 29, 2018 – 7:00 p.m. PST
Opponent: UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (9-3, 0-0 Big West)
Site: The Thunderdome – Santa Barbara, Calif.
Video: BigWest.tv
Radio:  1550-AM The GAME
Talent: Pat Olson (play-by-play) and Jim Brovelli (analyst)
Live Stats: USFDons.com
Game Notes: USF at UCSB
 
USF AT A GLANCE

• The Dons, riding a five-game winning streak, travel to Santa Barbara to take on UC Santa Barbara on Saturday evening, USF  looks to improve to 13-1 for the first time since the 1981-82 season as they wrap up non-conference play. 
• USF's 12-1 start is the 10th time in program history since WWII that USF has started 12-1 or better through the first 13 games.  Eight of the previous nine teams advanced to the post season.
• The 12-1 start is the best since the 1999-00 season when that team went on a 12-game winning streak to finish non-conference play at 12-1.
• Following last Saturday's win over Stanford, the Dons are 2-0 against the Pac-12 this season, USF has now defeated Cal and Stanford in the same season for the first time since Nov./Dec. 1978. 
• Entering Saturday's game against the Cardinal, USF ranked 320th out of 351 Division I teams at the charity stripe shooting just 63.3 percent.  Against the Cardinal the Dons went 19-for-25 (76.0) - in the second half the were 17-for-22.  Frankie Ferrari and Charles Minlend combined to go 10-for-12.
• The 19 made free throws tied a season-high for the Dons - they also made 19 against Maine on Nov. 10.  For the year, Ferrari leads the Dons at the charity stripe - he is 63rd in the nation shooting 86.4 percent at the line.
• The Dons remain strong in the NET rankings. USF is still in the top-25 sitting at 25th as of Thursday morning.  The Dons are one of two WCC teams in the Top-25 with Gonzaga ranked 11th.
• For the third-straight week the Dons are receiving a vote in the AP Poll, for the first time this season they are receiving a vote in the Coaches Poll.  Prior to this season, the last time the Dons received a vote in either poll was in the 1999-00 season when USF opened up the year 12-1. 
• USF is currently seventh in the nation in scoring margin at +20.0. After defeating Northern Arizona by 16, the Dons have nine wins by 15 or more this season.
• In the Kyle Smith era, the Dons have scored 70 or more 54 times. In those contests they are 43-11.  This season, the Dons are 10-1 when scoring 70 points, their lone loss was an 85-81 loss to No. 21 Buffalo in Northern Ireland.
• In the win over Stanford, the Dons reserves outscored the Stanford bench 18-16.  USF is 10-0 this season when the bench outscores their opponent. The Dons' bench has scored 329 points this season, averaging 25.3 points per game.  Matt McCarthy leads the Dons reserves, averaging 11.4 points off the bench.

THE SERIES
The series between USF and UC Santa Barbara dates back to the Dec. 10, 1960 when the Gauchos defeated the Dons 60-53 in Santa Barbara.  Overall, the Dons own a 24-14 advantage in the series that was dominated in large stretches by USF in the 60's and 70's.  At UC Santa Barbara, Dons are 10-8 overall.  The last time USF defeated the Gauchos came on the road, when USF took down UCSB 75-63 on Nov. 16, 2016.  Over the last 10 contests UCSB is 7-3 against the Dons.
 
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
Under second year head coach Joe Pasternack, the Gauchos are 9-3 this season and 5-0 at home after defeating Idaho 84-65 last Saturday.  The Gauchos return just one starter from last year's team that went 23-9 but missed out on the postseason.  UCSB is averaging 75.6 points per game and is outrebounding their opponents by 7.8 rebounds per game.  Leading the team in scoring is guard Ar'Mond Davis, a transfer from Alabama, who is averaging 15.3 points per game.  He is one of four players from UCSB averaging 10 or more points per game. 
 
LAST GAME AGAINST UC SANTA BARBARA
On Nov. 28, 2017 UC Santa Barbara traveled to Hilltop and defeated the Dons 79-72.  It was one of the rare home losses that year for USF who finished the season 16-6 at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.  The two sides were tied at 41 going into the locker room when UCSB pulled away late to earn the five point win.  Leading the team in scoring for the Dons was Chase Foster and Souley Boum who scored 17 apiece. USF shot just 35.5 percent for the game and was 6-for-33 from beyond the arc as they struggled to find their touch from 3-point range.  After the intermission the Dons were just 8-for-30 from the field.
 
UP NEXT
WCC play begins on Thursday when Bay Area rival Saint Mary's comes to the Hilltop on Thursday, January 3 at 6:00 p.m. Thursday's game will be televised nationwide on ESPN2.  Tickets for the Saint Mary's game are expected to be sold out, be sure to reserve your chance to see the Dons and Gaels renew their rivalry now by purchasing your ticket now at Dons Ticket Central.