SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Cruising to a 10 point advantage midway through the first half, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team looked every bit the part of a team expecting to extend its winning streak.  Host UC Santa Barbara had other ideas.  The Gaucho's defense kept the Dons out of a rhythm all evening, and seized momentum with a big run prior to halftime, eventually going on to win 73-71 at The Thunderdome.
 
USF (12-2) had four players finish in double figures, but the Dons were not themselves offensively tonight.  The ball movement to the open man just wasn't there as UCSB (10-3) played stingy on ball defense.  Leading the team in scoring was Charles Minlend who finished with 19 points.  He was joined by Frankie Ferrari's 14, Matt McCarthy with 13 and Nate Renfro who had a season-high 11. 
 
Renfro tallied his second career double-double grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds, a new career-high. McCarthy also had a double-double, his fourth of the year, he finished with 10 rebounds.  The Dons were busy on the glass, they outrebounded the Gauchos 42-41, a season-high 17 of those came on the offensive side of the ball.  The difference tonight, USF converted just 17 of those rebounds into 19 points, nine coming after the 13 minute mark in the first half.
 
In the opening half it was Renfro's high flying heroics and the Dons inside game that had them out front.  USF led by as much as 10 with 8:47 in the first, up 31-21.  From there the Gauchos went on a 17-8 scoring run and eventually took the lead for the first time on a pair of free throws with 1:01 in the half.
 
Defensively, the Gauchos held the Dons without a field goal over the final four and a half minutes.  The bulk of USF's offensive came from the charity stripe where they went 11-for-19.  From the field they went 13-for-30 and were just 2-for-11 from beyond the arc.
 
To open the second half, Jordan Ratinho picked up his third and fourth personal foul in quick succession.  The Dons offense struggled to get into rhythm. Jamaree Bouyea hit a triple at the top of the key to stop the bleeding as the Gauchos threatened to pull away leading by five.
 
A layup by McCarthy with 5:51 to play gave the Dons their final lead of the night, up 61-59.  From there UCSB took control for good. A pair of 3-point field goals on back-to-back UCSB possessions late in the game proved to be the difference.
 
Leading the Gauchos in scoring was Amadou Sow who had 21 points, he was joined by JaQuori McLaughlin who had 18 and Devearl Ramsey who had 14.
 
GAME NOTES

• USF suffered its first loss of the season when outrebounding an opponent, they were 10-0 entering the game.  Under Kyle Smith, the Dons are 40-7 when they outrebound their opponent.
• Nate Renfro recorded his first double-double since he had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game of the CBI against North Texas on Mar. 30, 2018.
• Renfro and McCarthy's twin double-doubles in the same contest is the first time since Chase Foster and McCarthy both had double-doubles in the win over North Texas on Mar. 26 in the first game of the best of three series in the CBI Championship.
• The Dons fall to 4-2 away from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. 
• USF shot just 36.1 percent (22-for-61), it was their second worst shooting percentage of the year.  In the Dons win over Harvard the shot 32.3 percent from the field.
• The Dons had another active night at the charity stripe.  USF made a season-high 22 free throws on 33 attempts.  Ferrari was 6-for-7, Minlend was 7-for-9.

 
NEXT UP
The Dons will begin conference play on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. when Saint Mary's comes to the Hilltop.  Thursday's game will be televised on ESPN2.  For tickets visit Dons Ticket Central.