Coming off a brutal road trip that saw the Dons lose three-straight for the first time this season, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team is back home at the friendly confines of War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Saturday. The Dons, who are 11-1 at home this year, will renew their oldest rivalry when the Santa Clara Broncos come to the Hilltop.  Saturday's game will tip off at 8:00 p.m. and will be televised live on NBC Sports Bay Area with Jim Kozimor and Dan Belluomini handling play-by-play duties.  As always, Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli will have the call courtside on the official home of USF Dons basketball, 1550-AM The GAME it will also be carried on the parent station, 95.7-FM The GAME.  Saturday's game against the Broncos has officially been sold out, it is the fifth sell out of the year for the Dons. 
 

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Feb. 09, 2019 – 8:00 p.m. PST
Opponent: Santa Clara Broncos (13-11, 5-5 WCC)
Site: War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
Television: KHQ-TV | ROOT SPORTS NORTHWEST | NBC SPORTS BAY AREA | AT&T SPORTSNET ROCKY MOUNTAIN | THEW.TV (OUT-OF-MARKET)
Talent: Jim Kozimor (play-by-play); Dan Belluomini (analyst)
Radio:  95.7 The GAME-FM The GAME/1550-AM The GAME
Talent: Pat Olson (play-by-play) and Jim Brovelli (analyst)
Live Stats: USFDons.com
Game Notes: USF vs. SCU
 
Promotions

• On Saturday night it will be Beach Night on the Hilltop. The 500 fans get a green/gold lei and a select few will get a USF "Hawaiian" t-shirt courtesy of Arguello Market. The first 150 students will receive a coupon for a free order of nachos.
• The Dons will also welcome back members of the 1998 WCC Tournament Championship team, the last team that competed in the NCAA Tournament under coach Phil Matthews. 

 
Donscast | Episode 3 with Frankie Ferrari and Shannon Powell


USF AT A GLANCE

• At 17-6, USF is off to their best start through 23 games since the 1981-82.  The Dons are looking to win 20-straight for the third consecutive year and 23^rd time in program history.
• After a brutal three-game stretch, the Dons return home where they are 11-1 this season.  The lone loss came at the hands of the then fifth ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs.  In that game, the Dons led the game with less than four minutes to play.  To date, USF is the only team in the WCC to have held a second half lead against Gonzaga, moreover, they are the only team to have held a lead with less than five minutes to play.
• Senior Frankie Ferrari and sophomore Charles Minlend have combined to form a potent scoring tandem.  They came off career-highs against Saint Mary's last Saturday to score 14 apiece on the road in Spokane on Thursday.  In conference play, they are averaging 15.3 and 15.0 ppg respectively. 
• USF Hall of Famer Orlando Smart will be one of 10 new inductees into the WCC Hall of Honor as announced by the Conference on Thursday.  Smart is arguably the greatest player in the last 30 years at USF, boasting 1,532 points and 902 assists.  The 902 assists still rank first in WCC and USF history. 
• Seniors Nate Renfro and Matt McCarthy are moving ever closer to the career games played record at USF.  Renfro has played in 124 games, while McCarthy has played in 123.  The record of 128 was set by Angelo Caloiaro (2008-12).
• Saturday's game against Santa Clara will be the Dons' 11 game on TV this season.  USF is 6-4 this year when they appear on TV.  Frankie Ferrari is averaging 16.3 ppg in games that are televised.

 
THE SERIES
Saturday evening marks the 224th time the Dons and Broncos will square off. All-time, SCU owns a 115-108 advantage in the series. However, since 1949-50 the series is remarkably even with the Broncos owning an 80-77 advantage in the series.  But its more than that - over the last 157 games the Dons have scored 10,422 points the Broncos have scored 10,428.  USF averages 66.4 ppg, the Broncos average 66.4 ppg. At War Memorial Gym the Dons are 33-30 against the Broncos. USF has won six of the last 10 including a 70-59 win over SCU on the road on Feb. 3, 2018 in the two teams last meeting.  Under head coach Kyle Smith the Dons are 2-3.
 
ABOUT THE BRONCOS
After starting the year 1-5 the Broncos have managed to turn their season around, even without star player KJ Feagin, the Broncos enter Saturday's game 13-11 overall and are 5-5 in the WCC and fresh of back-to-back wins over Portland and Pepperdine.  As a team, Pepperdine is averaging 69.3 points per contest which ranks eighth in the WCC.  They are shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc.  Defensively, they allow 71.2 points per game.  Against the Waves on Thursday, they came away with the 79-71 victory in Malibu.  Four players are averaging in double figures with Tahj Eaddy averaging 15.0 points per game.
 
LAST GAME AGAINST SANTA CLARA
After falling to the Broncos at home earlier in the year, the Dons got a little pay back defeating Santa Clara 70-59 in a game they never trailed.  The Dons owned the first half, going up by as much as 14 with 1:24 to play in the period.  Defensively, USF played tremendous team basketball, holding leading scorer KJ Feagin to zero points in the first half.  Out of the intermission Feagin got hot, scoring 15 points and the Broncos briefly tied the game with 14:19 to play.  However, the stellar play of Frankie Ferrari and Jordan Ratinho helped put the game away.  Ferrari scored 19 to lead the Dons and Ratinho added 17.  Matt McCarthy had 12 points.  USF shot 65.0 percent from the field in the second half the Dons shot 65.0 percent from the field going 13-for-20.  But in the end, it was the defense holding SCU to one field goal over the last three minutes that proved to be the difference.
 
UP NEXT
The Dons will stay home when Pepperdine comes to the Hilltop on Thursday, Feb. 14.  The game is slated for a 7:00 p.m. tip and will be streamed live on TheW.tv.  Tickets are available at Dons Ticket Central.