SAN FRANCISCO – Khalil Shabazz did not miss a shot and his career-night helped erase a 14-point second half deficit as the University of San Francisco men's basketball earned its first signature win of the Todd Golden era, defeating BYU 83-82 on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
Shabazz, a redshirt sophomore from Seattle, Wash., poured in a career-high 32 points, going 10-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 from beyond the arc.  At the 6:02 mark in the second half he missed the third of three free throws - the lone blemish on his shooting line, he was 6-for-7 form the charity stripe.
 
Shabazz' 32 slightly outshined a brilliant performance from fellow guard Jamaree Bouyea.  Bouyea was the other unstoppable force, finishing with a career-high 23 points, he also had four rebounds, five assists, three steals, and one momentum swinging block that helped propel the Dons on their big run midway through the second half.
 
USF (15-7/4-3 WCC) shot 54.5 percent from the field, going 30-for-55. From beyond the arc they were 13-for-25 (52.0 percent) – in the second half the Dons were 7-for-11 from 3-point range. 
 
BYU (15-7/4-3 WCC) had four players finish in double figures and were led by TJ Haws 20 points.  Yoeli Childs had 19 – only nine in the second half when USF made a defensive switch and had Taavi Jurkatamm on the Cougars stellar center. The Cougars finished the day shooting 51.7 percent from the field – they were 15-for-27 from 3-point – 9-for-15 in the opening half.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Midway through the first half the Cougars took their largest lead of the half – 11, following a three from Zac Seljaas.  The Cougars opened the contest 7-for-13 from beyond the arc.   
 
• Late in the first half the Dons went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to two – punctuating that run was a pull up three from Shabazz in front of Haws.  USF was 6-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first half – the Cougars were better going 9-for-15 from distance.
 
• The Cougars closed out the half with a seven point lead – up 45-38 thanks to their three point shooting.  The Dons bested the Cougars in the rebound category going into the intermission with a 16-14 advantage.
 
• Out of the break the Cougars pushed their lead to 14 – going up 54-40.  Jake Toolson scored seven points early for BYU in the second half, he finished with 17.  
 
• From there it the combo of Shabazz and Bouyea took over. The Dons went on a 21-0 run that started with an impressive layup in traffic by Charles Minlend – two of his six points.  From there, Shabazz and Bouyea took over. At the 14:30 mark, Shabazz scored a layup in the paint – the first of 22 second half points. 
 
• With 11:43 Remu Raitanen tied the game up with a triple at the top of the key – the Dons quickly got a stop and a layup in the paint by Bouyea gave the Dons their first lead since the 17 minute mark in the first half.
 
• With 6:02 to play, the Dons led by 13 – up 72-59 from there the Cougars made things uncomfortable, converting five USF turnovers into 10 points. 
 
• With 17 seconds remaining and USF leading 79-77 and BYU with possession of the ball, the Dons fouled Childs on purpose to put BYU's best rebounder at the line – worst case scenario USF would have had the ball with 17 seconds to run their offense with a chance to win it in regulation with a tie ballgame.  The gamble worked, Childs missed the front end of the 1-on-1 and Jurkatamm got the rebound.  From there USF put the game on ice hitting four consecutive free throws.
 
NOTABLE NUMBERS
2 | The Dons had two players finish with at least 20 points for the first time since Frankie Ferrari and Charles Minlend had 22 each against Saint Mary's on Feb. 2, 2019.
3 | USF has won three-straight against BYU for the first time since the Dons won four-straight prior to the Cougars joining the WCC.
3-0 | The Dons improve to 3-0 on the year when facing a coach in his first year at a school. Earlier this year, USF defeated Bryan Mullins and Southern Illinois in November, followed by Mark Fox and California in December.
6 | Prior to Shabazz' going 6-for-6 from beyond the arc, the last player to finish 5-for-5 or better from 3-point range was Remu Raitanen against CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 19.
13 | With their 13 3-point field goals tonight, the Dons improve to 10 on the year when making 10 or more shots from long range.
14 | For the second consecutive game, the Dons have erased a 14-point second half deficit against BYU.  Last year, the Dons did it with less than eight minutes to play at the Marriott Center.
30 | Shabazz is the first player to score 30 points in a game for USF since Ronnie Boyce III did it in a losing effort against Santa Clara on Mar. 4, 2017 in the WCC Tournament.
76 | With the win the Dons improve to 13-1 on the year when scoring 76 or more. 
 
NEXT UP
The Dons will return to action on Thursday, traveling to the Jenny Craig Pavilion to take on the Toreros.  Thursday's contest will start 7:00 p.m. and will be televised on NBC Sports Bay Area.
 

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Please mark your calendars for the Hall of Fame Dinner on February 21^st at 6:30 PM in the McClaren Conference Center on USF's campus. We will honor our Dons of the Year, Kevin and Susan Hanley, as well as our inductees that include Dior Lowhorn (men's basketball, 2010), Joy Boyenga (women's basketball, 1992), and Kyle Zimmer (baseball, 2012). Tickets are available now at usfdons.com/halloffame.