LAS VEGAS – Sunday night's contest featured a strong Grand Canyon frontcourt against USF's tremendous backcourt.  In the end, it was the Dons' backcourt and terrific defense in the second half that gave USF a 68-65 win at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday evening.
 
"I was a little nervous coming into this game, their frontcourt size is no joke," said head coach Todd Golden. "I'm really proud of the way Taavi (Jurkatamm) battled, I thought Josh (Kunen) did a good job, (Jonas) Visser and Samba (Kane) gave us some good minutes.  This is a game we knew would be tough because they were fresher than we are.  I'm just really proud of our guys for getting the win."
 
USF (6-4) had three in double figures led by Khalil Shabazz' game-high 22 points.  Jamaree Bouyea had 17, 12 in the second half and Julian Rishwain finished with 11.  He was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc giving the Dons a spark off the bench.  It was Rishwain's fourth game in the last five in double figures. But it was Shabazz play that lifted the Dons.
 
"He was phenomenal," said Golden when talking about Shabazz. "He's our spark plug and gives us a lift - even in the starting lineup.  He really gave us a boost offensively when we came out a little flat. Jamaree really stepped it up in the second half – he was really battling, battling, battling and looked like a guy who has already played a ton of minutes. With about eight minutes to play we told him it is time to make some plays and to his credit he stepped up and hit some big buckets."
 
Bouyea had 10 points in the final eight and a half minutes, including a pair of huge 3-point field goals.
 
Grand Canyon (4-2) had four in double figures led by Asbjorn Midtgaard's team-high 18, he also had 10 rebounds for a double-double. Midtgaard checks in at 7-0 feet and 270 pounds, one of three players from GCU who is 6-10 or taller.  Oscar Frayer had 14, Alessandro Lever finished with 12 and Jovan Blacksher Jr. had 10.
 
The Dons shot 40 percent from the field going 23-for-57.  USF found its shooters touch from beyond the arc going 14-for-37.  GCU shot 49 percent from the field going 28-for-57, they shot just 14 percent from distance going 2-for-14.  USF improves to 1-2 on the year and 5-10 in the Golden era when making fewer field goals than their opponent.
 
The early portion of the first half was mired by scoring droughts and turnovers by both teams.  Rishwain helped give the Dons separation hitting a pair of 3-point field goals early. An 8-0 run gave USF a 25-20 lead with under five minutes to play in the first half. Dzmitry Ryuny keyed that run with a 3-point field goal and a dunk – five of his eight points.
 
The Lopes closed the gap and USF went into the locker room leading 30-28. Midtgaard a big reason for the Antelopes run, he finished the first half 6-for-7 from the field.  GCU finished with 40 points inside the paint.
 
"To Grand Canyon's credit they did a tremendous job keeping us out of transition.  They were giving us a lot of threes not letting us get anything in the paint and I thought we took advantage."
 
In the second half, Grand Canyon went on a 9-0 run giving the Lopes a 39-38 lead.  From there the Dons defense responded.  Shabazz and Rishwain hit threes in back-to-back series to retake the lead. USF held Grand Canyon without a field goal for over 5:06. The Dons did a tremendous job of keeping Midtgaard from taking over, holding him to just six points in the second half.
 
Jurkatamm, who was coming off a career might at Oregon, struggled from the field and was 0-for-6 from 3-point range when he stepped up to hit a triple with 2:27 to play giving USF a 10-point lead.  From there USF held on for the win.   
 
"This game really made it a successful preseason," said Golden when talking about the Dons' non-conference slate. "Six and four, really 6-3 after that first night after UMass-Lowell with just one home game, I'm very pleased with 6-4. It gives us confidence going into conference when we start playing more games in our gym where we are a little more comfortable. "