SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Coming down to the final possession of regulation, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (15-3, 2-1) dropped a hard-fought contest to BYU (15-4, 3-1) on Saturday evening, 71-69, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• To begin the ballgame, neither team could find their footing offensively as the Dons would not reach double digits until the halfway point of the first half when Khalil Shabazz converted on all three of his free throws following a foul on a three-point attempt at 9:45. Starting strong defensively, USF continued to deny the BYU attack to open the contest as two more free throws, this time from Yauhen Massalski, gave the Dons a five-point lead, 15-10, at the 7:55 mark.
• In the minutes to follow, the Cougars answered with a 12-4 run to jump in front, 22-19, with 3:58 remaining in the half. Battling back, USF would close out the half with a 9-5 stretch of their own to hold a one-point advantage, 28-27, heading into the locker room.
• Opposite of the first half, the Dons opened play on fire in the second half as they rallied off three straight baskets to extend their lead to seven, 34-27. Finding their rhythm as the action continued, USF pushed their advantage to ten, 45-35, following a step back three from Jamaree Bouyea at 13:43.
• Trading blows once more, the Cougars responded by trimming their deficit to four points, 52-48, with 10:02 on the game clock. Just a few moments later, BYU would even the score, 54-54, at the 7:17 mark after back-to-back layups in the paint.
• Aiming to defend their home court, Julian Rishwain displayed his strength by drawing a foul and sinking a driving layup at 6:22, which was followed by a made free throw to give USF the lead back, 57-54. As crunch time approached, two more made shots at the line from Patrick Tapé kept the Dons in the driver's seat, 65-61, with 3:12 left in the contest.
• Buckling down in the closing moments, BYU would go on to outscore USF, 10-4, following Tapé's free throws as a final three-point attempt from Bouyea at the buzzer fell just short, resulting in a 71-69 road victory for the Cougars.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Leading the charge throughout the night, Bouyea finished with a game-high 19 points while also adding two assists, one block and one steal. Impressively, Saturday's performance marked the fifteenth time this season in which the Seaside native has tallied double figures and the second time this year in which he has played all 40 minutes of the contest (also played 40 min at Arizona State on Dec. 19, 2021).
• Making his presence felt down low, Tapé recorded a new season-high with 12 points on 3-of-5 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Overall, the 6'10" forward also tied his season-high with four steals while tallying seven rebounds and one block in 30 minutes played.
• As a team, USF led BYU in points off turnovers (15-8) and fast break points (12-5). 

POSTGAME:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's contest, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Todd Golden, please click here.

TICKETS AND MERCHANDISE:
Single-game tickets for West Coast Conference basketball games are currently on sale at www.usfdons.com/tickets. 

Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at www.usfdons.com/shop.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.