Dons Fall to Wildcats in Back-and-Forth Affair

Friday, November 25

Davidson, NC

11:00 am PT/2:00 PM ET

University of San Francisco

6-1,0-0WCC

Davidson

6-1,0-0Atlantic 10

San Francisco

Davidson

Photo by: Christina Leung

11/25/2022 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Battling until the final whistle, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (6-1) dropped a hard-fought contest at Davidson (6-1), 89-80, on Friday afternoon to close out their week-long road trip.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Matching each other to open the ballgame, USF took an early lead, 5-4, on a triple from Julian Rishwain at the 15:57 mark in the first half.
Shortly thereafter, the Wildcats erupted with a 6-0 run to take a 10-5 advantage at, but the Dons responded with a 9-2 run of their own to hold a 14-12 lead at 12:17.
Connecting from distance, Isaiah Hawthorne nailed a corner triple on an assist from Tyrell Roberts near the midway mark of the first half to extend the gap to 22-14.
Continuing to keep their foot on the gas pedal, USF stretched their lead to ten, 31-21, at 6:12 on a floater from Saba Gigiberia.
In the minutes to follow, Davidson defended their home court by reeling off a 10-0 run to draw even at 31 with 3:46 left in the half.
Regrouping in the moments to follow, the Dons closed the first twenty minutes of action with a 9-5 run to remain on top, 40-36, heading into the locker room.
Opening the second half, Khalil Shabazz extended the score to 47-40 on a three-pointer of his own at 17:32.
As the game moved along, the two teams continued to trade blows, with USF holding a 59-54 advantage at 10:02 after a layup from Josh Kunen. With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Kunen then converted on a jumper in the paint to keep the Dons in front, 67-66.
Using the strength of their home crowd to catapult in front, Davidson responded by rallying with a 15-5 run down the stretch as the Wildcats led 81-72 after a dunk from Reed Bailey at the 1:33 mark.
Following a free throw from Shabazz with 1:20 left in the game, the Dons remained within striking distance as they were down by just six, 81-75.
Unfortunately, this is as close as USF would get for the remainder of the contest as Davidson dug deep to hold on by a final score of 89-80.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Shabazz finished with his third 20+ point total of the season as the Seattle native tallied 20 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal on 6-of-12 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Offensively, Roberts and Zane Meeks each finished with 13 points apiece as both knocked down three triples each against the Wildcats.
As a team, USF nailed eleven shots from behind-the-arc while limiting Davidson to just five made three pointers. Getting contributions from multiple sources, the Dons outscored the Wildcats, 31-20, off the bench. Displaying their depth each night, USF has outscored their opponent off the bench in all seven games so far this season.

UP NEXT:
USF will return home to the Hilltop next week as the Dons will host Little Rock on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 pm at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Live streaming, live statistics and radio links will be available via the team's schedule page.

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.

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at www.usfdons.com/shop.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.