SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Playing in front of a sold-out crowd in their final regular season home game, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (22-8, 9-6 WCC) battled the nation's top team until the final buzzer on Thursday night, but ultimately fell to No. 1/1 Gonzaga (24-2, 13-0 WCC), 89-73, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Matching each other stride for stride out of the gates, the Dons remained within one point, 9-8, early on following a made three-pointer from Patrick Tape at 17:32.
• In the minutes to follow, Gonzaga would stretch their lead to nine, 20-11, but USF answered back with a 12-3 run to knot the contest at 23 on a fast break layup from Jamaree Bouyea at the 11:53 mark.
• As the half continued on, the Zags would regain their advantage, but the Dons kept within striking distance as a three from Khalil Shabazz at 5:39 cut their deficit to just three, 38-35.
• Closing out the first twenty minutes with a 14-7 stretch of their own, Gonzaga pulled ahead by double digits heading into the locker room, but a corner triple from Josh Kunen made it a ten-point game at the half, 52-42 in favor of the Zags.
• Scoring 11 of the first 13 points to begin the second half, Gonzaga pushed their lead to nineteen on a Chet Holmgren layup at 15:55. Keeping pace, Julian Rishwain came off the bench to deliver in key moments as the Los Angeles native nailed one from deep to stay within fourteen, 73-59, at the midway point of the second half.
• Down the stretch, GU displayed their efficiency on both ends to remain on top by double digits, however another Rishwain three at 2:52 sliced USF's deficit to just ten, 83-73. Unfortunately, this was as close as the Dons would get in the final minutes of the ballgame as Gonzaga would go on to secure their seventeenth consecutive victory, 89-73, while improving to a perfect 5-0 in true road games this season. 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Playing in his final regular season home game in his fifth year in the green and gold, Bouyea finished with 14 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal while playing all 40 minutes for the seventh time this season.
• Despite leaving with an injury in the second half, Shabazz tallied a team-high 17 points along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 30 minutes of action.
• Rounding out the scoring, Yauhen Massalski flirted with a double-double by adding 14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in 33 minutes while Rishwain logged 13 points and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes.
• As a team, San Francisco led Gonzaga in fast break points (9-4) and bench points (19-7) while both teams shot 50.0 percent overall from beyond-the-arc. 

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.
• To view the full postgame interview with guard Jamaree Bouyea, please click here.

UP NEXT:
USF will make their final road trip of the regular season this weekend when they travel to San Diego for a 2:00 pm matchup with the Toreros on Saturday, Feb. 26. Notably, this will also serve as the final regular season game for the Dons in 2021-22 as USF will begin to prepare for the WCC Tournament following their matchup with USD. Live streaming, radio and live statistics are available via the team's schedule page.
 
MERCHANDISE:

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.