Dons Display Grit Against Nation's Top Team

Thursday, February 24

San Francisco, Calif.

6:00 pm

University of San Francisco

22-8,9-6WCC

No. 1/1 Gonzaga

24-2,13-0WCC

Team	1	2	F
Gonzaga	52	37	89
San Francisco	42	31	73

Photo by: Christina Leung

2/24/2022 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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.