PROVO, Utah – Evening the season series at one game apiece, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (18-5, 5-3) downed BYU (17-7, 5-4), 73-59, at the Marriott Center on Thursday night behind five Dons finishing in double figures.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Out of the gates, the Cougars grabbed an early 12-4 lead through the first four minutes of play, but the Dons responded shortly thereafter to knot the game at 16 following Jamaree Bouyea's first three-pointer of the evening at the 9:18 mark.
• Hitting their stride from beyond-the-arc, USF would heat up from deep in the minutes to follow as they would sink eight first half threes overall, which included four straight triples from the hands of Bouyea and Khalil Shabazz as the Dons raced ahead to an eleven point advantage, 32-21.
• Joining the party with a three of his own, Gabe Stefanini cashed in from distance at 1:19 to put San Francisco up 37-25 before Bouyea providing a jaw-dropping moment for the third consecutive game by nailing a near-half court shot as the halftime buzzer sounded to give the Dons a fifteen-point edge heading into the locker room, 40-25.
• Continuing their momentum, USF netted the first six points of the second half to push their gap to 21 points, 46-25.
• Battling back behind the strength of their home crowd, BYU rallied to trim their deficit to ten, 55-45, with 10:07 remaining on the game clock. Locking down on defense when it mattered most, the Dons would not let the Cougars come within more than eight points down the stretch as USF buried BYU with four consecutive points from Patrick Tapé with just over two minutes left.
• Buckling down to avenge their loss on Jan. 15, San Francisco hung on to take down BYU, 73-59, for their first win in Provo since Feb. 21, 2019. 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Growing into one of the most dominant big men in college basketball, Yauhen Massalski logged his fourth consecutive double-double and his eighth overall this season with a team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes played.
• Rounding out the scoring, Shabazz and Stefanini eached added 15 points for the Dons while Bouyea finished with 13 points alongside Tapé's 10 points.
• As a team, USF led BYU in points off turnovers (16-9), second chance points (9-4) and fast break points (11-2). Notably, the Dons forced 14 turnovers by the Cougars while also sinking 15 free throws to BYU's 12. 

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. 

UP NEXT:

• USF will head to Portland as WCC play rolls on as the Dons are set to take on the Pilots at the Chiles Center on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5:00 pm PT. Live streaming, radio and live statistics links are available via the team's schedule page. 

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.