Sun Devils Top Dons on Sunday Afternoon

Sunday, December 3

Tempe, Ariz.

12:00 pm PST

University of San Francisco

5-3,0-0WCC

Arizona State

5-2,0-0Pac-12

Team	1	2	F
San Francisco	28	33	61
Arizona St.	36	36	72

Photo by: USF Athletics

12/3/2023 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TEMPE, Ariz. - Meeting for the third straight season, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (5-3) traveled to Arizona State (5-2) for a matinee matchup on Sunday as the Sun Devils topped the Dons, 72-61, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Using their homecourt to their advantage to start things off, the Sun Devils raced out to an 8-0 lead to begin the ballgame.
After a free throw from Jonathan Mogbo got the Dons on the board at 17:19, Arizona State extended their advantage to double digits, 12-1, following a made jumper from Alonzo Gaffney at the 16:00 mark.
As the half played out, San Francisco fought back near the midway mark of the first half as another free throw from Mogbo at 11:17 made it a seven-point game, 16-9. Less than a minute later, a made three-pointer from Marcus Williams kept it a six-point game, 18-12, at 10:37.
Answering back, ASU stretched their lead back to double digits with a run of their own in the minutes to follow, which gave the Sun Devils a twelve-point advantage, 28-16, at the 7:01 mark.
Closing the half at a similar pace, the Dons continued to claw back as the clock ticked down, but Arizona State seemed to answer each spurt of momentum from the green and gold. Following two free throws from Mike Sharavjamts with just under a minute remaining in the half, San Francisco trailed ASU by eight at the break, 36-28.
Coming out of the locker room, the green and gold scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut their deficit to just four, 36-32. Responding once again, the Sun Devils grew their lead back to double digits, 42-32, after three consecutive buckets of their own.
Showing fight no matter the momentum, the Dons stayed within eight as the second half moved along. After a jumper from Mogbo at 9:26, USF trailed 53-45.
With 7:30 remaining in regulation, a pair of free throws from Malik Thomas kept it an eight-point game, 55-47, but this is as close as San Francisco would get for the rest of the afternoon.
Finding separation down the stretch, Arizona State leaned on their home crowd for support to close out the contest as the Sun Devils used an offensive rally to regain a double-digit advantage. Picking up their third straight victory, ASU went on to take down the Dons, 72-61.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Enjoying another career day on the hardwood, Mogbo finished with a career-high 23 points on 9-of-11 from the field in addition to pulling down 16 rebounds. Playing 34 total minutes, the forward shot 5-of-7 from the free throw line in addition to adding one assist and one steal.
Finishing in double figures for the fifth straight game, Williams tallied 15 points on 6-of-14 from the floor in 38 minutes. Overall, he also recorded three rebounds and two steals.
As a team, San Francisco led Arizona State in bench points, 9-0.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will head east to Nashville for their next matchup as the Dons are set for a road game at Vanderbilt this upcoming Wednesday, Dec. 6. Tipoff from Memorial Gymnasium is set for 5:00 pm PST/7:00 pm CT. Live streaming, radio and live statistics are available via the team's schedule page.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - Toyota - 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.