LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Displaying grit until the final buzzer, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (23-10, 11-5 WCC) led early on Monday night, but the Dons fell to No. 17/15 Gonzaga (25-6, 14-2 WCC), 89-77, in the semifinal round of the 2024 Credit Union 1 WCC Championship at Orleans Arena.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Off the opening tip, Gonzaga started strong with an early 7-2 lead through the first two-and-a-half minutes, with five points courtesy of Anton Watson.
- Fighting back for San Francisco, quick buckets from Marcus Williams and Ndewedo Newbury tied the game at 9-apiece at the 14:50 mark.
- Taking control of the contest, a second three-pointer from Williams and a driving lay up from Jonathan Mogbo capped off an 8-0 run by the green and gold to give USF a 14-9 lead at 13:21.
- Gonzaga quickly pushed back to retake the lead, 23-22, but the Dons answered right back with a Malik Thomas and-one. Newbury followed Thomas' three-point play with a three-pointer of his own that forced the Zags to burn a timeout as USF held a 28-23 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half.
- At 3:17, Malik Thomas found Ryan Beasley for a corner three off of an offensive rebound to give the Dons their biggest lead of the half, 35-27.
- Closing out the opening period, Gonzaga strung together an 11-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back threes from Nolan Hickman and Dusty Stromer, to go up 38-35 with 11 seconds remaining.
- On the final play of the first half, Jonathan Mogbo hit a floater to beat the buzzer, cutting San Francisco's deficit to one as the Dons headed into the break down 38-37.
- Returning from the locker room, the Zags instantly fought to add to their lead with seven quick points in the first two minutes to lead by six, 45-39, at 17:54.
- Back-to-back baskets from Mogbo helped cut USF's deficit to five, 48-43, with 16 minutes to play.
- Gonzaga was able to gather momentum in the moments to follow as a 20-6 run over the next four-plus minutes to build onto an advantage that the Bulldogs would not relinquish.
- Despite a 13-point second half effort from Thomas, San Francisco ultimately fell to Gonzaga, 89-77, on Monday night.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Never losing faith throughout the night, Thomas led the Dons in scoring with 22 points in 33 minutes of play, which tied for the third-most points the USC transfer has had in a game in his collegiate career.
- Alongside Thomas, Williams tallied 17 points and six assists on 7-of-14 shooting in a team-high 35 minutes of action.
- Mogbo and Robby Beasley rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points apiece as the duo shot a combined 81.8 percent from the floor (9-11).
POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
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SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor -
San Francisco 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.
