PULLMAN, Wash. - Trekking north to Pullman for the first time in program history, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team will aim to cap off its two-game road trip with another victory as the Dons are set to take on Washington State (12-3, 3-0 WCC) on Saturday afternoon at Beasley Coliseum.
 
GAME 17 INFORMATION:
Date: Saturday, Jan. 4, 2024
Time: 4:00 pm PT
Opponent: Washington State (12-3, 2-0 WCC)
Location: Beasley Coliseum / Pullman, Wash.
Watch: ESPN+ (Ann Schatz, Mary Murphy)
Listen: KNBR 1050 (Pat Olson)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
DONS AT A GLANCE:

• In their last time on the hardwood, San Francisco squeezed out an 89-81 win at Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 2 as the Dons notched their first true road victory and third conference win overall. Guiding the team from the backcourt, Malik Thomas poured in a game-high 24 points while Marcus Williams was dominant once again with 22 points, 7 assists and 3 steals.
• With the victory over Pacific, San Francisco has started off conference action with a 3-0 record for the second straight season. As of Friday, Jan. 3, the Dons are the only team in the WCC with three conference victories as the green and gold sit in sole possession of first place heading into Saturday.
• Under head coach Chris Gerlufsen, San Francisco has shown to be resilient as the Dons are 4-0 this season after trailing at halftime. Overall, USF is also 5-0 when holding their opponent to under 60 points, 7-0 when shooting 50 percent or better and 9-0 when finishing with a positive turnover margin.
• Continuing to display his playmaking abilities no matter the matchup, Williams has climbed into the top 50 in the nation in total assists with 69 (45th).
• As one of the most dominant scorers in college basketball, Thomas is currently fifth in the nation in total points (313) while also ranking 23rd in points per game (19.6). Impressively, Thomas also ranks tenth in made free throws (85) and thirteenth in free throw attempts (102) as of Friday night.
• With a victory over WSU, San Francisco will record win No. 1,500 as a program. Historically, USF is one of just 15 programs with multiple national championships. 

SCOUTING THE COUGARS:

• Beginning their first week in the West Coast Conference at home, Washington State downed Portland, 89-73, and LMU, 73-59, last week to kick off their inaugural season as WCC members. This week, the Cougars were idle on Thursday, Jan. 2.
• Following the departure of Kyle Smith to Stanford in the offseason, Washington State brought in former Eastern Washington head coach David Riley to lead the program. During his tenure with the Eagles, Riley compiled a 62-38 (.620), which resulted in two Big Sky regular season championships.
• Under Riley, Washington State is off to a 12-3 start, their best start to a season since they started with the same record under Ken Bone in 2009-10. Overall, Riley is the third coach in Washington State history to start the season with 12 wins in 15 games.
• Similar to San Francisco, Washington State boasts a solid resume so far this season as the Cougars rank in the top 40 in Division I in: blocks per game (18th/5.5), two-point field goal percentage (23rd/59.4), effective field goal percentage (27th.57.3) and assists per game (34th/17.4).
• Through 15 games this year, Washington State has five different players averaging double figures: Cedric Coward (17.7), Nate Calmese (16.4), LeJuan Watts (12.9), Isaiah Watts (12.5), Dane Erikstrup (12.3) and Ethan Price (11.4). Additionally, LeJuan Watts leads the team on the glass with an average of 8.1 rebounds per game while Calmese paces the offense with an average of 4.5 assists per game.

SERIES HISTORY:
Saturday's meeting between San Francisco and Washington State will mark just the third meeting all-time between the two programs as the Cougars came out victorious in both matchups previously. In their last meeting, Washington State traveled to San Francisco as the Cougars defeated the Dons, 89-75, in the first round of the CBI on March 13, 2012. Notably, it was the only matchup in the last 73 years between the two programs.
 
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 - Twenty Five Ventures - for their continued support of San Francisco 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.