SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Hosting its first NIT home game since 2014, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (25-9, 13-5 WCC) captured its first postseason win in seven years on Wednesday night as the Dons hung on to take down Utah Valley (25-9, 15-1 WAC), 79-70, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center to advance to the second round of the tournament.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Carter Welling opened the scoring with a layup to give Utah Valley the first lead, but a Malik Thomas putback layup and a Junjie Wang three-pointer put San Francisco up 5-2 through the first four minutes of the game.
- The Dons netted five more points via a Carlton Linguard Jr. three and a Ryan Beasley mid-range jumper to go up 10-3, but the Wolverines sparked a 12-3 run, including eight points from Welling, to take a 15-13 advantage with 12:14 remaining in the half.
- UVU doubled its lead to four, 19-15, halfway through the period, but the Dons followed suit with an 11-4 run, including Beasley's second three-ball of the night, to retake the advantage, up 26-23 with 6:49 to play.
- Keeping its foot on the gas, the green and gold bumped its lead up to nine, with Linguard Jr. hitting his third triple of the half to put USF up 35-26 with less than two minutes to go in the first period.
- Ending the half, Utah Valley trimmed the Dons' lead in two, shooting four-of-five from the charity stripe in the last minute as San Francisco went into the break with a 37-32 advantage.
- Strengthening its control, USF came out blistering to start the second half with an 11-2 stretch, which included threes from Beasley, Linguard Jr. and Thomas to extend its lead to fourteen, 48-34.
- Battling back, Utah Valley narrowed the San Francisco lead to six with a 12-4 run, putting the score at 52-46 with under 14 minutes remaining in the half.
- Snuffing the Wolverines' run, back-to-back tough layups from Thomas and Tyrone Riley IV quickly put USF back up by double digits, 56-46, with 13:19 on the clock.
- The offense then turned stagnant on both sides of the court, with just 10 total points scored in the next five minutes, but the Dons still maintained their lead, up 60-52 with under seven minutes left in regulation.
- Storming back out of the eight-minute media timeout, UVU strung together nine unanswered points with buckets from Carter Welling, Hayden Welling and Dominick Nelson to take a one-point lead, 61-60, with 5:47 remaining.
- Regaining control, San Francisco scored seven straight points of their own with baskets from Linguard Jr., Wang and Thomas to go up 67-61 with 4:23 to play.
- The two squads exchanged free throws and threes over the next two minutes, but with the Dons in the double bonus, free throws from Beasley brought the USF lead back up to three possessions, 74-67, with two minutes left.
- Coming up clutch, Thomas hit his third three-pointer of the game with 1:32 to play to once again give the green and gold a double-digit lead, 77-67.
- Thomas' three turned out to be the dagger as the Dons went on to open the NIT with a 79-70 victory over Utah Valley and advance to the second round of the tournament.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Posting his best performance in the green and gold, Linguard Jr. scored a season-high 18 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field and tying a season-high with four made three pointers, including finishing with a game-high +16 plus-minus.
- Leading USF in scoring once again, Thomas logged his first career double-double with a team-high 21 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, scoring 20-plus for the third straight game.
- In his third consecutive start, Ryan Beasley shined again with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from deep, dishing out a team-high six assists in 39 minutes of action.
- Riley IV and Wang scored 11 and eight points, respectively, with the freshman coming up just short of another double-double, grabbing nine rebounds.
- San Francisco cashed in on 12 made threes tonight, improving to 3-0 on the season when hitting at least 12 shots from distance. Additionally, the Dons dished out 15 assists tonight, now 19-0 this year when totaling 13 or more assists as a team.
POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
Tonight's win advances San Francisco to the second round of the NIT as the Dons are now set to host Loyola Chicago on Sunday, Mar. 23 at 4:00 p.m. PT at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Notably, the Dons and Ramblers faced off earlier this season in a neutral site game at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 15, 2024, with USF securing a 76-66 win at the home of the Milwaukee Bucks. In the contest,
Malik Thomas poured in a career-high 35 points to guide the Dons to a win. Sunday's contest will air live on ESPN 2 and KNBR 1050 at game time. Live streaming, live radio, live statistics and ticket links are available via the
team's schedule page.
FOLLOW US:
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MERCHANDISE:
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SPONSOR US:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor -
Coca-Cola - 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.
