LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The University of San Francisco men's basketball team (23-8, 13-5 WCC) returns to Las Vegas this weekend as the third-seeded Dons are set to open its 2025 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Championship slate against No. 6 seed Washington State (19-13, 8-10 WCC) on Sunday night at Orleans Arena.

GAME 32 DETAILS:
Date: Sunday, Mar. 9, 2025
Time: 8:00 p.m. PT
Opponent: No. 6 Washington State (19-13, 8-10 WCC)
Location: Orleans Arena / Las Vegas, Nev.
Watch: ESPN2 (Dave Flemming, Sean Farnham)
Listen: KNBR 1050 (Pat Olson)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
DONS AT A GLANCE:

• San Francisco will begin its slate in Vegas with vengeance, looking to bounce back from a 95-75 loss against Gonzaga at Chase Center last Saturday in the regular season finale. Despite the defeat, Marcus Williams tied his highest scoring performance in the green and gold with a season-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting, to go along with five assists. Tyrone Riley IV logged his second career double-double, both coming in the last three games of the season, totaling 11 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes against the Bulldogs.
• Cementing himself as one of the conference's best, Malik Thomas finished the regular season slate as the WCC's leader in scoring and steals as the senior averaged 19.1 points and 1.7 steals per game overall. Within league play, Thomas led the WCC with a 19.9 points per game average.
• On Tuesday, Williams and Thomas were named All-WCC First Team honorees while Riley IV earned a spot on the All-WCC Freshman Team. Notably, this marked Williams' second consecutive All-WCC First Team honor in his third season on the Hilltop. Additionally, Robby Beasley earned a spot on the WCC All-Academic Team, posting a 3.85 GPA in the classroom this past fall.
• Within conference action, San Francisco defended the three-ball better than any other team in the WCC, leading the league in three-point percentage defense with opponents shooting at just a 25.2 percent clip from beyond the arc and connecting on just 4.8 threes a game, also a conference-low. The Dons also rank second in the WCC in both three-point attempts (26.1) and free throw attempts (20.1) per game within conference play, shooting 32.3 percent from distance (8^th in WCC) and 73.2 percent from the line (5^th in WCC).
• Making history this season, the Dons compiled a perfect 16-0 record at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center this season, the program's first undefeated season on the Hilltop since the 1980-81 season. San Francisco's conference win percentage of .722 is tied with the 2013-14 squad for the best in the last 43 seasons.
• San Francisco's third-place regular season finish marks the first time in 22 years that the Dons have finished top three in the conference in back-to-back seasons, having last accomplished the feat in the 2001-02 (8-6, T-3^rd) and 2002-03 (9-5, 3^rd) seasons. USF will hold the No. 3 seed in the WCC Championship in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the inception of the conference tournament, having held the No. 3 seed six times prior, including last season.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS:

• Washington State took care of business in their first-even appearance in the WCC Championship as the Cougars downed LMU, 94-77, on Saturday night behind five players in double figures: Nate Calmese (22 points), Ethan Price (22 points), Rihard Vavers (16 points), LeJuan Watts (12 points) and Isaiah Watts (11 points). 
• WSU finished its first season as a member of the WCC with an 8-10 record in conference action, ending the regular season on a positive note with back-to-back wins over San Diego (Feb. 27, 93-86) and Pepperdine (Mar. 1, 90-83) last week. WSU has now surpassed the 90-point mark in each of its last three victories.
• Senior forward Dane Erikstrup led the Cougars in their two victories last week. He scored a game-high 23 points against San Diego on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting from three in just 19 minutes of play before fouling out. In the regular season finale, Erikstrup scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds against Pepperdine.
• On Tuesday, the conference named freshman guard Tomas Thrastarson to the All-WCC Freshman Team while junior Nate Calmese and redshirt sophomore LeJuan Watts were tabbed as WCC Honorable Mentions. Calmese concluded conference play averaging 14.3 points per game on 48.2 percent shooting. Watts established himself as one of the best shooters in the WCC, scoring 13.3 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting from the field and 48.6 percent shooting from beyond-the-arc.  
• Washington State was one of the conference's best shooting teams in WCC action, ranking in the top three in the league in field goal percentage (3^rd, 48.9 percent), three-point percentage (2^nd, 37.9 percent) and three-pointers made per game (2^nd, 8.5).

SERIES HISTORY:

• San Francisco and Washington State are set to meet for just the fifth time in program history, with WSU holding a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series. This year, the Dons and Cougars split the regular season series, with the home team winning each contest. Washington State took the first meeting on Jan. 4, 91-82, in Pullman, but USF avenged the defeat with a comfortable 75-51 win on the Hilltop on Feb. 1.

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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.