Box Score LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Opening its WCC Championship slate, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (24-8, 13-5 WCC) took care of business on Sunday night as the No. 3 Dons took down No. 6 Washington State (19-14, 8-10 WCC), 86-75, at Orleans Arena to advance to the WCC Championship semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Getting things started in Vegas, San Francisco and Washington State exchanged field goals through the first three minutes, tied at 7-7 with 16:56 on the clock, with Malik Thomas, Tyrone Riley IV and Ryan Beasley all connecting on their first shot attempts of the ballgame.
- Junjie Wang scored his first basket off an offensive rebound, followed by two Thomas free throws to give the Dons an 11-7 lead with 15:39 remaining.
- Keeping his foot on the gas, Thomas scored second-chance baskets on back-to-back possessions to maintain the advantage for San Francisco, 17-13, with 12 minutes to go in the half.
- Subsequently, an and-one by Ethan Price cut the deficit to one, 21-20, with 7:02 remaining, but the Dons quickly built the lead back up with a tough second-chance putback from Saba Gigiberia and another Thomas jumper to go up 25-20 with just under six minutes to play.
- Nate Calmese took advantage of the Dons' seventh turnover of the half, hitting a three to trim the lead to two, 27-25, heading into the four-minute media timeout.
- Three points in two possessions by ND Okafor put Washington State in front, 28-27, but it was quickly snuffed by Beasley's second trey of the night to put San Francisco up 30-28 with 2:13 to go in the half.
- Closing out the half, Saba Gigiberia and Robby Beasley both scored at the rim in the final two minutes of the period and the Dons went into the locker room with a 34-32 advantage following a first half that saw 15 offensive rebounds for the green and gold.
- LeJuan Watts quickly tied the game at 34 to start the second half with a layup 22 seconds into the period, but a 12-2 San Francisco run that saw three WSU turnovers, highlighted by a Ryan Beasley and-one off a steal, gave the Dons its biggest lead of the night so far, 46-36, with just under 16 minutes to play.
- Quick to fight back, Ethan Price scored five straight points in 50 seconds for WSU to cut the lead in half, 46-41, in USF's favor.
- Extinguishing the short run, the Dons strung together a 6-0 spurt, including two more layups from Beasley, putting the green and gold back up by double-digits, 52-41, with 14 minutes remaining.
- Continuing the game of runs, Washington State followed suit with a 12-2 burst ignited by four more USF turnovers as the lead was quickly cut to just one, 54-53, with 11:23 on the clock.
- Ballooning the lead once again, USF rallied back with a 10-1 run that saw back-to-back Ryan Beasley threes to regain a double-figure lead, 66-56, with under eight minutes to play.
- Off yet another San Francisco offensive rebound, Wang hit his second triple of the night to put the green and gold up 73-61 with 5:17 remaining.
- The Cougars tried to put a dent into the lead, but the Dons stayed poised with two minutes left as Ryan Beasley scored six more points in a three-minute span.
- Five made free throws by Veniamin Abosi in the final 90 seconds sealed the deal for USF as the Dons took down the Cougars, 86-75, on Sunday night to advance to the WCC Championship semifinals for the fourth straight season.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Rising to the occasion, Ryan Beasley showed out with 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting in 34 minutes of action, all career-highs in just his second career start.
- Controlling the glass, Wang logged his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass, posting a game-high +14 plus-minus.
- The WCC's leading scorer, Malik Thomas, piled on 18 points to go with six rebounds and two steals, connecting on all six of his attempts from the free throw line.
- Riley IV rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points and six rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting in 29 minutes.
- Taking care of business at the charity stripe, Abosi sank a career-high seven free throws on eight attempts, all coming in the last 2:37 of the game.
- As a unit, San Francisco grabbed 21 boards off the offensive glass, the most offensive rebounds in a game for the Dons since Feb. 27, 2016 (21 vs. Saint Mary's). The green and gold's season-high 49 total rebounds are the most since Jan. 13, 2024 last season (52 vs. Portland).
- USF improves to 14-1 this season when reaching the 80-point mark and 15-2 when outrebounding its opponent.
POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
- For the fourth year in a row, San Francisco will face off against Gonzaga in the WCC Championship semifinals, set to tipoff at 8:30 p.m. PT tomorrow night at Orleans Arena. USF will look to end a 32-game losing streak against the Zags, with the two teams having met just eight nights ago on Mar. 1 at Chase Center in the regular season finale as Gonzaga defeated the green and gold, 95-75. The contest will air live from Las Vegas on ESPN2 with Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham on the call while Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli will have the call live on KNBR 1050. Live streaming, live radio and live statistics links are available via the team's schedule page.
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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 -
Nike - 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.
