PORTLAND, Ore. – As a sweep in the Pacific Northwest is about as a rare as dry day in the Bay Area these days, USF will gladly settle for the next best thing after posting a 65-51 win over Portland on Saturday night at the Chiles Center.
 
Two nights removed from suffering a 35-point loss to top-ranked Gonzaga, the Dons (19-10, 9-7 WCC) put forth a solid defensive effort to snap a two-game losing streak and complete the season sweep of the Pilots (9-19, 2-14 WCC). USF has won 13 of the last 15 games against the Portland, including six straight on the Bluff.
 
USF's win, coupled with Santa Clara's loss to San Diego, moves the Dons into a tie with the Broncos for fourth-place in the conference standings with one weekend left in the regular season. The Dons, picked ninth in the WCC's preseason poll, has secured at least a fifth-seed in the upcoming WCC Championships in Las Vegas.
 
Chase Foster scored a game high 18 points while Jordan Ratinho added 13 and Charles Minlend chipped with 11 to pace a balanced offensive effort. With Mladen Djordjevic plagued by foul trouble, Frankie Ferrari played 29 minutes off the bench and finished with five points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
Foster was 5-of-7 from the field tonight, including 2-of-3 from distance, and made all six of his free throws to reach double figures for the third straight game.
 
Sophomore Jazz Johnson scored a team-high 18 points for the Pilots.
 
The Dons managed to shoot just 37.5 percent for the game but forced the Pilots into 19 turnovers. USF, which came into the game shooting 61 percent from the line, knocked down 14 of 17 charity tries. The teams were even on the boards, 34-34.
 
Much like the game earlier this season in San Francisco, both teams got off to slow starts offensively. The Dons managed to make just three of their first 17 shots from the floor but trailed by just one point at 10-9 midway through the first half. With the game tied at 14-14 with 7:29 left, USF reeled off seven straight points and ended the first half on a 15-3 run to boost its lead to 29-18 at intermission.
 
Minlend scored seven of his 11 points during the Dons run to close the half.
 
The Dons never relinquished control of the game, as the Pilots could get no closer than eight points to USF the rest of the game. The Dons largest lead was 15 points, the last time with 4:40 left after a Ratinho three-pointer.
 
"Chase was really good on both ends of the floor tonight," said USF head coach Kyle Smith. "He had a nice weekend up here. Frankie played with a lot of command tonight and looks to be gaining confidence after missing five weeks of the preseason with a broken hand."
 
The Dons will look for their 20th win of the season on Thursday night when they face Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Southland road trip will conclude with a stop in Malibu for a date with the Pepperdine Waves a week from today.