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USF Men's Basketball Crashes Waves 77-47 In WCC Play
Feb. 11, 2010
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By Stacy Hicklin
USF Beat Writer
SAN FRANCISCO -- The University of San Francisco men's basketball team started out slowly, but finished with a bang.
USF posted a 77-47 win against Pepperdine on Thursday night at War Memorial Gym.
It was the most lopsided West Coast Conference win in coach Rex Walters' two seasons at USF.
The Dons (10-15, 5-5) scored just four points in the first eight minutes of the game, opening the game by shooting 3-for-12. Pepperdine (7-18, 3-6) jumped out to an 11-4 lead.
"I thought we came out early settling for quick 3-pointers," Walters said.
Three quick baskets from Dior Lowhorn, within two minutes, pulled the Dons back into the game, but it was Blake Wallace that changed the momentum.
Immediately after checking in, the senior forward trapped Pepperdine into a corner, forcing the Waves to call a timeout to avoid a turnover. He continued to fuel the Dons' defensive effort after they came back from the timeout.
"Blake sparked us when he came in and picked up the pressure defensively," sophomore Angelo Caloiaro said.
The Dons forced the Waves into turnovers during their next three out of five possessions with Caloiaro ending another possession by taking a charge.
"Blake was really good," Walters said. "His numbers aren't great, but he changed the game when he came in and showed great senior leadership."
USF went on a 17-0 run to end the first half, taking a 29-15 lead into the break. The Dons held the Waves scoreless for the final five minutes and 54 seconds of the half. It was Pepperdine's lowest scoring first half of the season.
The Dons pushed the lead to 20 points within the first 2:17 of the second half and proceeded to keep the lead near 30 for the majority of the remainder of the game.
Caloiaro stole the show in the second half, going a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc in the second half. He hit three shots from downtown within a 95-second span. The sophomore forward scored a career-high 21 points with four steals and three assists.
Sophomore Rashad Green recorded his first double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds - the most by a Don this season.
Lowhorn moved into fifth place on the USF all-time scoring list passing Dons' Hall-of-Famer Gerald Walker and two-time All-American Ollie Johnson. Lowhorn has totaled 1,677 points after finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds against Pepperdine.
Pepperdine didn't start sophomore standout Keion Bell. The sophomore guard finally checked in five minutes into the game, but went on to shoot 5-for-21. The Dons held him to 13 points -- six points less than his season average.
Bell was the only Pepperdine player to finish in double-digit scoring.
USF tied a season-low for turnovers with nine and tied its best free throw percentage of 84.6 perfect after going 22-for-26 from the line.
"This was a huge win," Caloiaro said. "We have to come out with that energy from the start against Loyola Marymount."
USF hosts Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13 at War Memorial Gym on Senior Night. The Dons will honor Lowhorn, Wallace and Dontae Bryant before the game.
NOTES: Next up for Lowhorn on the career scoring chart is All-American Winford Boynes (1975-78), who scored 1,702 points for fourth place... The 30-point win was USF's most lopsided West Coast Conference win since defeating Loyola Marymount 86-52 in Los Angeles (2/14/98)... With the win, San Francisco improves to 8-4 at home, its highest win tally at War Memorial Gym since posting a 12-4 slate in back-to-back years from 2004-06... USF has won eight of its last 11 meetings against Pepperdine dating back to 2006.
