Jan. 10, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format
USF CLOSES FIRST WEEK OF WCC PLAY AGAINST ANCIENT RIVAL SAINT MARY'S: San Francisco welcomes ancient Bay Area rival Saint Mary's to the Hilltop Sunday night to close a three-game homestand at War Memorial Gym. The Dons look to bounce back from their first home loss of the season, a 65-50 setback against San Diego in the 2009 West Coast Conference opener, but must do so against a Gaels squad on a serious roll. Saint Mary's won its 11th straight game and improved to a league-best 14-1 with a 63-62 win against Santa Clara Friday night at McKeon Pavilion in the WCC opener for both teams. Sophomore guard Patrick Mills drained a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining to keep the streak alive for the Gaels. Although USF owns a comfortable 103-61 lead in the all-time series, Saint Mary's has won five consecutive and 10 of the last 12 meetings dating back to 2003. HONORING DICK RAFFETTO: Prior to tip-off of the Saint Mary's game, USF Athletics and Dons Basketball will pay tribute to Hall-of-Famer Dick Raffetto, who passed away in April of 2008. A passionate Dons supporter for more than six decades, Raffetto logged thousands of miles and turned in countless hours supporting USF Athletics and Dons Basketball. A cheerleader during his college years on the Hilltop, he never stopped cheering for the Dons. He was recognized for his dedication in 2006 when he was inducted into the USF Hall of Fame. In addition to spearheading the renovations for the Russell Room at War Memorial Gym, Raffetto designed and donated the Dons mascot. LOWHORN NEARING SCORING MILESTONE: Junior forward Dior Lowhorn continues to charge up the USF career scoring lists and enters Sunday's contest against Saint Mary's with 959 career points in 47 games for a 20.4 points per game average. The Bay Area product currently rates 33rd on the Dons all-time scoring ladder and needs 29 points to crack the top-30. Lowhorn seeks to become the 30th member of the Green and Gold to reach 1,000 career points and the second this season. Senior guard Manny Quezada accomplished the feat at Boston College (12/29/08). DONS BASKETBALL ON COMCAST SPORTS: USF men's basketball opens the 2009 West Coast Conference schedule this weekend against San Diego and longtime Bay Area rival Saint Mary's. Both contests will be carried live on Comcast Sports in the Bay Area with the San Diego contest also being carried by Cox 4 in Southern California. USF DONS BASKETBALL ON GREEN 960 AM: USF men's basketball returns to the airwaves and cyberspace for the 2008-2009 season and all games will be available live at USFDons.com, with the bulk of the schedule available on Green 960 AM. Join Pat Olson for the play-by-play in his 18th year behind the microphone courtside. USF Hall-of-Famer Jim Brovelli will join Olson on selected broadcasts. Other features available on USFDons.com include live scoring via GameTracker, courtesy of CBS Sports. Dior Lowhorn - 2008 WCC FIRST TEAM AND LEAGUE SCORING LEADER: After sitting out the entire 2006-07 season under NCAA transfer rules, junior forward Dior Lowhorn made up for lost time in his first season in the Green and Gold. The Texas Tech transfer and Bay Area native turned in a prolific sophomore campaign for the Dons and led the West Coast Conference in scoring in overall (20.5) and WCC (20.5) contests - the first USF player to pace the league in scoring in both categories since John Cox accomplished the feat in 2004-05 (20.0/19.9). Lowhorn scored 636 points last season, good for fourth place on the Dons single-season scoring charts. A 2008 Mid-Major All-American and a All-WCC First Team pick - the first USF underclassmen tabbed since Gerald Walker in 1995 - Lowhorn scored at least 20 points in 18 games, including a career-high 29 at No. 12 Oregon (11/24/07). Lowhorn led the Dons with five double-double nights last season and scored 19 points six times and was the only USF player to reach double-digit scoring in every game. Lowhorn was named to the 2008-09 WCC Preseason Team, as selected by the league's head coaches. Dior Lowhorn AMONG NATIONAL SCORING LEADERS: Junior forward Dior Lowhorn ranked No. 27 among final 2007-08 NCAA Division I scoring leaders at 20.5 points per game. Lowhorn is the first Don to crack the top-30 on the NCAA scoring list since John Cox (1999-05) did so as a senior. Lowhorn (20.3) ranked No. 24 among Division I leaders as of January 5, 2009. LOWHORN SURPASSES 1,000 CAREER POINTS: With a 23-point night at USC (12/1/08) junior forward Dior Lowhorn surpassed 1,000 combined career points and enters Sunday's contest against Saint Mary's with 1,189 points with 959 coming at USF and 230 at Texas Tech. Last year, the San Franciscan ranked fourth in USF single-season scoring history in his first year on the Hilltop, finishing with 636 points. Manny Quezada SURPASSES 1,000 CAREER POINTS: Senior guard Manny Quezada enjoyed a solid second season on the Hilltop, averaging 13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. For his efforts, Quezada earned 2008 WCC Honorable Mention selection. The New York native ranked third among WCC assists leaders (4.6), was fourth in turnover to assist ratio (1.57) during league games. Quezada notched his second career 30-point game with a 30-point outburst at No. 12 Oregon (11/24/07) and turned in his first double-double at Pepperdine (2/2/08) with 11 points and a career-high 12 assists. After scoring 17 points at Boston College (12/29/08), Quezada became the 29th USF player to surpass 1,000 career points, and enters Sunday's game against Saint Mary's with 1,030 points good for 27th on the career scoring list. Next up is Tim Owens (1990-92), who scored 1,046 in two seasons. DONS TWO-HEADED MONSTER: USF relied heavily on the one-two punch of sophomore forward Dior Lowhorn and junior guard Manny Quezada last season and figure to count on them once again in 2008-09. Last year the duo combined for 39 of San Francisco's 55 points in a 71-55 loss at Oklahoma (11/9/07), accounting for a remarkable .701 of the team's offensive output. The pair combined for a season-high 59 points at No. 12 Oregon (11/24/07). Last year in 31 games, Lowhorn and Quezada accounted for 34.4 points per game - .515 of the Dons total offense. Sixteen games into 2008-09, the duo averages 33.2 points per game, .455 of the team's output. NEW FACES PRODUCING IN THE DONS BACKCOURT: Three backcourt newcomers are making their presence felt for USF in their first year in the Green and Gold. Freshman East Bay product Kwame Vaughn ranks third on the team in scoring through 16 games at 10.7 per contest with 3.8 rebounds after a career-high 22 points at San Jose State (12/22/08). Junior Dontae Bryant adds 4.4 points and ranks second on the team in assists at 3.2. Freshman guard Chris O'Brien has started 11 games for USF and adds strong defense to go along with 4.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest. As a group, the newcomer guard trio averages 18.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. DONS DOING IT WITH BALANCE: With 16 games in the books for the 2008-09 season, USF's offense is sharing the scoring load. No fewer than four Dons average better than 9.0 points per game, led by junior forward Dior Lowhorn (20.2). Senior guard Manny Quezada (12.0), freshman guard Kwame Vaughn (10.7), and junior forward Blake Wallace (9.8) lead the balanced USF offensive assault. DONS AND GAELS GAME #17, WCC GAME #2 - SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S: The Gaels enter Sunday's West Coast Conference contest with a sparkling 14-1 overall record following a thrilling 63-62 victory against Santa Clara Friday night at McKeon Pavilion in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams. With the win, Saint Mary's extends its winning streak to 11 games and have not dropped a contest since suffering a 75-62 decision to UTEP November 27. The Gaels average 77.2 points on .437 shooting to go along with a remarkable 42.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard and Australian Olympic Team member Patrick Mills paces Saint Mary's offensively at 20.1 points per game leading three in double-digit scoring. Junior center Omar Samhan chips in 14.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots, while senior forward Diamon Simpson adds 12.5 points, a team-hign 11.9 boards and 2.0 blocks. Randy Bennet is in his eighth season in Moraga and owns a 141-91 record as the lead Gael. The winningest coach in Saint Mary's hoops history, Bennett guided SMC to two NCAA Tournament berths (2005 & 2008). TEAM COMPARISONS - 2008-09 SEASON - (As of 1/10/09): Team PPG Margin FG% 3-FG% FT% RPG APG TOPG SPG BPG USF 70.7 +1.4 .463 .390 .684 31.3 13.3 14.4 5.7 2.4 SMC 77.2 +10.9 .437 .314 .719 42.9 13.6 13.5 8.3 5.7 SAINT MARY'S PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 1/10/09) 2007-08 MEETINGS: No. 23 SMC 76, at USF 51 (2/8/08); at SMC 79, USF 57 (1/26/08) SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USF leads 103-61/SMC won five ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB: UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: San Francisco travels to the Pacific Northwest to take on Portland and defending West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga, beginning Thursday, January 15 in the Rose City against the Pilots. The Dons contest at Portland will be televised locally in the Bay Area by Comcast Sports Net.
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