Feb. 2, 2010

Complete San Diego Game Notes in PDF Format

USF TRAVELS SOUTH TO SAN DIEGO: San Francisco opens the second half of the West Coast Conference schedule when it travels to Southern California for a Thursday meeting at San Diego. Fresh off a stunning upset of No. 13/8 Gonzaga, USF looks to complete the season sweep against the Toreros. San Diego took a 66-44 win Saturday at Pepperdine, snapping a five-game losing skid. The Dons won the first meeting with a 87-71 triumph January 10 at War Memorial Gym.

Dior Lowhorn WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After leading USF to a thrilling overtime upset victory of No. 13/8 Gonzaga, senior preseason All-American Dior Lowhorn collected West Coast Conference Player of the Week honors. Lowhorn scored a game-high 22 points with a season-high five 3-pointers against the Bulldogs.

WCC FIRST HALF RETURNS:
- USF's Bay Area products - Angelo Caloiaro (San Jose), Dior Lowhorn (San Francisco) & Kwame Vaughn (Oakland) combining for 37.4 points,16.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per league game
- USF out-rebounding opponents 35.3 - 32.4 rpg
- Dons attempt 24.9 free throws per WCC game. In 2009 USF averaged just 20.9
- In seven league games, seven Dons have reached double-digit scoring and seven players have pulled down at least five rebounds in a game
- The 87 points USF scored in its win vs. USD (1/10/10) were the most for the Dons in a WCC game since a 88-63 win vs. Pepperdine (3/3/08)

LOWHORN EIGHTH ON CAREER SCORING LIST: Preseason All-American Dior Lowhorn continues to charge up the USF career scoring lists and became the 30th USF player to surpass 1,000 career points in the Green and Gold with 22 points at Portland (1/15/09). Lowhorn enters Thursday's game at San Diego with 1,608 career points in 82 games for a 19.6 points per game average and currently rates eighth on the Dons all-time scoring ladder. Naismith Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell (1953-56) scored 1,636 points for seventh place.

USF AT A GLANCE - 2009-10 SEASON BULLETS
- USF out-rebounding opponents 36.3 - 31.8 rpg; 259-207 on the offensive glass
- San Francisco has out-rebounded 12 of its last 16 opponents
- Eight Dons have reached double-digit scoring and 10 players have pulled down at least five rebounds in a game
- After 22 games, San Francisco's front line averages 40.8 points, 20.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game
- After 22 games, USF underclassmen average 43.8 points (.618), 22.9 rebounds (.631) and 8.2 assists (.646) per game

USF DONS BASKETBALL ON GREEN 960 AM: USF men's basketball returns to the airwaves and cyberspace for the 2009-10 season and all games will be available live at USFDons.com and Green 960 AM. Join Pat Olson for the play-by-play in his 19th year behind the microphone courtside. USF Hall-of-Famer Jim Brovelli will join Olson on selected broadcasts. Other USFDons.com features include live scoring via GameTracker and live streaming courtesy of Yahoo Broadcast.

THIS WEEK IN DONS BASKETBALL: This Week in Dons Basketball is presented by USF Athletics in partnership with KUSF, 90.3 FM. Each Friday at 8:30 PM, join longtime voice of the Dons Pat Olson for a weekly preview of USF Basketball, featuring head coach Rex Walters and interviews with members of the 2009-10 squad.

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO: After taking a 66-44 victory at Pepperdine to close the first half of the West Coast Conference slate, the Toreros return home with a 9-14 record, 2-5 in league. San Diego collected some impressive non-conference wins - Stanford (77-64), Houston (72-65), Oklahoma (76-64) and Boise State (59-56). The Toreros have struggled offensively during league averaging 59.6 points on .385 from the field, while opponents score 63.9 points on .465 from the floor. Senior guard Brandon Johnson leads the way on both ends with 14.5 points and 3.3 assists per game. Senior guard De'Jon Jackson adds 12.2 points, converting on .366 (34-93) from 3-point distance, while senior forward Chris Lewis chips in 7.3 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds. Bill Grier is in his third season at USD and owns a 47-44 record as the top Torero. The longtime Gonzaga aide led San Diego to an improbable run to the 2008 West Coast Conference Tournament title and an NCAA opening round upset of UConn.

UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: After opening the second half of the 2010 West Coast Conference slate Thursday in Southern California at San Diego, USF tackles Bay Area rival Saint Mary's Saturday, February 6. Game time against the league-leading Gaels is set for 8:00 PM and will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet California.