Feb. 3, 2010

By Stacy Hicklin
USF Beat Writer

SAN FRANCISCO -- The mental part of the game was as much of a focus as the physical part was this week for the University of San Francisco men's basketball team.

Dons' head coach Rex Walters wanted to make sure his team got back to work after its thrilling upset of Gonzaga on Saturday night. Walters insisted that his team's attention was on the tough West Coast Conference road trip this weekend to avoid a letdown in Dons' next outing.

USF (8-14, 3-4) travels to San Diego (9-14, 2-5) for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Thursday, Feb. 4 at Jenny Craig Pavilion to begin the second half of the WCC schedule.

The Dons beat the Toreros 87-71 earlier this season.

"I think we caught San Diego a little off guard, especially since it didn't start its regular lineup," Walters said.

San Diego's leading scorers, Brandon Johnson and De'Jon Jackson, sat out about the first five minutes of the contest. This allowed the Dons perhaps an easier time taking control of the game, but USF did build a nice cushion even with Johnson and Jackson in the game.

Jackson did, however, play more minutes (35) than his season average of 32 and Johnson played his average of 32 minutes. The seniors also finished with nearly double their scoring averages with Johnson scoring a game-high 25 points and Jackson adding 20 points.

Johnson and Jackson average 14.5 and 12.2 points, respectively. And Johnson is tied with Gonzaga's Matt Bouldin to lead the WCC in steals with 1.8 a game.

USF led by just five points with under eight minutes to go, but staved off numerous San Diego runs throughout the second half to capture the win.

The Toreros ended a five-game WCC losing skid with a 22-point win against Pepperdine on Saturday night. San Diego is last in the WCC in scoring offense, but balances it out by leading the conference in scoring defense.

SAN DIEGO PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 2/2/10)
G. #1 Brandon Johnson, 6-0, 200, Sr. (14.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.3 apg)
G. #20 Matt Dorr, 6-4, 200, Jr. (6.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G. #23 De'Jon Jackson, 6-2, 200, Sr. (12.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.6 apg)
C. #44 Robert Mafra, 6-9, 235, Sr. (8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.8 bpg)
F. #12 Chris Lewis, 6-7, 215, Sr. (7.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.9 apg)

LAST THREE MEETINGS: at USF 87, USD 71 (1/10/10); at USD 72, USF 63 (2/7/09); USD 65 at USF 50 (1/9/09)

SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USD leads 33-30/USF won 1

ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB:
Television: Cox 4 San Diego (No Bay Area coverage)
Television Talent: Steve Quist & Jim Brogan
Radio Broadcast: Green 960 - Pat Olson
Internet Audio: Yes - USFDons.com (Yahoo Broadcast)
GameTracker: Yes
Official Website: USDToreros.com

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.