Feb. 5, 2010

Complete Saint Mary's Game Notes in PDF Format

USF TRAVELS TO MORAGA: After back-to-back thrilling overtime wins, San Francisco travels across the Bay Bridge to take on longtime rival Saint Mary's Saturday night in a game carried live by Green 960 and televised by Comcast SportsNet California. The Dons opened the second half of the West Coast Conference campaign with a 72-70 overtime victory at San Diego on Thursday, while Saint Mary's knocked off Santa Clara 74-62.

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.

DONS IN THE WCC:
- USF's Bay Area products - Angelo Caloiaro (San Jose), Dior Lowhorn (San Francisco) & Kwame Vaughn (Oakland) combining for 38.4 points,15.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per league game
- USF out-rebounding opponents 34.6 - 32.1 rpg
- San Francisco 3-1 in games decided by five points or less during WCC play
- Dons attempt 23.4 free throws per WCC game. In 2009 USF averaged just 20.9
- In eight 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 SET TO PASS RUSSELL ON 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 Saturday's game at Saint Mary's with 1,634 career points in 83 games for a 19.7 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 36.0 - 31.7 rpg; 264-215 on the offensive glass
- San Francisco has out-rebounded or matched 13 of its last 17 opponents
- Eight Dons have reached double-digit scoring and 10 players have pulled down at least five rebounds in a game
- After 23 games, San Francisco's front line averages 40.8 points, 20.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game
- After 23 games, USF underclassmen average 43.6 points (.614), 22.6 rebounds (.627) and 8.1 assists (.638) 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 SAINT MARY'S: The Gaels continue to roll through the West Coast Conference and own a league-best 20-3 record and have won nine of their last 11 contests. Saint Mary's shares the top spot in the WCC standings with Gonzaga at 7-1, with its only league loss coming to the Bulldogs in Moraga. The Gaels average an impressive 81.7 points on .496 from the field and limit opponents to 66.7 points on .424 from the floor. SMC holds a dominating 37.2-32.8 rebound advantage. Senior forward Omar Samhan leads the way on both ends with 21.6 points on .563 shooting to go along with 11.2 rebounds per game. Matthew Dellavedova adds 12.5 points, converting on .426 (55-129) from 3-point distance, while Mickey McConnell chips in 13.9 points on .536 (52-97) from deep. Randy Bennett is in his ninth season in Moraga and owns a 175-100 record as the lead Gael. The winningest coach in Saint Mary's hoops history, Bennett guided SMC to two NCAA Tournament berths (2005 & 2008) and two wins in the 2009 NIT Postseason Tournament.

UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: After tackling Bay Area nemesis Saint Mary's USF returns home for its final homestand, beginning Thursday, February 11 against Pepperdine. Game time against the Waves is set for 7:00 PM at War Memorial Gym and will be carried live on the flagship station of Dons Basketball, Green 960.