USF Hosts Loyola Marymount Monday Night at 8:00 PM on ESPNU

Feb. 11, 2007

The USF men's basketball team (10-15, 6-4 WCC), hosts Loyola Marymount (8:00 p.m., KQKE, ESPNU) Monday night as the WCC season heads for the homestretch.

It is a battle between two of the league's hotter teams as USF has won three of four and LMU four of five.

With Saturday's win over Pepperdine, USF moved into sole possession of third place in the WCC, two games behind co-leaders Gonzaga and Santa Clara. Since GU and SCU play Monday, USF with a win will come within a game of second place.

HOME TO STAY: USF is home for three of the last four WCC games, with its only trip to play St. Mary's Feb. 19. The Dons also have a bracketbusters game next Saturday afternoon vs. UC Irvine. USF has played six of 10 WCC games and 17 of 25 overall away from home. Perhaps the non-conference schedule, that saw them play 11 road games prepared the Dons well for league road games where they are 4-2 and guaranteed a plus .500 record.

DONS LOOK TO GET L.A. SWEEP: USF will be looking to earn a sweep of the Los Angeles schools after topping both of them in nailbiters in early January and Pepperdine 82-70 Saturday night. The Dons triumphed at LMU 68-61 in overtime on January 13th and won by a single point at Pepperdine two nights later.

USF AGAIN SHORTHANDED: In a season where players have been hurt and have been forced to miss games for various other meetings, the Dons will probably be without starting all-WCC guard Armondo Surratt for at least the weekend. The senior from Oakland slipped late in the game at Santa Clara on February 5th, clutching his left knee. He is doubtful for tonight, but listed day-to-day. Surratt was averaging 14 points per game and leading the team in minutes played (34.1 mpg), field goals and three-pointers when he went down.

KELLOGG, WIGGINS LEAD USF PAST PEPPERDINE SATURDAY: Alan Wiggins, Jr. and Antonio Kellogg each scored 23 points as USF broke open a close game late in defeating Pepperdine 82-70 at War Memorial Gym. The Dons, playing their first game without the injured Armondo Surratt, trailed 36-31 at the half, but scored 51 second half points in breaking away. As he had in the big win over San Diego, Kellogg took control of the game at the end with 10 points in a 15-5 spurt that put USF in control 75-65 after the game was tied at 60. Manny Quezada

LONG ROAD OVER UNTIL TOURNAMENT: February 3rd's win at San Diego was the final game until the WCC tournament for the Dons outside the Bay Area. .

WIGGINS SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT, NEEDS 23 POINTS FOR TOP 25: Alan Wiggins scored on a dunk late in the Santa Clara game last Monday to tally his 1,000th career point. He is currently 26th on the USF career list with 1023 points after passing Mike Quick (1019) and Erwin Mueller (1020) Saturday. Tim Owens (1046) and John Burks (1051) are next on the list.

KELLOGG RETURN BUOYS DONS; LEADING WCC SCORER: USF basketball player Antonio Kellogg, who leads the Dons in scoring (15.2 ppg) returned to the lineup at San Diego and made an immediate contribution with 21 points, three assists and three steals. USF is 5-2 in WCC play with him in the lineup. His 18.4 PPG would rank first in the WCC if he played enough contests. He missed three USF contests to allow him to get off to a strong academic start for the Spring semester.

FOUR PLAYERS LEADING THE WAY: The Dons have been paced by two seniors, returning all-WCC guard Armondo Surratt (14.0 ppg.) and honorable mention forward Alan Wiggins, Jr. (14.5), and two sophomores, transfers Antonio Kellogg (15.5) and Manny Quezada (11.6).

FREE-THROW SLUMP IS OVER: The Dons inability to make free-throws hurt them in league play this season. However, the tide has turned lately with USF making 28 of 31 (90.3%) at San Diego, 15-17 at Santa Clara (88.2%) and 20-27 vs. Pepperdine (74.1%) Saturday. Over the last three games, a total of 63 of 75 (84%) USF went through a four game period that started at Pepperdine where they made just 50-84 free-throws (59.5%) and they lost three of the four contests. The 13-22 (59.1%) vs. St. Mary's and the 12-18 (66.7%) vs. SCU were significant factors in two of USF's losses. They made just 14-24 at Gonzaga. The Dons made just 11-20 vs. Pepperdine, but were able to survive. Free-throws were also costly for USF in a tight losses to UCSB (14-24) and Wyoming (18-27) earlier this year. The hot weekend has moved the Dons into third place in the league in free-throw percentage in both WCC and overall play.

50% FG SHOOTING=WINS: USF has shot the ball very well this season hitting 45.9% of its field goals (third WCC) and 36.4% of its three-point attempts (second WCC). Looking at the stats USF is 9-2 when it shoots 50% floor and 1-13 when it does not. On the opposite side, USF is 1-6 when opponents make 50% of their shots.

WCC LEADERS: USF has opened 6-4 in WCC play. USF's leaders (and rank in WCC): Scoring- Wiggins, 15.0 (6); Surratt 12.4 (13) Quezada 11.0 (18) (note- Kellogg averaging 18.4 - would be #1 - but has not played enough games) FG%- Wiggins 53.1% (6). Reb.- Wiggins 7.3 (4).; Assists: Surratt 3.2 (9).

GETTING OFFENSIVE: USF is playing more of a high scoring game this season, averaging 73.6 points per contest compared to 69.1 ppg. last year.

ABOUT THE LIONS: After sustaining an eight game losing streak that began with the loss of guard Brandon Worthy, the Lions have been hot lately winning four of their last five (including a home win over Gonzaga) and won Saturday at San Diego.

Senior post Matthew Knight is second in the WCC in scoring (16.4 ppg) and recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds in USF's 68-61 win at Gersten Pavilion. Since the loss of Worthy, guard Adoyah Miller has picked up the scoring pace and averages 15.2 point in WCC play. The Lions under former USF player Rodney Tention, have a deep cast that features John Ziri (5.7 ppg), Damian Martin (5.1), Derick Grubb (5.1), John Montgomery (4.6) and Marko Deric (4.3).