 |  |
Dons Open Final Homestand With Rematch vs. San Diego Monday Night
Feb. 13, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
San Francisco, CA- USF (9-14, 5-5 WCC), will battle travel partner San Diego (16-7, 6-4) for the second time in three days Monday night (7:00 p.m., KQKE 960 AM) at War Memorial Gymnasium. It is an important game for USF to win as a victory would put USF back into a third place tie and in good position for an upper half slot for the WCC tournament. The Dons have just four games remaining, two at home (including tonight). A win tonight would also give USF six wins in the WCC, the same total they reached last season, with three games remaining in the conference season.
USF lost a heartbreaker in San Diego on Saturday 71-68. The Dons had chances to win the contest but three missed free-throws in the final 1:08 and a charging foul with :08 left on a drive by Armondo Surratt did them in.
WCC STANDINGS:Team WCC PCT Overall #5 GON 9-0 1.000 20-3 LMU 8-2 .800 11-13 USD 6-4 .600 16-7 USF 5-5 .500 9-14 SMC 4-6 .400 11-11 PEP 3-7 .300 7-15 POR 2-7 .222 8-15 SCU 2-8 .200 9-13
DONS CAN GET BACK INTO THIRD WITH WIN: With a win tonight, USF can take again tie for third place in the WCC, at 6-5 with three games left. A loss might puth fourth place in jeopardy as St. Mary's could then tie USF for fourth with a win at Santa Clara.
FREE-THROWS AGAIN COSTLY IN LOSS AT SAN DIEGO: Three missed free-throws in the final 1:08 and a charge called against point guard Armondo Surratt with :08 left cost the Dons a chance to claim a WCC road win in a 71-68 loss at San Diego Saturday night. Trailing 33-32 at the half, USF rallied to take a 49-40 lead with 13:17 remaining. The Toreros rallied at home and took a 69-62 lead with 3:18 before USF made a furious rally. USF closed to within two and had a chance to tie the game with its leading free-throw shooter Dommanic Ingerson at the line with 1:08 left. Ingerson missed the first, made the second and the Dons stilled trailed by one when Danny Cavic went to the line with :44 left with a chance to give USF the lead by knocking down two. He missed both shots, but the Dons till had a chance after a San Diego miss with :19 left. Armondo Surratt drove the lane and was called for a charge with :08 left. After Mir Cohen of USF was fouled, he knocked down two free-throws and USF failed to get off a tying attempt at a three-pointer. It was a disappointing loss for USF as the Dons blanked leading USD scorer Nick Lewis and held Corey Belser to just nine points. Again, free-throw shooting cost USF dearly as they made just 15 of 25 from the line.
ANOTHER SPLIT?: So far USF has split every weekend of WCC play winning once and losing once. (The Dons won their one single week contest.) USF needs a split in the back-to-back game against San Diego to keep the trend going.
JUST TWO HOME GAMES LEFT: The Dons need a win also because they have just two home games left, including tonight. USF will conclude its home schedule next Monday at 7:00 p.m. when they face Santa Clara (7:00 p.m., FSN, Sirius, KQKE) on senior night when Jerome Gumbs, Jason Wallace Carter and Dommanic Ingerson play their final home game at War Memorial Gym.
SHOOT YOUR WAY OUT OF IT: The Dons are 5-5 in league but with a little bit better shooting have a much better mark. In fact, since league play opened USF is shooting just 41.2% from the floor (last WCC), 30.9% from three-point (7th WCC) and last in free-throw percentage (66.2%). . In league play, Jerome Gumbs is the only Don at 50% floor (50.0%) Jason Wallace-Carter (44.3% FG league) shot 55.8% in preconference play while Alan Wiggins, Jr. (43.9% FG league) shot 54.9% before WCC began.
TURNOVERS A DONS' ADVANTAGE: In WCC play, the Dons have by far the best turnover margin (+3.2) forcing 17.1 turnovers per contest while committing just 13.9. The next highest margin is LMU's + 2.0. On the opposite side, USF is last in free-throw percentage (66.2%).
SIX THAT GOT AWAY: The Dons might have had a better record if they had closed out the six games below that slipped away.
11/26: USF lost to Sacramento State 85-78. The Dons trailed by just two with under 1:45 left before having to foul to get the ball back.
11/30: USF lost to Pacific 75-71 in overtime. The Dons led this one 67-66 with :30 left before the game went into overtime.
12/6: USF lost to Wichita State 75-67 after leading by three (63-60) with 3:42 remaining.
12/21: USF lost to Northern Arizona 70-66 after leading 66-65 with less than a minute left. USF missed a shot with :06 for the tie before fouling.
1/9: USF lost to Loyola Marymount 84-75 in double overtime after missing two shots in the last 10 seconds to win the game in regulation. USF also missed a long shot at the end of the first overtime to win it.
2/11: USF lost at San Diego 71-68 when they missed three free-throws in the final 1:08 and were called for a charging foul with :08 left and down a single point.
