Dons Host UC Irvine in O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters Saturday at 1:00 PM; Giron Remembered

Feb. 15, 2007

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The USF men's basketball team (11-15, 7-4 WCC), winners of four of their last five, steps out of West Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. when they host UC Irvine (12-15) of the Big West in the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. The game will be carried live on both KQKE 960 AM and Sirius Radio Channel 155.

USF then returns to conference play on Monday, Feb. 19th (9:00 PM) when they make their Big Monday debut (ESPN2) at St. Mary's (13-14, 5-6). With just three games remaining in the league season, the Dons are just a single game behind Gonzaga for second place and two behind first place Santa Clara. They hold a two game cushion over fourt place San Diego and St. Mary's.

HOME TO STAY: USF plays two of its last three WCC games at home, with its only trip to play St. Mary's Feb. 19. USF has played six of 11 WCC games and 17 of 26 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 GET FIRST EVER 6-0 SWEEP OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS: With last weekend's sweep of Pepperdine and LMU at home, the Dons have recorded a perfect 6-0 record against LMU, San Diego and Pepperdine for the first time since San Diego joined the league.

USF TO FACE UC IRVINE OF BIG WEST IN ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS; GIRON TO BE REMEMBERED: USF will be making its ESPNU BracketBusters debut when they host UC Irvine. The Dons hold a 5-0 series mark against the Anteaters who they have not faced since the 1997 seaon opener. UC Irvine of the Big West enters the game with a 12-15 mark and have dropped five of their last eight contests.

Coach Pat Douglass' Anteaters (12-15, 6-7 Big West), are paced by junior forwards Patrick Sanders (12.0 ppg.) and Darren Fells (11.1 ppg.) Fells is the team's leading rebounder - 6.2 rpg. and hits a team best 55.8% from the floor.

At halftime, USF Athletics will remember longtime equipment manager Bob Giron, who passed away last June. Giron served at USF from 1970 until his passing. His family members will be in attendance.

PUT UP YOUR DUKES: It was a battle of two of the WCC's hottest teams last Monday, with USF topping LMU 76-69. Two key WCC players missed the game, USF's Surratt and LMU's Knight. The Dons started slowly and trailed 31-29 at the half before rallying for 47 second half points in winning behind a career high 21 points by Johnny Dukes. Also in double figures for the Dons were Jay Watkins with (a career high tying) 17 points and 14 each by Alan Wiggins, Jr. and Manny Quezada. Dukes made 9 of 11 shots from the floor, including 2-2 from three-point range. USF took the lead after going on a 22-7 run that started at the 16:49 mark and the Dons trailing 37-33 and ended at 12:21 with USF up 55-40.

WIGGINS SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT, NEEDS 9 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 1037 points after passing Mike Quick (1019) and Erwin Mueller (1020) last Saturday. Tim Owens (1046) and John Burks (1051) are next on the list.

ABOUT THE GAELS: USF will be trying to break a two-game losing streak to St. Mary's Monday night in Moraga. The Dons dropped a 71-64 overtime decision to the Gaels at Memorial Gymnasium on January 20th. St. Mary's was paced by 19 points by Omar Samhan and 15 by Diamon Simpson. USF, who got 25 points by Alan Wiggins, Jr. outrebounded the Gaels 49-41 but probably lost the game at the free-throw line where they made just 13 of 22 shots (59.1%).

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 (15.3) and Manny Quezada (11.7).

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%) and 15-22 (68.2%) vs. LMU. Over the last four games, a total of 78 of 97 (80.4%)

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 recent trend 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 36.1% of its three-point attempts (third WCC). Looking at the stats USF is 9-2 when it shoots 50% floor and 2-13 when it does not. On the opposite side, USF is 1-6 when opponents make 50% of their shots.

WCC LEADERS: USF is now 7-4 in WCC play. USF's leaders (and rank in WCC): Scoring- Wiggins, 14.9 (7); Surratt 12.4 (13) Quezada 11.3 (18) (note- Kellogg averaging 17.3 - would be #2 - but has not played enough games) FG%- Wiggins 52.3% (6). Reb.- Wiggins 7.3 (5).; Assists: Surratt 3.2 (9).