TUCKER NAMED WCC PLAYER OF WEEK FOR THIRD TIME
USF WINS LEADS WCC IN FIELD GOAL & 3 PT. PERCENTAGE
TUCKER CAN MOVE INTO THIRD PLACE THIS WEEKEND

FRI., FEB. 20 *SANTA CLARA MEMORIAL GYM 7:00 PM
SAT., FEB. 21 *SAN DIEGO (FOX S BA) MEMORIAL GYM 8:00 PM
Fri., Feb. 28 *at Loyola Marymount Los Angeles, CA 7:00 PM
Sat., Mar. 1 *at Pepperdine Malibu, CA 7:00 PM

SAN FRANCISCO - The USF Dons (11-12, 6-4 WCC) look to continue their strong finish when they close out their home season with games vs. Santa Clara Friday (7 p.m. KYCY 1550 AM) and San Diego Saturday (8 p.m., FSBA, KYCY). USF has won 10 of their last 16 games, since a 1-6 start. What makes it more impressive is that two of the losses were to two hot teams in tight road losses at Cal, at Michigan and at Gonzaga.

TUCKER WINS SECOND WCC PLAYER OF WEEK HONORS IN THREE WEEKS: USF senior forward Darrell Tucker was named WCC Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks since returning from his thumb injury. Tucker made 16-26 shots from the floor (61.5%) and 10-14 shots from three-point range (71.4%) in earning the Dons a split in the Northwest.

TUCKER PLAYS LAST HOME GAMES: Darrell Tucker, the Oakland native and McClymonds High School grad, plays his final two home games this week. Tucker is trying to earning his third all-WCC selection this year. His 24.0 ppg in league play is the best in the conference, but he has not played enough games to qualify. Last week Tucker (1,689 career) passed former Dons Gerald Walker (1,665) and Ollie Johnson (1,668) to move into third place on the all-time USF career scoring list trailing only Winford Boynes (1,702), Quintin Dailey (1,841) and Bill Cartwright (2,116). He also has tied former Santa Clara player Steve Nash (1,689) for 21 st place on the all-time WCC scoring list and will likely pass him Friday when USF hosts the Broncos.

STALLWORTH, TOO: Shamell Stallworth, while not making the impact of Tucker, still has an impressive USF career. The Fresno native is 24 th on the USF career list (1,020 pts.) and has a chance to break into the top 20 before his career is done. When he is done he will be second on USF's all-time list for three-pointers made behind only Ali Thomas. His 37 points in a big win over BYU are a Dons' season high.

WHY NOT TAKE THREE: The Dons have become an excellent three-point shooting team recently. Over the last 11 games, the Dons have made 47.5% of their treys (95-200), paced by John Cox (27-56, .482) and Shamell Stallworth (26-53, 49.1%). Darrell Tucker has added 19-31 (61.3%) since returning, while Alvin Broussard is 13-29 (.448) over the past 11 games. The team hit a peak with 14-23 vs. LMU (60.9%). Over the past sixgames, USF is 64-123 (52.0%).

OR JUST SHOOT... The Dons lead the WCC (in league games) in both field goal percentage (50.0%) and three-point percentage (49.3%) and are second to LMU in free-throw percentage (72.4%).

DYNAMIC DUO: Darrell Tucker and John Cox are the highest scoring tandem (in term of team points) in the WCC. They account for 48.6% of USF's total offense this season. (33.4 ppg of 68.7 ppg.) In WCC play they average 43.9 points out of USF's 70.4 (62.3%).

DONS PLAYING BEST BALL OF SEASON: USF is playing their best ball of the season and has won four of five and is 10-6 since mid-December. The addition of transfers James Bayless (10.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 56.1% FG) and Alvin Broussard (9.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) on December 14th has been a big plus, but along with them, everyone else's game has stepped up. Since their first game at Pacific (a game in which USF played poorly in the first half), USF has been a solid team, winning 10 of 16 despite the loss of Tucker for six games. USF has made over 40% of its three's in nine of the last 11 games.