February 19, 2010

USF Men's Basketball - Santa Clara Game Advance

Feb. 19, 2010

By Stacy Hicklin
USF Beat Writer

SAN FRANCISCO -- The University of San Francisco men's basketball team is building momentum at the perfect time of the season and nothing would keep it rolling better than a win against its Bay Area rival.

USF travels to Santa Clara for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 20 at the Leavey Center. The Broncos are just 6-11 at the Leavey Center this season.

Santa Clara (11-17, 3-8) is seventh in the West Coast Conference, with USF (11-15, 6-5) holding down fourth place.

The Broncos outlasted the Dons 66-65 in their first meeting this season and have won eight of their last nine games against USF.

USF trailed by more than 10 points with under three minutes to go in the game, but roared back to within 64-62 with 15.9 seconds to play. After Santa Clara missed the front end of a one-in-one with 5.7 seconds to go, the Dons snagged the rebound, but had to settle for a half-court desperation 3-pointer that fell short at the buzzer.

"We were outplayed for 35 minutes and then tried to put together a heroic comeback, but it was too late," USF coach Rex Walters said.

Sophomore forward Marc Trasolini finished with a career-high 26 points against the Dons. He's averaging 14 points and 6.4 rebounds going into Saturday's game.

"We have to guard the post a heck of a lot better [this time]," Walters said. "I thought their post players out worked us."

The Dons have won four of their past five games, including two overtime wins. USF has won just two of its 10 games on the road this season, but both of those wins were against WCC teams.

SANTA CLARA PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 2/15/10)
G. #1 Robert Smith, 6-0, 185, Fr. (12.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.1 apg)
G. #14 Michael Santos, 6-5, 200, Jr. (5.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.4 apg)
F. #10 Ben Dowdell, 6-7, 225, Jr. (6.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.3 apg)
F. #15 Marc Trasolini, 6-9, 235, So. (14.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.7 bpg)
F. #24 Troy Payne, 6-6, 220, Jr. (4.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 apg)

LAST THREE MEETINGS: SCU 66, at USF 65 (1/23/10); at USF 67, SCU 66, ot (2/21/09); at SCU 70, USF 54 (1/23/09)

SERIES RECORD/STREAK: SCU leads 108-96/SCU won 1

ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB:
Television: Comcast SportsNet California
Television Talent: Scott Reiss & Eric Musselman
Radio Broadcast: Green 960 - Pat Olson & Jim Brovelli
Internet Audio: Yes - USFDons.com (Yahoo Broadcast)
GameTracker: Yes
Official Website: SantaClaraBroncos.com

SAN FRANCISCO PARTICIPATES IN THE 2009-10JESUIT BASKETBALL SPOTLIGHT: USF is proud of its rich Jesuit heritage and the Dons will compete in no fewer than seven games against fellow Jesuit schools during the 2009-10 season. San Francisco squares off against Santa Clara Saturday, February 20 in a Jesuit school series dating back to the early 1900's. San Francisco is taking part in the Jesuit Spotlight Project for the second consecutive season, using Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of the outstanding education available at the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. For more information, log on to www.ajcunet.edu/jesuitbasketball.

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. West Coast Conference Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich will be featured Friday, Feb. 19 along with USF Director of Basketball Operations Justin Bauman.

UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: After taking on ancient Bay Area rival Santa Clara Saturday, February 20, USF closes out the West Coast Conference regular season on the road against the Pacific Northwest schools, beginning Thursday with Portland. Game time against the Pilots is set for 7:00 PM in a game televised live on Comcast SportsNet California. The Dons then wrestle No. 8 Gonzaga Saturday at 5:00 PM in Spokane, WA.