Conference Seedings On The Line As USF Finishes WCC Season in Northwest

Feb. 23, 2006

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USF (10-15, 6-6 WCC), plays two crucial games in the Northwest this week facing the suddenly hot Portland Pilots (10-16, 4-8 WCC) on Saturday (KQKE, 960 AM, 7:00 p.m.) and fifth ranked Gonzaga (23-3, 12-0 WCC) on Monday night (KQKE, 960 AM, Fox Sports Northwest, 6:00 p.m.) in the final game of conference play.

USF stands in a tie for third in the league at 6-6 along with travel partner San Diego (who plays the same two opponents) and St. Mary's (who host Pepperdine and LMU this week).

WCC STANDINGS:
Team	WCC	PCT	Overall
	#5 GON	12-0	1.000	23-3
	LMU	8-4	.667	11-15
	USF	6-6	.500	10-15
	USD	6-6	.500	16-9
	SMC	6-6	.500	14-11
	POR	4-8	.333	10-16
	SCU	3-9	.250	10-15
	PEP	3-9	.250	7-17

SEEDINGS STILL WIDE OPEN WITH TWO GAMES LEFT: The Dons can still finish anywhere from third seed to sixth seed for the WCC tournament depending on the outcome of all eight games. Tournament pairings will be available after Monday night's games. Gonzaga has clinched #1 seed and LMU #2 seed despite the fact that there can be a four way-tie for second place.

DONS COME OUT FLAT IN LOSS TO SANTA CLARA: The Dons missed a golden chance to gain sole possession of third place when they fell to Santa Clara 83-78. The Dons fell behind early 9-0, and were down as much as 20 (31-11 with 7:36 remaining) before rallying to close 40-31 at the half. USF continued its second half push and tied the game tied the game three times (first at 7:06 remaining) before SCU's Domineek Daniel nailed a three with 3:25 left to put Santa Clara ahead for good. The loss broke a four game regular season winning streak over SCU and ruined a career night by freshman Drew Shiller of Burlingame who scored a career best 23 points hitting 8-13 from the floor. Armondo Surratt added 21. USF was hampered by the loss of forward Alan Wiggins, Jr., who riding a streak of four consecutive double-doubles was limited to six points and six rebounds (in 24 min.) due to foul trouble. Shooting cost the Dons, as well. USF and SCU each had 28 field goals but SCU shot 51 times and USF 72. SCU outscored USF at the free-throw line making 21-28 while USF made 12 of 16.

SPLITSVILLE?: So far USF has split every two-game weekend of WCC play winning once and losing once. The Dons have also split their two single game weeks, topping St. Mary's 53-52 on January 16th and dropping an 83-78 decision to Santa Clara on February 20th.

SHOOT YOUR WAY OUT OF IT: The Dons are 6-6 in league but with a little bit better shooting have a much better mark. In fact, since league play opened USF is shooting just 42.1% from the floor (last WCC), 32.9% from three-point (7th WCC) and last in free-throw percentage (67.4%).

In league play, Jerome Gumbs leads the Dons with 49.0% shooting Jason Wallace-Carter (46.7% FG league) shot 55.8% in preconference play while Alan Wiggins, Jr. (47.2% FG league) shot 54.9% before WCC began.

TURNOVERS A DONS' ADVANTAGE: In WCC play, the Dons have by far the second best turnover margin (+3.0) forcing 17.0 turnovers per contest while committing just 14.0. LMU leads with +3.08. On the opposite side, USF is last in free-throw percentage (67.4%).

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.

FREE-THROW PROBLEM: USF, as a team has fallen into a free-throw shooting slump, making just 70% of its free-throws just four times in the last 10 games, and it has cost the team greatly. Here are examples: 12/29 USF loses 65-60 at Fresno State after making just 12 of 20 free-throws. 1/9 USF loses 75-84 at Loyola Marymount in double overtime after making just 14 of 21 free-throws. USF managed to win against St. Mary's despite shooting its second worst FT% of the year, 53.3%, which included two front ends in the final minute! In USF's game vs. LMU they made just 11 of 19 free-throws and missed a few front ends which lost them points in the loss. USF made just 15-22 vs. Pepperdine (68.2%) , but in the second half made just 8 of 13. In the game at San Diego they made just 15-25 and missed three in the final 1:08 to cost themselves the game.

LAST FIVE GAMES: USF is 2-3 in last five games. The Dons and their opponents have each scored exactly 362 points (72.4) and USF has shot just 42.7%. Alan Wiggins and Armondo Surratt (each at 15.0 ppg) lead the Dons in scoring over that period, with Jason Wallace-Carter at 12.0 and Jerome Gumbs at 8.6. Alan Wiggins, Jr. (52.0%) and Jason Wallace-Carter (50.9%) are the Dons hottest shooters with Drew Shiller (7-15, 47%) Danny Cavic (10-23, 43.5%) the hottest from outside the arc. Alan Wiggins, Jr. has double-doubles in five of his last seven games.

ABOUT THE DONS: It was a new look Dons team (17-14, 1-1 NIT last year) that opened the season November 18th at the Thunderdome.

Gone were WCC leading scorer John Cox (20.0 ppg) and forward Tyrone Riley (15.8 ppg.) as well as both point guards Andre Hazel and Jason Gaines.

The Dons did return starting wing Jerome Gumbs (9.4 ppg./4.9 rpg), post Alan Wiggins, Jr. (5.8 ppg/4.0 rpg) and forward Johnny Dukes (5.6 ppg./3.0 rpg.) to the fold along with center Jason Wallace-Carter (2.3 ppg./2.9 rpg) and guard Dommanic Ingerson (2.3 ppg./1.0 rpg.). Dukes has been lost for a yet undetermined amount of time to a foot injury.

USF's motto this season is "See How We Run" and the person that will be most in charge of making sure the team has that philosophy is point guard Armondo Surratt. The former Oakland Tech star, who started for Miami-FL in the Big East for two years, will key the attack. "Surratt is as fine a point guard as there is on the West Coast," said Dons' head coach Jessie Evans. He is be joined by California State High School Athlete of the Year Drew Shiller, a freshman from Burlingame who can run the offense or shoot, transfer Danny Cavic (from Santa Ana JC), returnee Michael Bell and returning redshirt Sinqua Walls.

The frontline is bolstered by freshman Jesse Byrd (from Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd HS), who has been a very pleasant surprise in the first few weeks of practice with his rebounding and aggressive play. Another freshman will be Rainier Beach HS center James Morgan, a 6-9 post who has been looking good early, as well. Redshirt forward Vince Polakovic, a 6-8 forward from Slovakia, joined the team after finals Dec. 17th and should add scoring and rebounding to the group. He played two games last season before transferring from Northern Iowa.

USF has two former Big East point guards redshirting the entire season in former UConn guard Antonio Kellogg and former Rutgers player and Washington D.C. star Manny Quezada.

NEW RADIO STATION: The Dons have moved to a new radio station KQKE "The Quake" at 960 AM on the dial The Clear Channel station signed a three-year deal to carry USF basketball. Pat Olson is currently in his fifteenth season as the play-by-play man. He will be joined occasionally by former USF head coach Jim Brovelli. USF will also have selected games carried by Sirius Radio (national).

AT LEAST 10 USF GAMES ON TV THIS YEAR: There will be at least 10 USF games on TV this year. KICU-TV will do two games (Northwestern Mutual Classic vs. Texas Tech and Gonzaga at USF), Comcast Sports Net will do at least four (Wichita State at USF, USF at Santa Clara, USF at San Diego, and Loyola Marymount at USF) and FSN will do three (USF at Stanford, St. Mary's at USF and USF at Santa Clara). In addition, the USF at Gonzaga game will be on Fox Sports Northwest.

SCHEDULE DIFFERENT: The West Coast Conference changed its league schedule from a mostly Thursday-Saturday format to a mostly Saturday-Monday format this season.

LAST SEASON REVIEW: The Dons went 17-14 in the first season under Jessie Evans and played two games in the postseason NIT. They finished 6-8 in WCC play (tied for fifth) and advanced to the second round of the WCC tournament. USF had a very high RPI which allowed it to advance to the NIT, where it became the first WCC team ever to host the postseason event. The Dons defeated Denver in the opening round before falling to Cal State Fullerton (who will play in USF's Invitational on Dec. 9-10).

USF beat five conference champions last season, a major factor in getting the NIT bid. The Dons topped Saint Joseph's (Atlantic 10), Pacific (only team to beat the Tigers in Stockton), Penn (Ivy), Gonzaga (WCC) and Denver (Sun Belt). USF also defeated Montana who won its conference postseason tournament. The Dons also lost narrowly to Stanford (ot), St. Mary's twice (once in 3ot), and Gonzaga (final second).

EVANS IN POSTSEASON AGAIN: And while it had been a while since USF has made it to the postseason, it was nothing new for USF head coach Jessie Evans, who was in his fourth straight postseason last year. Evans took Louisiana Lafayette to four postseason berths in his seven years there. And he helped lead Arizona to the national championship in his final year as an assistant there in 1997.

DONS IN WCC: This season USF went 4-3 at home in the WCC and are currently 2-3 on the road.

USF "DONS" (10-15, 6-6)

HEAD COACH Jessie Evans, a 1972 graduate of Eastern Michigan is in his second season at USF (27-29) and 9th year of collegiate coaching (159-110) after recording a 132-81 record in 7 seasons at Louisiana Lafayette. He previously was assistant coach at Arizona for nine seasons where he helped lead the Wildcats to the 1997 NCAA title. He guided USF to the NIT last season and won his 150th career game November 21 vs. Monmouth. He recently signed a contract extension.

USF is: 8-6 home, 2-7 road, 0-2 neutral; 1-1 in overtime; 8-6 in white jerseys, 2-5 in green, 0-3 in black, 5-5 in last 10 games, 7-4 when leading at the half, 3-11 when trailing, 0-0 when tied, 3-1 when shooting 50% from the floor, 7-14 when shooting less than 50%; 7-2 when outshooting their opponent, 3-13 when outshot, 0-0 when equal; 10-8 when holding their opponents under 50% floor, 0-7 when opponent shoots 50%; 8-3 when USF shoots more FT's, 2-11 when USF shoots less FT's, 0-0 when free-throws are the same; 8-2 when USF leads with 5 minutes left, 8-2 when USF leads with 1 minute left, 0-1 when tied with 1 minute left; 5-6 when USF bench outscores opponent, 4-9 when opposing bench outscores USF, 1-0 when bench is equal, 8-4 when outrebounding opponent, 2-11 when outrebounded, 0-1 when rebounds are the same; 4-5 when more 3's, 6-9 when less 3's, 0-1 when 3's are equal; 7-15 when USF scores less than 80 pts., 2-0 when USF scores 80 points, 2-0 when USF scores 90 points, 0-0 when USF scores 100+ pts., 7-4 when holding opponents to 70 points or under, 2-7 when opponents scores 71-79, 1-4 when opponent scores 80 +.

PORTLAND "PILOTS" (10-16, 4-8)

HEAD COACH MICHAEL HOLTON, a 1992 graduate of UCLA is in his fifth season at UP (53-89) and career.

About Portland.: The Portland Pilots had a big weekend in Southern California topping Pepperdine 81-76 and Loyola Marymount 71-59 after losing six consecutive contests. The Pilots are paced by senior guards Pooh Jeter (18.2 ppg - 22 vs. USF this year) and Darren Cooper (14.8) and forward Donald Wilson (8.5). USF topped them 62-50 at Memorial Gym on January 21, a game that started Portland's six game slide. The strange thing about Portland's 4-8 WCC mark is that they finished 3-4 on the road in conference play and are only 1-4 at home.

GONZAGA "BULLDOGS" (23-3, 12-0)

HEAD COACH MARK FEW, a 1987 graduate of Oregon is in his seventh season at GU (182-40) and career.

About Gonzaga: USF will play Gonzaga in their senior night, in a game televised on Fox Sports Northwest. Gonzaga has won fourteen straight games entering Saturday's contest at home vs. San Diego. They have the nation's leading scorer in Adam Morrison (29.3 ppg.) who scored 41 points in Gonzaga's win at USF on January 23rd and a very strong inside scorer in J.P. Batista (19.3 ppg.) who had a double-double in the first meeting with USF. The Dons and Bulldogs have played three close games since Jessie Evans took over at USF, splitting last season (both games determined on final shot) and Gonzaga's 84-75 win this year (a three-point GU lead with 1:45 left). Last year at Gonzaga, Adam Morrison hit the game-winner with less than a second left and John Cox's shot to tie was ruled just after the buzzer in the Zags' 75-73 win.

This week in the streak: This is the 50th anniversary of USF's 60-game winning streak, the second longest in NCAA history that led to two NCAA titles. This week in 1955: On Feb.24, USF defeated Santa Clara 80-44 behind 29 by Bill Russell. On Feb. 28 USF toppled Pacific 87-49 with Russell tallying 28 for their 48th straight win.