Feb. 25, 2005

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USF (14-12, 5-8 WCC) will close out the regular league season with its homecoming game Saturday night vs. Santa Clara at 8:00 p.m. The game will be carried live on FSN.

It will the last home appearance by five USF seniors; guards John Cox, Jason Gaines, Dommanic Ingerson and Andre Hazel and also by forward Tyrone Riley. Cox and Gaines all played four seasons, while Riley, Hazel and Ingerson played two each.

USF, who lost their third heartbreaker in the last three games Friday night in triple overtime to St. Mary's is playing tonight to try to earn the fifth seed in the WCC tournament next week. In order to do so, USF needs to beat Santa Clara and for Pepperdine to lose at home to Loyola Marymount. The fifth seed will play LMU (who USF lost to twice) and the sixth seed will play Portland (who USF defeated twice).

ANOTHER HEARTBREAKER: USF lost Thursday night again in heartbreaking fashion, this time in triple overtime 81-77. The Dons led the game by four with 1:45 to play with 1:30 to play in regulation but saw St. Mary's tie it with free throws at :20. Tyrone Riley's three to win it was off at the buzzer. USF also looked like it would win it in the first overtime when Andre Hazel stripped Jason Walberg with :04 left and was going in for a layup. Hazel was held but no foul was called as the ball rolled off the rim. The Dons also held the lead in the second overtime but missed four consecutive free-throws with a chance to put the game away. St. Mary's again tied the game on a free-throw by Jonathan Sanders with :04 left. Finally a three-pointer by Brett Collins and several free-throws by SMC put the game out of reach in the extra session. Missed free-throws were the key as USF made just 15-26 free-throws, including just 5-10 in overtime.

WIN IN JANUARY: The Dons defeated Santa Clara on January 27th 62-60 at the Leavey Center (where the WCC tournament will be held next week) on a last second jumper by Alan Wiggins, Jr.

USF IS 2-1 VS. TOP 25: USF is 2-1 in games vs. the AP top 25. The Dons defeated #19 Pacific 67-64 in Stockton on December 18th, UOP's last loss, and their only loss in Stockton. USF also beat Gonzaga at USF when they were ranked #11, 73-70, which is also Gonzaga's last loss. USF lost last Saturday at Gonzaga 75-73 in the last second.

Media: Saturday's game against Santa Clara will be shown on FSN Bay Area. Eleven USF regular season games will be televised this year, plus appearances in the WCC tournament (first round will be on ESPNU). Networks carrying USF games include ABC, FSN, Comcast Sports Net, KICU, ESPNU and College Sports TV.

USF THE MOST EXCITING TEAM IN SPORTS? Do you like close games?: With the exception of the two Pepperdine games and Feb. 9 game at USD, USF WCC games have been real nail biters. Here is a sampling: 1/7 at LMU: Trailing by one Andre Hazel's lay-up attempted is deflected by center Mathew Knight with :05 left and USF trailing by one. USF loses 68-65. 1/9 at Pepperdine: USF trails by just three with 2:43 left and has three possessions to get closer but eventually falls 64-57 1/15 San Diego: USF and USD go into overtime after failing to score in last 1:29. The Dons trail by four in overtime before taking control. USD has a three-point attempt to tie the score by Brandon Gay miss with :10 left. USF wins 87-82. 1/20 #11 Gonzaga: USF looks like they will runaway from the Zags but #11 still has some fight left. Gonzaga takes a 19 point lead down to three but a buzzer beating three to tie by Derek Raivio is off mark. USF wins 73-70. 1/22 Portland: The Pilots erase a USF second half lead and it takes a gutty three by Tyrone Riley with :26 left and a late steal by Jason Gaines to get USF to OT where Riley takes over and the Dons win 74-70. 1/27 at Santa Clara: USF sophomore Alan Wiggins breaks a tie with a baseline jumper with less than a second left to give USF a 62-60 win vs. Santa Clara. 1/20 at St. Mary's: In the game where WCC officials incorrectly used a TV replay to check a shot clock violation vs. USF, Tyrone Riley's short shot to give the Dons the lead with 18 seconds left is short and St. Mary's outlasts USF 68-64 2/5 Loyola Marymount: USF leads all the way until LMU takes a lead for the first time with 18 seconds left. USF has shots to go ahead by John Cox at :05 and a layup by Tyrone Riley miss with :01 left and loses 50-49. 2/17 at Portland: USF builds a big halftime lead of 16 points but then goes cold offensively letting the Pilots back in the game. Portland leads after scoring with :41 left but Tyrone Riley banks in a three with :18 left to give USF the lead. USF twice gets steals at end of the game and wins by two after a Cox free-throw. 2/19 at Gonzaga: USF fights back from a double digit deficit to take the lead with 1:10 left on an Ingerson trey. GU makes two free-throws and USF one to have the game tied at 73-all. Gonzaga's Adam Morrison drills a jumper in the last second and John Cox's equalizer is just a fraction late to send the game to ot. 2/24 St. Mary's: USF leads late, has shots to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime to win it, but eventually falls in triple overtime to St. Mary's. USF makes just 5-10 free-throws in overtime sealing its fate. Hazel has a chance to make a lay-up to win it at the end of OT1, but it rolls off the rim.

FINAL GAME FOR FIVE SENIORS: Saturday will be the final home game for five USF seniors: John Cox, Jason Gaines, Tyrone Riley, Andre Hazel and Dommanic Ingerson, and they will be saluted prior to tip-off of the game vs. Santa Clara.

HALL OF FAME DINNER HELD FRIDAY NIGHT; WALKER INDUCTED: The annual Fr. Hub Flynn Hall of Fame Induction Dinner February 27, and former USF men's basketball star Gerald Walker was inducted. The guard, who ranks sixth on the all-time USF scoring list (1.665) is the WCC's all-time steals leader. Also inducted on Friday are women's hoop star Brittany Lindhe, soccer goalkeeper Aram Kardzair, golfer Todd Fischer, and the late Sherman Hall, a longtime USF booster. The 1980 USF men's soccer team, who won the NCAA title, will also be recognized.

WCC MEDIA CALL MONDAY: The WCC will have its annual pre-tournament media conference call on Monday, February 28th at 10:00 a.m. The call will start with the naming of the men's and women's all-WCC teams. Call Jae Wilson at the WCC office (650) 873-8622 for details. Coach Evans will be on at either 10:10 or 10:25.

WCC Holds Steady At No. 7 In Latest RPI Report The West Coast Conference maintained its No. 7 RPI ranking in the latest men's Collegiate Basketball News RPI ratings heading into the last week of the regular season. The only conferences listed ahead of the WCC are the six "BCS" conferences with the ACC leading the way, followed by the Pac-10, the Big East, the Big 12, the SEC, and the Big Ten. The WCC is listed above other highly regarded conferences such as Conference-USA, the Missouri Valley Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Western Athletic Conference and the Atlantic-10 Conference. In addition, three WCC teams are ranked in the RPI top 75. Gonzaga and Saint Mary's own RPIs of 10 and 37, respectively, while San Francisco comes in at No. 68. Rounding out the WCC in the RPI is Pepperdine (118), San Diego (124), Santa Clara (125), Portland (141), and Loyola Marymount (157).

WCC Tops The List Of the 31 Division I conferences, the WCC boasts the highest percentage of teams with winning records. Seven of the WCC's eight institutions own winning records for a .875 percentage. The Big 12 ranks second with 10-of-12 teams (.833) with winning records, followed by the ACC (9-of-11; .818), the Pac-10 (8-of-10; .800) and the SEC (9-of-12; .750).

Dons Offense Resurfaces in Spokane: The USF offense, which has struggled over the past month resurfaced in Spokane against Gonzaga. The Dons scored 73 points, their most since January 22nd and shot 49.1%. The 73 points were the most for USF since Jan. 22nd in an overtime win over Portland.

Earlier, seven in a row: USF went undefeated for a month from Dec. 2-Dec. 31. The streak ended at Texas Tech. The Dons won five in a row last season, but had not won seven in a row since the 1999-2000 year when they won 12 straight after dropping their opener in the preseason NIT at Maryland.

During the seven-game win streak USF had outscored its opponents 77.1 to 62.3, outshot them 45.0% to 40.7% and has a +7.4 turnover margin, making just 12.1 turnovers per game. Three players, John Cox (21.0), Tyrone Riley (16.0) and Jerome Gumbs (11.1) were averaging in double figures over the seven contests. John Cox moves to 11th in scoring: Senior John Cox became the 27th player in USF history to score his 1,000th career point on December 1st in USF's 65-55 loss at Wichita State. Cox's baseline three-pointer with 18:02 remaining in the first half gave Cox 1,001 points. He now has 1,456 and is 11th on the all-time USF career scoring list. He passed Pete Cross (1,415) on February 22nd. He needs 67 points to tie Phil Smith for 11th place . Scoring at this pace, he could finish the season either in the top ten scorers in USF history or just outside of it. He has scored 537 points this season, surpassing his personal best (445) in 2002-03 (28 games) when he was named all-WCC. (see top-20 list at end of release)

Cox and Riley rank in WCC key categories: John Cox is first in the West Coast Conference in scoring with 20.7 points per contest (ranked 13th in NCAA at start of the weekend) and leads the WCC in scoring in league games at 20.4. He also leads the WCC in three-pointers made with 2.6 made per contest. Riley is second in the WCC in rebounding with 8.9 per game.

Evans earns win #145: USF is led by new head coach Jessie Evans, who came over from Louisiana Lafayette this summer. The Santa Clara win last Thursday was the 145th in his career. He led Louisiana to a 132-81 record in seven seasons (and four postseason berths) after coming over from Arizona, where he was an assistant to Lute Olson. He took UL to the NCAA tournament last season. His team led the Sun Belt in scoring last season with 77.0 points per game. USF was last in the WCC in scoring last season with 65.0 ppg. Evans took over the program from Phil Mathews (139-123 in eight years), who is now head coach at San Bernardino Valley College.

More new staff: USF has a new alignment on the bench besides Evans. Next to Evans is former Casper College head coach Bill Johnson, who previously served as an assistant at Columbia (to Armond Hill) and Nebraska (to Danny Nee). Johnson is a graduate of Nebraska (1988) where he was a two-year letterwinner. Promoted on the USF staff were Anwar McQueen (Cal, 1997) and former Administrative Assistant Philippe Doherty (UC Davis, 1999). Joining the USF staff is Coach Evans' son Jarret, a former player at Louisiana-Lafayette (2002) and Director of Basketball Operations.

Dons Radio: USF games are broadcast live on KYCY (1550 AM) and be streamed live on USFDons.com. Saturday, play-by-play man Pat Olson will be broadcasting his 401st USF men's basketball game on the radio. In addition several games will be broadcast nationally on Sirius Satellite radio (next St. Mary's). Pat Olson is in his 14th season as the voice of USF basketball. He will be joined during USF home and local games by former USF head coach Jim Brovelli. In addition to streaming the audio this season, USF will also stream video of non-televised home games. KYCY will also carry the weekly "Jessie Evans Show" every Monday night at 8:00 p.m. live from the Kezar Pub in San Francisco.

FREE-THROWS NOT FREE: USF has shot less free-throws in nine of the 13 WCC contests than their opponents after shooting less in just six of 14 non-conference games. In nonconference play, USF attempted 295 fts (22.7) to their opponents 272 (20.9), but in conference USF has shot just 238 ft's (18.3) compared to 262 (22.8) for opponents. Five times during WCC play (at SCU, Pep-Home, and two of the last three contests (@USD, @PORT & @GU) USF has shot at least 10 less free-throws than its opponent.

USF has also struggled to make its free throws in league play making just 66.4% (7th), which has cost USF a few of the close games they have lost, including Thursday night. Against St. Mary's USF missed four straight when up by one point in overtime.

HEAD COACH Jessie Evans, a 1972 graduate of Eastern Michigan is in his first season at USF (14-12) and 8th year of collegiate coaching (146-93) 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.

USF is: 10-3 home (3-3 WCC), 4-8 road (2-5 WCC), 0-1 neutral; 2-2 in overtime; 10-4 in white jerseys, 0-4 in green, 4-4 in black, 10-3 when leading at the half, 4-8 when trailing, 0-1 when tied, 1-0 when shooting 50% from the floor, 13-10 when shooting less than 50%; 7-1 when outshooting their opponent, 7-11 when outshot, 0-0 when equal; 13-9 when holding their opponents under 50% floor, 1-3 when opponent shoots 50%; 9-1 when USF shoots more FT's, 5-10 when USF shoots less FT's, 0-1 when free-throws are the same; 14-2 when USF leads with 5 minutes left, 10-3 when USF leads with 1 minute left, 3-0 when tied with 1 minute left; 6-4 when USF bench outscores opponent, 8-8 when opposing bench outscores USF, 0-0 when bench is equal, 5-2 when outrebounding opponent, 8-10 when outrebounded, 1-0 when rebounds are the same; 10-7 when more 3's, 4-4 when less 3's, 0-1 when 3's are equal; 10-11 when USF scores less than 80 pts., 4-1 when USF scores 80 points, 0-0 when USF scores 90 points, 0-0 when USF scores 100+ pts., 12-6 when holding opponents to 70 points or under, 1-1 when opponents scores 71-79, 2-4 when opponent scores 80 +.

Top Teams on Schedule: USF certainly has had a demanding schedule in 2004-05. On the schedule is Stanford, St. Joseph's (in USF's Northwestern Mutual Shootout on Dec. 10-11) and Gonzaga (twice), teams that ranked first, first and third in polls last season. USF also played Pacific, Texas Tech, Penn, Fresno State, Wichita State and Ohio as highlights of its pre-conference schedule. The Dons are the last team to defeat both Pacific and Gonzaga.

ALL-WCC CANDIDATES: Certainly USF has two legitimate WCC candidates in John Cox (leads the league in scoring in both overall and league play) and forward Tyrone Riley. Riley is 10th in scoring in WCC play. In addition to that, he is second in rebounding and ranks third in three-point field goals made per game.

Cox gets right back into it : It did not take John Cox long to show what a difference he would make for the USF team this season after sitting out all but the first game last year. In this year's opener vs. Stanford, Cox scored a then career high 33 points, 11 in the last two minutes of regulation to get USF into the extra session.

He followed that up with a 20 point effort in the win over UCSB, scored 26 at Ohio, 18 at Wichita State and 17 vs. Delaware. The Delaware game was the first this season where he wasn't the leading scorer in the game this year, and he has paced USF in 16 of 23 games. He did lead USF to the 75-70 win at Sacramento State with 22 points, 17 in the second half. In that contest he was 8-14 from the floor and made a crucial three-pointer late to help put the Hornets away. Cox scored just 15 points vs. Longwood, but he saw just 17 minutes of action and took just nine shots. He scored a new career high 35 points in USF's Dec. 23rd win over Fresno State with 35 points, 24 after intermission. Cox led USF with 18 points at Texas Tech. He scored 28 points at Pepperdine after scoring 23 at LMU. He leads the WCC in scoring at 20.3 points per game and enters the week ranked 18th nationally. He had his third 30+ point game this season with 31 vs. San Diego on Jan. 15th, 21 after halftime in the OT tilt. He slowed in the first meeting with the Northwest schools, recording 13 points vs. Gonzaga and 10 vs. Portland Jan. 22. Cox had an excellent game at Santa Clara with 21 points on 9-12 shooting. He was USF's high scorer at St. Mary's with 23 points, making 7 of 16 shots. And he scored 24 vs. Pepperdine at home and 15 vs. LMU on February 5th. He was held to single digits (9) for the first time this season at San Diego on February 9th and scored just 14 at Portland. He had an outstanding game at Gonzaga with 25 points (10-17 floor, 4-8 3's) on February 22nd and followed that up with a 29 point effort Thursday vs. St. Mary's. He now has 1,456 and is 11th on the all-time USF career scoring list. He passed Pete Cross (1,415) on February 22nd. He needs 67 points to tie Phil Smith for 11th place . Scoring at this pace, he could finish the season either in the top ten scorers in USF history or just outside of it. He has scored 537 points this season, surpassing his personal best (445) in 2002-03 (28 games) when he was named all-WCC. (see top-20 list at end of release). He has exactly 500 field goals made in his career, and 176 career three-pointers (second to Ali Thomas' 236).

Tyrone Riley, Tyrone Riley: Tyrone Riley (MVP of the Northwestern Mutual Shootout for the second straight season) was second in the WCC in double-doubles last year with six. He now has seven after scoring 18 points and pulling 20 rebounds LMU February 5th. He is a legitimate all-WCC pick as he ranks 10th in scoring in the WCC and second in rebounding (during WCC play). On Febraury 20th, he scored a career high 24 points at Portland, including a game-winning three-pointer with :18 left. He followed that up with a 23 point effort at Gonzaga, including two threes at the end of the first half to pull USF back into the game. The home game against Portland was a great example of his leadership, when he tied the contest with a last minute three and then scored nine points in overtime to earn the win. At Santa Clara Jan. 27th, he scored 17 points including two key threes down the stretch, one for a four-point play. At St. Mary's Jan. 30th, he missed a chance to tie the score with :16 seconds left when his driving shot fell short. In the WCC opener at LMU he had a then career high 23 points and nailed four of eight threes. He scored just six points at Pepperdine the following game. He bounced back with a 22-point performance against San Diego, pulling eight rebounds, and making eight of 13 field goal attempts, including four of six from behind the arc. On Jan. 22, he was a key played vs. Gonzaga defensively, but scored just 7 points. He pulled 12 rebounds in the game. In the home loss to Pepperdine, he scored 18 points and pulled nine rebounds, Tyrone had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Pacific Dec. 20, including an important offensive rebound with 8 seconds left in the game followed by two free-throws. In the Shootout final vs. St. Joseph's he scored 16 points and 12 rebounds and knocked down 7 of 13 shots. Against Montana he had 12 points and 6 rebounds in just 26 minutes of action. Riley scored 18 points and pulled eight rebounds in the win over Fresno State Dec. 23. Riley did not score in USF's road loss at Texas Tech, but had a double-double vs. Penn Tuesday night )11 pts./11 reb.). He has had double figures in rebounds 10 times this season and is second (8.9) in the WCC in rebounding. Riley had a strong game for USF vs. Stanford and followed that up with another vs. UCSB. Against the Cardinal, he recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, just one point short of his career high 22 points recorded vs. Portland last season. He was fouled in the act of shooting a trey vs. Stanford with 0:09 left and calmly knocked down three free-throws, despite two time-outs called by the Cardinal to "ice" him. He recorded a strong double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds vs, UCSB. He equaled his career best 22 points against Delaware, scoring 15 in the first half. At Sacramento State he hit 6 of 10 shots from the floor scoring 14 points and adding 11 rebounds. Scored team high 19 points at USD on February 9th. He scored just nine points Thursday, but pulled 10 rebounds vs. St. Mary's. Riley is USF's leading returning scorer (11.2 points per game last season). After coming in as California State Junior College Player of the Year in 2003, Riley lifted his average in WCC play to 13.3 points per game. He has six double-doubles last season and was MVP of the Northwestern Mutual Classic with 19 points against Ohio State. A strong rebounder, he led the team in caroms 18 times last season and was ranked second in the WCC in rebounding with a 7.0 average.

Hazel questionable again: Andre Hazel was again injured Thursday night and is listed as day-to-day after twisting his ankle. It is his third injury of the season. He was again injured in the Dons Feb. 9 game at San Diego, after his knee surgery earlier this year. He was named USF's MVP last season missed four games for the Dons after having his right knee scoped. Evans feels that getting Hazel back into top playing condition is a key for the stretch run as he has intangibles that no one else has. He pointed specifically on his speed going to the hoop and ability to break down the defense in the middle. Hazel returned in time for the WCC opener at LMU but played just 16 minutes due to foul trouble and failed to score. He still almost scored the game-winner, beating his man to the basket, but his shot was deflected by Matt Knight. He struggled his first weekend back, scoring just three points, going 1-14 floor and just adding two assists. He did not start or play double figures in minutes against San Diego, Gonzaga or Portland, mostly due to his recovery or foul difficulty. He played two strong games at Santa Clara and St. Mary's, the best performances since his surgery. Against Santa Clara, he scored 7 points and the game-winning assist. On Feb. 3rd he played just three minutes vs. Pepperdine, but he splayed 23 vs. LMU on the fifth. He was injured in the San Diego game last Wednesday. He missed the Montana game after suffering the injury that was not detected until later that night. USF is 5-1 in the games he has started. He came off the bench in the first four games, but has now returned to a starting role. Last year he had a career game vs. Pacific with 25 points and a game-winning three with 0:04 left to win the contest. Against UCSB. he was a difference maker, scoring 11 points and recording 5 assists after intermission. His three-pointer ended Santa Barbara's attempted comeback late in the game, pushing USF's lead back to eight. He scored nine points and recorded eight assists in the win at Sacramento State. He ranked third in the WCC with 4.71 assists per game last year to add to his averages of 8.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Last year he won three games with clutch last second shots. He hit a three at Delaware, at home vs. Ohio and a three at home vs. Pacific.

The Gumbs factor: Wing Jerome Gumbs looks effective in Jessie Evans' run mode offense. USF is 8-2 when Gumbs scores in double figures. Gumbs tweaked his ankle on January 26th and has struggled offensively since then. Thursday night was his first game in double figures since the injury. He has missed 18 of 21 treys and totaling 49 points in the eight contests. The junior is slowly getting back into shape and scored eight points at Portland. He won WCC "Player of the Week." January 24th averaging 22.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in leading USF to a sweep over #11 Gonzaga and Portland. Gumbs shot 61 percent from the field (17-28) and 50 percent from beyond the arc (5-10), while committing no turnovers in 74 minutes of total action. Against Portland, he scored a career best 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in USF's ot win. He wound up 10-14 from the floor on the night, 3-4 from three point.

Against Gonzaga he had another outstanding game with 18 points and a career best 13 rebounds, six offensive. He had an outstanding 21-point effort vs. St. Joseph's when he knocked down 9-10 shots from the floor and scored 21 points. That earned him a spot of the Northwestern Mutual Shootout all-tourney team. He was USF's leading scorer vs. Penn with 19 points. Gumbs was a key in USF's first WCC win of the year over San Diego, with his two steals in overtime setting up the USF win. One led to a Riley layup that tied the score and one led to two Gumbs free-throws that made the margin three. He hit four free-throws in overtime to cinch the win. He struggled at LMU shooting just 1-8 from the floor. The junior from St. Thomas scored 11 points vs. UCSB and at Ohio and scored 14 vs. Delaware. He added nine points, including a crucial late layup in the win over Sacramento State. Gumbs, after sitting out 2002-03 (bad back) was a much improved player last season averaging 6.0 points per game and shooting 50% from the floor.

Wiggins in the Middle: Alan Wiggins' Jr. is a vastly improved player this season. He made his first career game-winning shot Jan 27th at Santa Clara, a game in which he scored 11 points and pulled 8 rebounds. Wiggins leads the team with a 49.1% field goal percentage. He started against a big Stanford front line and scored nine points and added six rebounds, blocking one shot. He leads USF in blocks with 1.0 per game including two in overtime in the home win over Portland. In the home opener vs. Santa Barbara he scored 8 points on 2-3 shooting. He scored a career high 14 points vs. Delaware and followed that up with a 12 points, 6 rebound game at Sacramento State. Despite foul trouble he still scored six points at Ohio. He averaged just 2.8 points per game last season but scored 15 points on 7-11 shooting vs. Lewis and Clark (exhibition). His sister Candice is starring as a freshman at nationally ranked Stanford.

Gaines solid at the point, now fourth on career assists list: Senior Jason Gaines has started 18 contests at the point guard slot. He began the season as the starter, and started again after Hazel's injury. His 1.9 asst-to ratio in league play is one of the best in the WCC. During USF's seven game winning streak he had 24 assists and just 6 turnovers. He played 27 minutes in the ot loss to the Cardinal and recorded 4 assists and one turnover. He followed it up with four assists vs. UCSB in 17 minutes. He has 345 career assists and passed Chubby Cox (320) Jan. 15th to move into fifth place on the USF list. He just passed Ali Thomas (334) for fourth place and is just 9 behind LyRyan Russell. The senior from Antioch played 18.2 minutes per game last year behind Andre Hazel and averaged 3.5 points and 2.1 assists per game. His late steal in the Portland game did not allow the Pilots a shot to win the game before overtime.

Johnny be good: Newcomer Johnny Dukes scored a career high 16 points to pace USF to the win over Montana hitting six of 10 shots from the floor and pulling 7 rebounds. He had an excellent game on Thursday vs. St. Mary's with 12 points on 4-7 shooting and a dunk that mde SportsCenter's Plays of the Day. He also made a big three to put USF ahead in overtime. He also was a key in the win over Gonzaga with 12 points off the bench on 4-6 shooting and a key three-pointer and scored 11 points off the bench at St. Mary's. Dukes was effective in his USF debut vs. Stanford with 11 points and three rebounds off the bench. His breakaway slam gave USF the lead for the last time in overtime. Dukes also played well in the loss at Texas Tech with 13 points off the bench and 4 steals. Dukes scored 9 points in the loss to Gonzaga, but missed a critical free-throw that would have put USF up before Morrison's game-winner. He is second on the team in field goal percentage with 46.2%. Dukes, a transfer from San Bernardino Valley College was effective in USF's two exhibition games. His average of 14.5 points was second only to John Cox and his average of 10.5 rebounds led the squad. In USF's 26 games this year he has averaged 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in an average of 16.1 minutes per game. His block of Christian Maraker's trey and following dunk was a key play in the win at Pacific, the Tigers last loss.

Carter coming around: Transfer Jason Carter (Colorado) has improved steadily after sitting out last season as a transfer. During USF's seven game win streak he averaged 3.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in playing about 14 minutes per contest. He played 21 minutes and scored 9 points vs. Gonzaga. He sat out Thursday with back spasms.

More Newcomers: In addition to Dukes mentioned above, two other Dons will be making their debuts this season is Hartnell College transfer Kenny Barnes (who redshirted at USF last year) and German guard Felix Czerny.

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: Feb. 23- USF wins at San Jose State 64-40, behind Bill Russell's 22 points. Feb. 26- USF tops Pacific at Kezar 67-57 as Russell again nets 22. The streak reaches 20.