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Dons Take On San Diego in WCC Quarterfinals Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
March 2, 2006
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USF (11-16, 7-7 WCC), opens WCC play Saturday (6:00 p.m., KQKE & Sirius Radio 110) as the number four seed in Spokane when they face San Diego (17-11, 6-8) who defeated Pepperine 85-72 Friday. The winner of Saturday's game will then play Gonzaga Sunday on the Zags' homecourt in the semifinals with a chance to advance to Monday's title game.
USF will have a first round bye this season, something they did not have last season when they lost in the quarterfinals to host Santa Clara after topping Portland in the first round. The Dons are riding a streak in which they have lost to the WCC's tournament host in six consecutive seasons (three times at San Diego, three at Santa Clara).
The Dons completed WCC play Monday in Spokane, losing a heartbreaker in the final second to Gonzaga 75-72 to finish 7-7 in league play, an improvement over their 6-8 mark from last year.
WCC FINAL STANDINGS:Team WCC PCT Overall #5 GON 14-0 1.000 25-3 LMU 8-6 .571 11-17 SMC 8-6 .571 16-11 USF 7-7 .500 11-16 USD 6-8 .429 17-11 SCU 5-9 .357 13-15 POR 5-9 .357 11-18 PEP 3-11 .214 7-20
SURRATT AND WIGGINS HONORED: Armondo Surratt, the former Oakland Tech star who led the Dons in scoring and assists after transferring in from Miami (FL), has been named West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year. Surratt was also selected on the All-West Coast Conference squad. Surratt, a junior, averaged 14.5 points, 5.11 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.5 rebounds over the season and 15.7 points, 4.5 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.4 rebounds in WCC play.
In overall play, he ranked twelfth in scoring among league players, first in assists, and fourth in steals, while during league action he was tenth in scoring, third in assists and third in steals.
USF forward Alan Wiggins, Jr. was named honorable mention all-WCC. He averaged 14.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.11 blocks over the season and 14.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in WCC play. In overall play, Alan was thirteenth in scoring, third in rebounding first in blocked shots and fifth in field goal percentage (51.8), while in WCC play he ranked thirteenth in scoring, third in rebounding, eighth in field goal percentage, first in blocked shots and eighth in field goal percentage (49.3%).
"I am very excited for Armondo to receive the newcomer of the year award," said Dons' Head Coach Jessie Evans. "He has to be very excited about that. But as much as I am excited for Armondo, I am just as deeply disappointed that Alan Wiggins, Jr. did not make the team. Alan had a great value to our team and it showed both in our games and in the statistics where he was among the league leaders in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and led the conference in blocked shots. I thought for sure that he would be one that they would select."
DÉJÀ VU IN SPOKANE: For the second straight year, USF lost to a nationally ranked Gonzaga team in the final second, 75-72 last Monday night on a shot by Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes with a second left. The game was very similar to the Dons loss last season when Gonzaga won 74-72 on a shot with a second left by Adam Morrison.
The main difference was that USF led for most of the contest, including a 62-54 lead with 9:52 remaining. But Gonzaga took advantage of a huge difference in free-throws made (18-3) to squeak out the win. USF also failed to convert the front-end of two one-and-one free-throws in the last 6:17.
Adam Morrison led Gonzaga with 34 points, including 13 of 16 from the free-throw line, with J.P. Batista adding 17 points and 11 rebounds. USF was paced by 20 points by senior Jerome Gumbs (9-16 shooting) and 19 points and four assists by Armondo Surratt.
CAN USF STREAK?: The Dons need a three-game winning streak to earn a trip to the NCAA tournament. Coach Evans feels that the team is playing as well as they have all season, but USF has not won consecutive games since January 16-21 when they topped Saint Mary's and Portland at home. USF 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 finished 7-7 in league but with a little bit better shooting have a much better mark. In fact, since league play opened USF is shooting just 42.8% from the floor (7th WCC), 32.6% from three-point (7th WCC) and last in free-throw percentage (65.8%). USF led the league in offensive rebounds with 13.1 per game. USF has shown some promise hitting 45.5% of their shots over the last five games.
In league play, Jerome Gumbs leads the Dons with 51.2% shooting. Jason Wallace-Carter (47.6% FG league) shot 55.8% in preconference play while Alan Wiggins, Jr. (49.3% FG league) shot 54.9% before WCC began.
TURNOVERS A DONS' ADVANTAGE: In WCC play, the Dons have the second best turnover margin (+2.1) forcing 16.1 turnovers per contest while committing just 14.1. LMU leads with +3.08. On the opposite side, USF is last in free-throw percentage (65.8%).
IT'S SHILLER TIME: Freshman Drew Shiller (Burlingame, CA) has come on strong at the end of the season averaging 9.8 points per game over the last five games while hitting 57.7% of his field goal attempts and all 10 of his free-throws. He scored a career best 23 points on Feb. 20 vs. Santa Clara. USF is 4-2 in WCC contests in which he has played 20 minutes or more, losing only the Feb. 20 game vs. Santa Clara and the finale at Gonzaga.
LAST FIVE GAMES: USF is 2-3 in last five games. The Dons have outscored their opponents 379 (75.8) to 372 (73.6) USF has shot 45.5% to 45% by the opponents. Alan Wiggins (17.4) has lead the Dons in scoring over that period, with Jason Wallace-Carter at 12.6, Armondo Surratt 12.4 and then Drew Shiller 9.2. Alan Wiggins, Jr. (58.5%) and Drew Shiller (53.8%) are the Dons hottest shooters with Drew Shiller (8-18, 44.4%) Danny Cavic (11-25, 44.0%) the hottest from outside the arc. Alan Wiggins, Jr. has double-doubles in five of his last eight games while Wallace-Carter has doubles in his last two contests.
SEVEN 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.
2/27: USF lost at Gonzaga on a last second three-pointer after missing two front ends of one-and-ones in the last 6:30. USF also had chances to take the lead on a three-point attempt by Drew Shiller (1:15 left) and a deflected layup by Armondo Surratt with 0:44 left.
HOME-AWAY:
USF is 3-10 away from Memorial Gymnasium and finished 8-6 at home. They were 4-3 at home in WCC play and 3-4 on the road in league.
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 11 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. At Gonzaga on Feb. 27th, USF made just 3 of 7, missing tow front ends in the final 6:30 as they lost in the last second to Gonzaga. Last week, USF was 16-30 from the line.
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 was on Fox Sports Northwest. Should USF advance to the semifinals, the game will be on ESPN2 and the finals will be on ESPN.
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 the Dons topped this year in the USF Invitational).
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.
HEAD COACH Jessie Evans, a 1972 graduate of Eastern Michigan is in his second season at USF (28-30) and 9th year of collegiate coaching (160-111) 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, 3-8 road, 0-2 neutral; 1-1 in overtime; 8-6 in white jerseys, 3-6 in green, 0-3 in black, 4-6 in last 10 games, 8-4 when leading at the half, 3-11 when trailing, 0-1 when tied, 3-1 when shooting 50% from the floor, 8-15 when shooting less than 50%; 8-2 when outshooting their opponent, 3-14 when outshot, 0-0 when equal; 11-9 when holding their opponents under 50% floor, 0-7 when opponent shoots 50%; 8-3 when USF shoots more FT's, 3-12 when USF shoots less FT's, 0-0 when free-throws are the same; 8-3 when USF leads with 5 minutes left, 8-2 when USF leads with 1 minute left, 1-2 when tied with 1 minute left; 5-6 when USF bench outscores opponent, 5-10 when opposing bench outscores USF, 1-0 when bench is equal, 9-5 when outrebounding opponent, 2-11 when outrebounded, 0-1 when rebounds are the same; 4-6 when more 3's, 6-9 when less 3's, 1-1 when 3's are equal; 8-16 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, 3-8 when opponents scores 71-79, 1-4 when opponent scores 80 +.
