Nov. 17, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
USF TAKES ON CAL TUESDAY AT HAAS: Fresh off a 2-0 start at the Verizon Wireless Tip-off Classic, USF plays its third contest in five days when it turns around for a game at Cal Tuesday, November 18 at Haas Pavilion. It marks the first meeting between the longtime Bay Area rivals since a 77-70 overtime win for the Golden Bears December 30, 2002. USF's last win in the series came in an 59-50 triumph at War Memorial Gym December 2, 1997. Cal opened the 2008-09 season with a 68-56 home victory against Pacific last Saturday. QUOTING WALTERS: "We're going to go with our basic package. We're going to try and play our game. It's going to be a hostile environment. I've got an awful lot of respect for Coach Montgomery, so it will be really good for us. It will be good experience. We've got to take the most that we can from it and try to play the game." SAN FRANCISCO OPENS SEASON AT 2-0: USF captured victories in its first two games to kick off the 2008-09 season at the Verizon Wireless Tip-off Classic. The Dons dispatched tournament host Hawaii 75-70 - their first win against the Rainbow Warriors in Honolulu since a 98-95 triumph December 6, 1980. San Francisco followed with an 88-74 win against Texas State to open the season at 2-0 against Division I opponents since the 1998-99 club opened with wins at UC Santa Barbara and against St. Louis. USF started at 2-0 in 2006-07, but opened against Division II Sonoma State. WALTERS A WINNER IN HIS GREEN AND GOLD DEBUT: USF opened the Rex Walters with a pair of victories at the Verizon Wireless Tip-off Classic. The Dons started the 2008-09 campaign with a 75-70 triumph at Hawaii (11/14/08) and Walters became the first coach since Jim Brovelli to earn a win in his sideline debut. Walters joins USF Hall-of-Fame coach Pete Peletta as the second coach to defeat the Rainbow Warriors in his inaugural contest. Peletta took a 68-58 victory at Hawaii (11/30/60). THREE DONS NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT: Three USF players captured all-tournament honors at the Verizon Wireless Tip-off Classic. Junior forward Dior Lowhorn averaged a tournament-high 21.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while senior guard Manny Quezada averaged 10.5 points and 5.0 assists per game for the Dons. Junior forward Blake Wallace also earned all-tournament accolades in his Green and Gold debut weekend, averaging 16.5 points and 4.0 boards a contest. EARLY RETURNS: With two games in the books, USF has demonstrated some positive tendencies to watch for in the upcoming contests. USF DONS BASKETBALL ON GREEN 960 AM: USF men's basketball returns to the airwaves and cyberspace for the 2008-2009 season and all games will be available live at USFDons.com, with the bulk of the schedule available on Green 960 AM. Join Pat Olson for the play-by-play in his 18th year behind the microphone courtside. USF Hall-of-Famer Jim Brovelli will join Olson on selected broadcasts. Other features available on USFDons.com include live scoring via GameTracker, courtesy of CBS Sports and live streaming video of all non-televised home games courtesy of Yahoo Broadcast. YAHOO ONLY BROADCASTS (NOT CARRIED ON GREEN 960): Four remaining 2008-09 regular season games will not be carried on Green 960 and will be available on the internet via Yahoo Broadcast on USFDons.com: USF vs. Academy of Art (11/21), USF at Holy Cross (11/27), USF at Boston College (11/29) & USF vs. Cal State East Bay (1/3). PAT OLSON CLOSING IN ON CAREER BROADCAST NO. 500: Veteran USF play-by-play man Pat Olson is approaching a milestone broadcast this season. Now in his 18th year calling Dons basketball, Olson will call his 500th game for San Francisco when USF hosts UC Santa Barbara Monday, November 24 at War Memorial Gym. Dior Lowhorn - 2008 WCC FIRST TEAM AND LEAGUE SCORING LEADER: After sitting out the entire 2006-07 season under NCAA transfer rules, junior forward Dior Lowhorn made up for lost time in his first season in the Green and Gold. The Texas Tech transfer and Bay Area native turned in a prolific sophomore campaign for the Dons and led the West Coast Conference in scoring in overall (20.5) and WCC (20.5) contests - the first USF player to pace the league in scoring in both categories since John Cox accomplished the feat in 2004-05 (20.0/19.9). Lowhorn scored 636 points last season, good for fourth place on the Dons single-season scoring charts. A 2008 Mid-Major All-American and a All-WCC First Team pick - the first USF underclassmen tabbed since Gerald Walker in 1995 - Lowhorn scored at least 20 points in 18 games, including a career-high 29 at No. 12 Oregon (11/24/07). Lowhorn led the Dons with five double-double nights last season and scored 19 points six times and was the only USF player to reach double-digit scoring in every game. Lowhorn was named to the 2008-09 WCC Preseason Team, as selected by the league's head coaches. Dior Lowhorn AMONG NATIONAL SCORING LEADERS: Junior forward Dior Lowhorn ranked No. 27 among 2007-80 NCAA Division I scoring leaders at 20.5 points per game, in the final Division I stats released in March of 2008. Lowhorn is the first Don to crack the top-30 on the NCAA scoring list since John Cox (1999-05) accomplished the feat as a senior. Manny Quezada CLIMBING THE USF SCORING CHARTS: Senior guard Manny Quezada enjoyed a solid second season on the Hilltop, averaging 13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. For his efforts, Quezada earned 2008 WCC Honorable Mention selection. The New York native ranked third among WCC assists leaders (4.6), was fourth in turnover to assist ratio (1.57) during league games. Quezada notched his second career 30-point game with a 30-point outburst at No. 12 Oregon (11/24/07) and turned in his first double-double at Pepperdine (2/2/08) with 11 points and a career-high 12 assists. Quezada moved into 37th place on the USF career scoring list with 21 points at the 2008 Verizon Wireless Classic and now has 859 in his career. Quezada needs 10 points to pass former All-American Mike Farmer (1955-58) for the 36th spot. Naismith Hall-of-Famer K.C. Jones (1951-56) sits in 35th place with 893. DONS TWO-HEADED MONSTER: USF relied heavily on the one-two punch of sophomore forward Dior Lowhorn and junior guard Manny Quezada last season and figure to count on them once again in 2008-09. Last year the duo combined for 39 of San Francisco's 55 points in a 71-55 loss at Oklahoma (11/9/07), accounting for a remarkable .701 of the team's offensive output. The pair combined for a season-high 59 points at No. 12 Oregon (11/24/07). In 31 games of the 2007-08 campaign, Lowhorn and Quezada accounted for 34.4 points per game - .515 of the Dons total offense. LOWHORN CLOSING ON 1,000 CAREER POINTS: Junior forward Dior Lowhorn is closing in on 1,000 combined career points and enters Tuesday's contest at Cal with 908 points with 678 coming at USF and 230 at Texas Tech. Last year, the Bay Area native ranked fourth in USF single-season scoring history in his first campaign in the Green and Gold, finishing with a remarkable 636 points. NEW FACES IN THE DONS BACKCOURT: Three guards made their USF debuts in the Verizon Tip-off Classic. Freshman East Bay product Kwame Vaughn dazzled at times ranking third on the team in scoring with 13.5 points on .571 ( 8-14) shooting and Junior Dontae Bryant chipped in with 4.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in his opening weekend in a Dons uniform. Freshman guard Chris O'Brien showed promise as well, averaging 5.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in a pair of starts. DONS DOING IT WITH BALANCE: San Francisco got contributions throughout the roster at the Verizon Tip-off Classic. No fewer than four Dons averaged double-digit scoring, led by junior forward Dior Lowhorn at a tournament-best 21.0 points. Junior forward Blake Wallace (16.5), freshman guard Kwame Vaughn (13.5) and senior guard Manny Quezada (10.5) led the balanced USF offensive assault. DONS AND GOLDEN BEAR NOTES GAME #3 - SCOUTING CAL: The Golden Bears head into the second weekend of the 2008-09 season with a 1-0 record after dispatching Pacific 68-56 Saturday at Haas Pavilion. Junior guard Jerome Randle poured in a game-high 24 points on 6-of-8 from the field, while junior guard Patrick Christopher added 18 points. Last season, Cal finished with a 17-16 overall record and finished ninth in the Pac-10 at 6-12. Christopher is the top returning scorer for the Bears at 15.2 points per game, while Randle added 11.8 points to the Cal cause a year ago. Veteran coach Mike Montgomery is in his first season in Berkeley after spending 18 years at Stanford, where he led the Cardinal to 12 NCAA Tournaments, highlighted by a berth in the 1998 Final Four. Montgomery owns a 548-244 overall record and is 12th among active Division I head coaches. CAL In 2008-09 EXHIBITIONS: The Golden Bears defeated Seattle Pacific 91-70 in its only exhibition game of the season, November 7. TEAM COMPARISONS - 2007-08 SEASON - Final: Team PPG Margin FG% 3-FG% FT% RPG APG TOPG SPG BPG USF 66.7 -5.2 .440 .332 .707 32.0 12.3 15.4 6.1 2.8 CAL 76.4 +1.3 .465 .359 .776 35.8 14.9 13.5 4.1 2.5 CALIFORNIA PROBABLE STARTERS (2007-08 Final Stats) LAST MEETING: at Cal 77, USF 70, ot (12/30/02) SERIES RECORD/STREAK: Cal leads 45-30/Cal won five ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB: GAME #4 - SCOUTING THE ACADEMY OF ART: The Urban Knights open up their inaugural regular season Tuesday, November 18 against Cal State Stanislaus. AAU is in its first season of sponsoring athletics. The Urban Knights are coached by former Saint Mary's College star and Golden State Warrior player Peter Thibeaux. AAU In 2008-09 EXHIBITIONS: The Urban Knights dropped a 85-61 decision to crosstown rival San Francisco State in the first exhibition contest in program history. AAU PROBABLE STARTERS (No Stats) LAST MEETING: First Meeting SERIES RECORD/STREAK: First Meeting BEFORE USF: Cal State Stanislaus vs. AAU (11/18/08) ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB: UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: USF kicks off a three-game non-conference homestand when it welcomes the Academy of Art Friday, November 21 in a 7:00 PM contest at War Memorial Gym. The Dons then host UC Santa Barbara Monday, November 24 to wrap up a busy stretch of five games in 10 days. San Francisco closes out the homestand when it welcomes Colorado State to the Hilltop Saturday, November 29 for a 2:00 PM matinee.
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