Dec. 5, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
USF HOSTS LONG BEACH STATE: San Francisco hosts Long Beach State Saturday at War Memorial Gym in its lone home game in the month of December. The Dons look to bounce back after suffering a pair of setbacks in Southern California at USC and Cal Poly. USF faces its second of three consecutive Big West foes when the 49ers come to the Hilltop. USF BASKETBALL HONORS ALUMNI & REMEMBERS HAL DEJULIO: USF basketball will hold its first annual alumni day Saturday. December 6, celebrating the tradition and history of hoops on the Hilltop. In addition, the Dons will honor the legacy of Hal DeJulio who passed away in July at 83 and played a key role in recruiting Bill Russell and many other USF basketball standouts. DONS OFF TO BEST START SINCE 2004-05: After a pair of tough losses on its Southern California road trip, San Francisco stands at 5-3 on the season, including an unblemished 3-0 slate at War Memorial Gym. The Dons put their home court winning streak on the line Saturday against Long Beach State in their lone home contest of the month of December. At 5-3, USF still boast its best season opening surge since the 2004-05 squad opened non-conference play at 5-3, en route to a 7-3 record through 10 contests. EARLY RETURNS: With eight games in the books, USF has demonstrated some positive tendencies to watch for in the upcoming contests. - USF limiting opponents to a .414 (176-425) field goal percentage LONG DECEMBER ROAD FOR THE DONS: San Francisco plays no fewer than eight of nine December contests on the road. The road began with a tough 74-69 loss at USC (12/1/08) in the Dons first game against the Trojans since the 1972-73 campaign. USF welcomes Long Beach State Saturday, December 6 in its lone home contest of the month. The Dons then travel to Pacific (12/9) and Boise State (12/13) before returning to the Bay Area to take on San Jose State (12/22). After breaking for the Christmas holiday, USF closes out its five-game road trip at Holy Cross (12/27) and at Boston College (12/29). San Francisco opens up 2009 with a three-game homestand beginning with a Saturday, January 3 match-up against Cal State East Bay. 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): Three 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 at Holy Cross (11/27), USF at Boston College (11/29) and USF vs. Cal State East Bay (1/3). THE DONS AND THE BEACH: 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) did so as a senior. Lowhorn (20.2) ranked No. 40 in the first 2008-09 stats released December 1. LOWHORN SURPASSES 1,000 CAREER POINTS: With a 23-point night at USC (12/1/08) junior forward Dior Lowhorn surpassed 1,000 combined career points and enters Saturday's contest at Cal Poly with 1,031 points with 801 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 season on the Hilltop, finishing with a remarkable 636 points. 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. After scoring six points Wednesday at Cal Poly (12/3/08), Quezada moved into 34th place on the career scoring chart, passing James Lee (1998-01) who scored 919. Wilson Stephens (1990-94) sits at No. 33 with 954. 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. Eight games into the 2008-09 campaign, the duo averages 30.9 points per game, .443 of the team's scoring output. NEW FACES PRODUCING IN THE DONS BACKCOURT: Three backcourt newcomers are making their presence felt for USF in their first year in the Green and Gold. Freshman East Bay product Kwame Vaughn ranks third on the team in scoring through eight games at 10.4 per contest with 2.9 rebounds after a big 13-point night at USC (12/1/08). Junior Dontae Bryant adds 4.3 points and ranks second on the team in assists at 3.3. Freshman guard Chris O'Brien has started all eight games for USF and adds strong defense to go along with 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest. As a group, the newcomer guard trio averages 18.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. DONS DOING IT WITH BALANCE: Eight games into the 2008-09 season, USF's offense is sharing the scoring load. No fewer than four Dons average double-digit scoring, led by junior forward Dior Lowhorn (20.6). Junior forward Blake Wallace (10.5), freshman guard Kwame Vaughn (10.4) and senior guard Manny Quezada (10.3) lead the balanced USF offensive assault. GAME #9 SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE: The 49ers enter Saturday's game against USF with a 4-2 overall record and have reeled off four straight victories, starting with overtime wins against Weber State (73-69) a double overtime triumph at Idaho State (88-82), followed by home wins against New Mexico State (82-77) and Pepperdine (80-61). Through six games, Long Beach State averages 74.8 points per game on .458 shooting from the floor. Senior guard Donovan Morris paces the 49ers offensively with a team-high 19.8 points per game, while junior guard Stephan Gilling adds 11.2 points per night. Head coach Dan Monson is in his year in Long Beach and owns a career record of 180-150 after stops at Gonzaga and Minnesota. In year two of a massive rebuilding project, Monson owns a 10-27 slate with The Beach. TEAM COMPARISONS - 2008-09 SEASON - (As of 12/4/08): Team PPG Margin FG% 3-FG% FT% RPG APG TOPG SPG BPG USF 69.8 +4.3 .450 .364 .703 32.2 12.9 16.0 6.1 3.0 LB 74.8 +2.8 .458 .390 .635 33.3 15.5 15.7 6.3 3.7 LONG BEACH STATE PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 12/4/08) LAST MEETING: at Long Beach State 71, USF 68 (12/12/07) SERIES RECORD/STREAK: LBSU leads 4-2/LBSU won two ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB: UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: USF travels to Stockton to take on Pacific Tuesday, December 9 at the Spanos Center. The Tigers will be the third straight Big West opponent the Dons have faced. After taking on Pacific, San Francisco travels to Boise for a showdown with defending WAC Champion Boise State Saturday, December 13 at Taco Bell Arena.
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