Dec. 10, 2009

Complete Loyola Game Notes in PDF Format

USF BACK ON THE ROAD TO THE WINDY CITY: San Francisco returns to the road and travels to the Midwest for a Saturday contest at Loyola Chicago, in a rematch of the 1949 NIT Finals won by USF. The Ramblers own a 5-2 record and took a 69-64 road win Saturday at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Dons are fresh off a 76-71 win Tuesday against San Jose State and now focus on earning their first road decision of the season. Saturday will be the first meeting between the two teams since December of 1971. The Dons hold a 3-1 lead in the all-time series. Saturday's game will be televised live on Horizon League TV. The broadcast can be accessed at horizonleaguenetwork.tv and under the events tab on USFDons.com.

DONS VS. THE HORIZON: USF owns a 4-4 record against current members of the Horizon League and have played just three conference members - Loyola Chicago (3-1), Wisconsin-Green Bay (1-1) and Valparaiso (0-2).

LONG ROAD AHEAD: After opening the season with back-to-back home games, USF plays just three of 12 contests before New Year's at War Memorial Gym. The Dons only play two home games in December against San Jose State (12/8/09) and Cal State Bakersfield (12/23/09).

LOWHORN 13TH ON CAREER SCORING LIST: Preseason All-American Dior Lowhorn continues to charge up the USF career scoring lists and became the 30th USF player to surpass 1,000 career points in the Green and Gold with 22 points at Portland (1/15/09). Lowhorn enters Saturday's game at Loyola Chicago with 1,394 career points in 69 games for a 20.2 points per game average. The Bay Area product currently rates 13th on the Dons all-time scoring ladder. USF Hall-of-Famer and former NBA player Pete Cross (1967-70) scored 1,415 points and sits in 12th place.

SAN FRANCISCO PARTICIPATES IN THE 2009-10 JESUIT BASKETBALL SPOTLIGHT: USF is proud of its rich Jesuit heritage and the Dons will compete in no fewer than seven games against fellow Jesuit schools during the 2009-10 season. San Francisco squares off against Loyola University Chicago Saturday, December 12 in a rematch of the 1949 NIT Championship game. San Francisco is taking part in the Jesuit Spotlight Project for the second consecutive season, using Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of the outstanding education available at the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. For more information, log on to www.ajcunet.edu/jesuitbasketball.

SCOUTING LOYOLA: The Ramblers are off to a 5-2 start to the 2009-10 season and collected their first Horizon League win with a 69-64 decision Saturday at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After falling to Kansas State (92-54) in the season opener, Loyola ripped off four straight wins before falling at Wisconsin-Green Bay (90-69). As a team, LUC converts at a .401 clip from long distance and average 39.4 rebounds per night. Sophomore forward Walt Gibler paces the Ramblers with 11.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game coming off the bench. Junior guard Terrance Hill adds 10.4 points and 4.9 rebounds while senior guard Marcus Thomas adds 10.4 points on .476 from beyond the arc. Jim Whitesell is in his sixth season at the helm and owns a 84-78 record in Chicago and a 362-272 career record in 23 campaigns. Last season the Ramblers posted an overall record of 14-18 and went 6-12 in the Horizon League for eighth place.

DONS AND RAMBLERS REDUX: Two small Jesuit schools located in world class cities stood atop the basketball world 61 years ago when USF squared off against Loyola on the world's biggest stage - Madison Square Garden. San Francisco took a 48-47 victory against the Ramblers in the title game in front of a capacity crowd behind a game-high 20 points from All-American center Don Lofgran. Ross Giudice, who later served as the assistant coach for USF's back-to-back NCAA Championships (1955-56), secured the victory with a pair of free throws It was the second of three national championships won by the Dons in 1949-50 (soccer and tennis). San Francisco's ascent to the top of the hoops heap was all the more staggering considering that Pete Newell's Dons were just one season removed from posting a 13-11 record.