Dec. 12, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
USF CONTINUES LONG DECEMBER ROAD TRIP SATURDAY IN BOISE: San Francisco continues its five-game December road trip when it travels to Boise to take on defending WAC Champion Boise State. The Dons look to bounce back after suffering a disappointing 66-60 road loss at Pacific Tuesday night in the Spanos Center. The Broncos got pounded in their last outing, a 94-56 loss at unbeaten BYU. BSU owns an unblemished 6-0 record at Taco Bell Arena - a venue USF has not collected a victory in a pair of trips to the Idaho capital. The Dons continue to search for their first road win since seizing a 75-70 victory at Hawaii (11/14/08) in the Verizon Wireless Tip-off Classic. After taking on Boise State, San Francisco takes an eight day break for finals and returns to action at San Jose State Tuesday, December 22. DONS OFF TO BEST START SINCE 2004-05: Through 10 games, USF owns a 6-4 record - including an unblemished 4-0 slate at War Memorial Gym - good for its best start in three seasons. The 2004-05 Dons opened non-conference play at 7-3 record through 10 contests. The 4-0 home start is the best at War Memorial Gym since the 2004-05 team opened at an impressive 10-0 including a 73-70 victory against No. 11 Gonzaga (1/20/05). EARLY RETURNS: With 10 games in the books, USF has demonstrated some positive tendencies to watch for in the upcoming contests. 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 took a dramatic 78-74 double overtime victory against Long Beach State (12/6/08) in its lone home contest of the month. After dropping a 66-60 loss at Pacific (12/9), the Dons travel to Boise State (12/13) before returning to the Bay Area to take on ancient rival 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). 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 final 2007-08 NCAA Division I scoring leaders at 20.5 points per game. 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 (21.2) ranks No. 22 among Division I leaders as of December 8, 2008. 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 Boise State with 1,064 points with 834 coming at USF and 230 at Texas Tech. Last year, the San Franciscan ranked fourth in USF single-season scoring history in his first year on the Hilltop, finishing with 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 11 points Tuesday at Pacific (12/9/08), Quezada remains in 34th place on the career scoring chart with 941. Wilson Stephens (1990-94) sits at No. 33 with 954 points. 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. Ten games into the 2008-09 campaign, the duo averages 30.1 points per game, .432 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 10 games at 10.5 per contest with 3.5 rebounds after a big 13-point, eight rebound night against Long Beach State (12/6/08). Junior Dontae Bryant adds 4.7 points and ranks second on the team in assists at 3.3. Freshman guard Chris O'Brien has started eight games for USF and adds strong defense to go along with 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per contest. As a group, the newcomer guard trio averages 17.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. DONS DOING IT WITH BALANCE: With 10 games in the books for 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 (19.8). Junior forward Blake Wallace (10.7), freshman guard Kwame Vaughn (10.5) and senior guard Manny Quezada (10.3) lead the balanced USF offensive assault. DONS AND BRONCOS GAME #11 SCOUTING BOISE STATE: The Broncos enter Saturday's game against USF with a 6-2 overall record and have won five of their last six, but got pounded in just their second road game of the season, falling at unbeaten BYU 94-56. The loss to the Cougars snapped a five-game winning streak, highlighted by wins against Wyoming (86-85) and Colorado State (85-76). Boise State is a perfect 6-0 at Taco Bell Arena this season and through eight games averages 75.9 points per game on .473 shooting from the floor. Senior forward Mark Sanchez leads the way for the Broncos at 17.1 points and 8.1 rebounds, while sophomore forward Paul Noonan chips in with 11.6 points and 4.3 boards per contest. Junior center Kurt Cunningham adds 10.9 points and 3.4 rebounds for BSU. Head coach Greg Graham is in his eighth year in Boise as the Bronco boss and owns a 132-89 career record (eighth season) and is 114-84 at the Boise State helm. Graham guided BSU to the 2008 WAC title last season. TEAM COMPARISONS - 2008-09 SEASON - (As of 12/11/08): Team PPG Margin FG% 3-FG% FT% RPG APG TOPG SPG BPG USF 69.6 +3.2 .452 .349 .684 31.9 13.3 15.5 5.9 2.6 BSU 75.9 -0.2 .473 .314 .720 37.6 16.0 16.8 2.6 5.4 BOISE STATE PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 12/11/08) LAST MEETING: Boise State 91, USF 81 (12/1/07) SERIES RECORD/STREAK: BSU leads 4-2/BSU won three ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB: UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: After taking on defending WAC Champion Boise State Saturday at Taco Bell Arena, USF takes an eight-day break for final exams. The Dons return to action in the South Bay at San Jose State December 22. Tip-off against the Spartans is set for 7:00 PM at the Event Center. USF NEWCOMERS READY FOR BATTLE: USF under first year head coach Rex Walters welcome no fewer than seven newcomers to the Hilltop for the 2008-09 season. A pair of junior college transfers - junior guard Dontae Bryant (Portland, OR) and junior forward Blake Wallace (Irvine, CA) - combine with five prep standouts - Angelo Caloiaro (San Jose, CA), Chris O'Brien (Irvine, CA), Clint Pekarsky (Granite Bay, CA), Peter Smith (Escondido, CA) and Kwame Vaughn (Oakland, CA). Blake Wallace ON THE RISE: Junior forward Blake Wallace has already made an impact for USF in the early going. The Irvine Valley JC transfer ranks second on the team in scoring (10.7), second in rebounds (4.9) and leads the team with 15 3-pointers. Wallace, who started his career at Pepperdine in 2006-07, scored a career-high 21 points in his Green and Gold debut at Hawaii (11/14/08) in the Verizon Wireless Tip-off Classic. Wallace scored 15 points in a 65-63 win against Colorado State (11/29/08) and turned in his first USF double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in a double overtime win against Long Beach State (12/6/08). Kwame Vaughn PROVIDING BIG SPARK FOR THE DONS: Freshman guard Kwame Vaughn has shown signs of developing into a clutch player for USF. The Oakland native ranks third on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game, leading all reserves. Vaughn scored a career-high 17 points against Texas State (11/16/08) and added 11 points in back-to-back wins versus UC Santa Barbara (11/24/08) and Colorado State (11/29/08). Vaughn turned in a strong performance against Long Beach State (12/6/08), scoring 13 points with a career-high eight rebounds and made key plays down the stretch in the double overtime triumph. Angelo Caloiaro PROVIDES A BIG LIFT: Freshman forward Angelo Caloiaro has made an impact for the Dons in the early going and through 10 games averages 6.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Caloiaro scored a career-high 15 points in a win against UC Santa Barbara (11/24/08) and 14 points with a career-high seven rebounds against Colorado State (11/29/08). The Mitty product has made 10 3-pointers. Dontae Bryant DRIVES AND DISHES: Junior guard Dontae Bryant has done a solid job quarterbacking the USF offense in his first season in the Green and Gold. Bryant averages 4.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, ranks second on the team with 3.3 assists. The Oregonian has dished out at least four assists in five games this season. DONS NOTCH PROGRAM VICTORY NUMBER 1,196: San Francisco collected the 1,196th victory in program history in a thrilling 78-74 double overtime triumph against Long Beach State (12/6/08). In the 95th season of Division I basketball on the Hilltop, the Dons have their eyes set on 1,200 all-time wins.
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