San Francisco and BYU take part in a WCC statement game on Saturday night. Can the Cougars pull off back-to-back conference road wins?
TV schedule: Saturday, January 19, 11:00 pm ET. Check Local Listings
Arena: War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, California
Last week, San Francisco had a lead at home against the No. 5 team in the country Gonzaga Bulldogs. But after going head-to-head with the WCC juggernaut for 36 minutes, the Dons fell, with a misleading final score of 96-83.
While there’s no shame in losing to Gonzaga, it remains a tough loss for San Francisco, who is squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Outside of a return trip to Spokane, the Dons 15-3 (3-1) won’t have another great opportunity for a resume win the rest of the way.
That means that the Dons can’t afford to lose to the lower half of the WCC. And they almost did that in their last game, winning at Pacific 53-52. USF’s Jordan Ratinho led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Charles Minlend with 14. The Tigers are 1-4 in the WCC and a loss would’ve crippled their at-large hopes.
San Francisco returns home to do something they haven’t done before – beat BYU at home. The Cougars 12-8 (4-1) have been on a roll of late after a dismal 9-8 start to the season, winning their last three games. They defeated Pepperdine on Thursday 87-76, led by a career-high 32 points by TJ Haws. Yoeli Childs, who is averaging around 22 ppg and 10 rpg, chipped in with 20 points in the win as well.
An interesting development also occurred for BYU, with freshman forward Gavin Baxter contributing off the bench with 13 points, six boards, and three blocks. His minutes have been sporadic throughout the season but his emergence will be huge for the Cougars with their frontcourt depth.
While BYU may have the two best overall players in this game in Haws and Childs, San Francisco has the advantage in overall depth that has benefited them throughout the season. The Dons are also top-20 in three-point defense, going up against a team in the Cougars that likes to hoist plenty of deep balls.
BYU has dominated San Francisco at their place but this is the first season where the Dons will be viewed as the consensus favorite. If they can limit both Haws and Childs without any unexpected contributions from the role players, the Dons should keep their postseason hopes alive with a top-100 win.
Prediction: San Francisco 84 – BYU 79
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