WCC Game Preview: San Francisco vs. Pacific
By James Pigott
Jan 18, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Dons forward
Kruize Pinkins(15) and
Avry Holmes(12) celebrate at the buzzer after defeating the San Diego Toreros 64-62. at War Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
San Francisco Dons (17-10, 10-5) vs. Pacific Tigers (14-12, 5-10)
Date: Saturday, February 22, 2014
Location: War Memorial Gymnasium, San Francisco, CA
Time: 3:00 PM PST
TV: CSN California, TWC SportsNet
Video: theW.tv
LiveStats: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/usf.portal#
This Season: San Francisco won the first matchup 81-72 in overtime at the Spanos Center.
PROJECTED STARTERS
San Francisco
Matt Glover, 8.2 PPG, 3.3 APG
Avry Holmes, 11.7 PPG, 2.9 APG
Cole Dickerson, 14.4 PPG, 7.3 RPG
Kruize Pinkins, 12.8 PPG, 6.6 RPG
Mark Tollefsen, 11.6 PPG
Pacific
Andrew Bock, 12.0 PPG, 2.9 APG
Sama Taku, 11.2 PPG
Trevin Harris, 6.9 PPG
Khalil Kelley, 6.3 PPG
Tony Gill, 11.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG
LIVESTREAM (Subject to blackout) *brought to you by thew.tv:
Keys to the Game
San Francisco
Run and Gun: The Dons have just too much scoring and athleticism at every position for the Tigers to be able to handle. A faster paced game with more possessions should favor the San Francisco Dons, especially if they are able to get contributions from Tim Derksen and Chris Adams off the bench.
Pacific
T.J. Wallace: As many freshman are, Wallace has been a unpredictable hit/miss player this season. After 8/12 (6/8 threes) shooting and 22 points against LMU, Wallace has shot just 4/18 (0/7 threes) from the field since. He is an X-factor off the bench who can help give the Tigers scoring production to match the high-octane offense of San Francisco.
Key Matchup
Tony Gill vs. Kruize Pinkins, both are highly efficient scorers around the basket and good rebounders at their position as well. I don’t know whether these two will be guarding each other, but they are both capable players who can lead their team to victory with a big game.
Prediction
San Francisco, unlike BYU, is not in NCAA Tournament contention despite the good conference record because they struggled in the non-conference immediately after losing the now UNLV Rebel Cody Doolin. At home, the Dons should get the job done. USF 73, Pacific 66.