San Francisco Knocks Out San Diego, Moves onto Semifinals

March 8, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco Dons guard Avry Holmes (12) celebrates with guard/forward Tim Derksen (32) against the San Diego Toreros during the second half in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

A 20 to 13 San Francisco run at the end of the second half solidified a win for the Dons, and increased their winning streak to six.

After a bit of a slow first half, both teams found their offensive stride in the second. It looked like USF was going to pull away early in the second half, when the Dons led 44-31 with 13 minutes to go. USD responded with a 16-5 run to pull within two. The Dons were able to stave off the Toreros, going on a run of their own to eventually win the game.

Tim Derksen was fantastic off the bench today, logging 28 minutes and scoring 15 points and snagging six rebounds. Derksen opened a lot of eyes late in the game when he blocked Johnny Dee’s shot on the defensive end, grabbed the ball and busted down the court for a layup on the other end.

Cole Dickerson also posted an impressive stat line, posting 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. His eight rebounds were a team-high, and he and Matt Glover’s three assists were as well. Avry Holmes also chipped in 19 points to lead the Dons in scoring.

Christopher Anderson had yet another complete stat line with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Dennis Kramer led the Toreros with 19 points and Johnny Dee was not far behind with 13 points.

Keys to the Game

San Diego

(Check) No Easy Baskets

The Dons shot 43.3% from 2-point range today, and the Torereos were not totally killed inside today. It was the San Francisco guards that did a lot of the damage today for San Francisco.

San Francisco

Strong Perimeter Defense

San Francisco did a great job of limiting the Toreros production from beyond the arc, as USD only shot 32.3 percent (10-31) from 3-point range today. The Toreros three best outside shooters – Johnny Dee, Christopher Anderson and Duda Sanadze, only combined to shoot seven of 22 from downtown today.

Key Matchup

Brett Bailey vs. Kruize Pinkins (Adv. Pinkins)

Bailey only played 19 minutes today and made very little impact. Pinkins gets the nod due to his seven points, four rebounds and two assists.

Player of the Game

Tim Derksen

Derksen came off the bench to score 15 points on five of six shooting. His six rebounds were key in the Dons win as well.

Moving Forward

San Francisco moves on the semifinal of the tournament, and will play the winner of BYU versus LMU, which is set to tip-off at 2:30 p.m. PST. The Dons will play next on Monday.

Unfortunately for the Toreros, their season is in serious jeopardy of being over. The NCAA tournament and NIT are out of reach, so USD needs to hope that the CBI tournament or CIT takes a chance on them.