Men’s basketball remains undefeated with a 4-0 record, with dominating home wins over California State University, Long Beach and Chicago State University within the past week.
The Dons defeated Long Beach State 84-54 on Nov. 13. The team opened strong defensively, forcing the Beach into several tough shot clock force ups, and held their opponent without a field goal for the first nine minutes of the game. On the offensive, USF controlled the paint, scoring 48 in-the-paint points to Long Beach’s 20 points.
With the lead hovering around 30 points late into the second, the Dons had a stretch of highlight plays. Sophomore forward Jason Rivera-Torres found Junjie “Barry” Wang cutting through the zone defense, leading to a two-handed flush. A couple plays later, sophomore guard Ryan Beasley led the fastbreak after a steal, and threw a backboard lob that trailing freshman guard Tyrone Riley IV dunked.
Five Dons scored double digits, and senior guard Malik Thomas led with 15 points.
The Dons continued their dominance against the Chicago State University Cougars on Nov. 16, winning 82-37. USF once again showcased strong perimeter defense in the first half, holding their opponent to just 12 points on 16% shooting, and 23% for the entire game. The team forced 24 turnovers from the Cougars, and won the battle for the points off turnovers 29 to six.
Following the game, Head Coach Chris Gerlufsen said, “I thought two games in a row now we’ve come out and established our defensive presence to start the game […] Holding them to five assists and 24 turnovers is pretty darn good.”
Riley dropped an efficient season high 28 points in 23 minutes, going five of six behind the arc and shooting nine of 13 overall.
Continuing his impressive start to the season, Riley has looked up to his teammate Beasley, who won 2023-2024 West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year.
Riley reflected on his connection with Beasley saying, “[Beasley’s] been through it, he knows what I’m going through right now. We have a lot of talks about just staying poised, not worrying about winning [WCC] freshman of the year, not putting pressure on myself and [to] help the team win.”
When asked about Riley and Beasley, Gerlufsen said, “There’s actually some similarities between the two of them. They’re unbelievable teammates. Both of them [couldn’t] care less about individual numbers,” he said. “They’re extremely humble, hardworking, and they’re really really tough, both from a physical standpoint and a mental standpoint.”
The Dons will be tested in their next three games beginning with a match against Memphis State University coached by NBA legend Penny Hardaway, on Nov. 21 at Chase Center. The team will then compete in the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Florida, with their first game tipping off against Clemson University on Nov. 25. Depending on the game outcome, USF will face either Pennsylvania State University or Fordham University the following day on Nov. 26.
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, News Editor: Phebe Bridges, Sports Editor: John Lindroos
