The Dons started their season strong after defeating the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) Mustangs 86-78 on Nov. 5 at the Sobrato Center. Senior guard Mailk Thomas set the tone early with a three point shot from the wing in the first minute. Cal Poly followed, knocking down three straight three-pointers to retaliate with eight points. From behind, USF responded in a concerted team effort, going on a 15 to zero scoring streak, which was capped off by a dunk by graduate student and center Carlton Linguard Jr. This electrified the USF student section and the Sobrato Center atmosphere. Moments later, Cal Poly guard Mac Riniker incurred a rare technical foul while on the bench for making contact with fifth year guard Marcus Williams while in the act of shooting. The technical foul turned into a pair of free throws for USF. With that excitement, the first half came to a conclusion and the Dons led 39-35.
Starting out strong in the second half, Head Coach Chris Gerlufsen drew up a play that resulted in a quick basket by Linguard Jr off a backdoor cut. The Mustangs did not go down without a fight, as they traded their own scoring run, capped off by a three from the right wing from guard Jarred Hyder to swing the lead to give Cal Poly a seven point lead. The Dons came down the very next play and got a tough “and-one” from Thomas that hyped up the crowd. Cal Poly responded by scoring ten points straight, forcing the Dons to reevaluate during a timeout with eight minutes left in the half. Coming out of the timeout, freshman guard Tyrone Riley IV scored five points to give the Dons a six point lead. Moments later, Riley connected on a three and on the next play elevated above the rim to throw down a dunk, and the crowd jumped to their feet. With five minutes left in the half, the Dons built a six point lead hoping to hold on for the win over Cal Poly. The Dons maintained the lead as senior center Ndewedo “Chips” Newbury capped off the game by nailing two free throws to ice the game for the Dons, who won 86-78 over the Mustangs.
In his debut as a Don, Riley scored a team high of 26 points. After the game, Riley said, “I [thank] my coaches and teammates for that cause I was in my head a little, but they kept telling me keep shooting. They know I’ve been in the gym, they know I’m able to hit shots, so them giving me the confidence to keep shooting is for sure what sparked me in the second half.”
When asked about Riley’s performance in the second half Head Coach Gerlufsen said, “Not too many freshmen have games like that.”
He continued, “I thought he did a really good job of figuring out how to impact the game late and he went on a kind of a late scoring run […] For him to finish with 26 and I think he had two points in the first half so that’s pretty impressive for a freshman.”
The Dons also stepped up defensively, with a total of 12 steals and eight blocks for the game. USF shot approximately 46% from the field, with a boost from Riley’s 26 points, which gave the Dons the edge over Cal Poly.
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