Men's Basketball | 12/19/2016 10:46:00 PM
Box Score SAN FRANCISCO – Two nights after a tough double-overtime loss at Sacramento State, the ACU Wildcats ran into a 3-point shooting buzzsaw as the San Francisco Dons buried 15 3-pointers Monday night in an 86-51 win over the Wildcats at War Memorial Gymnasium.
The Dons entered the game as one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country, and they looked every bit the part as they hit 15 of 30 from beyond the arc en route to their eighth win in 10 games. USF ranks seventh in NCAA Division I basketball in 3-point field goals made per game (10.7), and they passed that number early in the second half.
The 15 3-pointers that San Francisco hit Monday night is tied for the most allowed by ACU this season, equaling the 15 Randall hit last Wednesday night in ACU's 78-74 win over the Saints. At one point this season, the Wildcats were the No. 1-ranked 3-point field goal percentage defensive team in the Southland Conference, allowing just 28.6 percent from long range. They're now allowing 39.9 percent on the season after three of their last four opponents made at least 10 3-pointers.
Monday night's ballgame was never really close as the Dons jumped out to a 20-10 lead over the tired Wildcats in the first 8:12 of the contest and then extended it to 29-10 with 7:42 left in the first half. The Wildcats trailed by 22 at halftime (45-23) and then the Dons poured it on late to close out the win.
Jaylen Franklin – who had 20 points in Saturday night's loss at Sacramento State – had a team-high 15 points for the Wildcats, and
Jalone Friday scored 14 more while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
Key Stats
• San Francisco hit 50 percent of their 3-point attempts (15 of 30), but just 16 of 36 (44.4 percent) of their 2-point shots.
Notable
• In two games in California (Saturday at Sacramento State and Monday at San Francisco), the Wildcats were a combined 6 of 8 from the free throw line, while their opponents were 30 of 44. ACU never reached the free throw bonus in either game and were whistled for 39 fouls compared to just 24 for their opponents.
Up Next
The Wildcats will be off until Dec. 29 when they begin Southland Conference play with a two-game road trip to south Louisiana for games at New Orleans (Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.) and at Southeastern Louisiana (Dec. 31 at 2 p.m.).
