The University of San Francisco Dons will continue their longest road trip of the season as they open the 2011 Carrs Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. The Dons will face the Dartmouth Big Green in their opening game Wednesday night. The Dons currently are 11-1/2 point favorites against Dartmouth. Of course, given the recent run of tight ball games, the spread probably doesn't mean a whole lot.
The Big Green are 1-2 under second year ehad coach Paul Cormier and are coming off a 66-62 win over Bryant University. They are led by junior guard R.J. Griffin who leads the team with 15.3 points per game. Gabas Maldunas is their force inside, averaging 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Maldunas will likely find himself in some tough battles inside against Perris Blackwell and Angelo Caloiaro. The Dons are getting huge efforts from their two forwards who are averaging a combined 27.2 points and 14.2 rebounds per game.
The Dons have found themselves in some nail-biters early this season, winning their last three games by a combined nine points. USF's primary struggle has been turning the ball over, with sloppiness costing them their one loss against North Dakota State.
USF will face the winner or loser of Murray State vs. Alaska-Anchorage depending on the outcome of USF's game. That semifinal matchup will take place Friday at 5:30pm. All 16 games (four women, 12 men) of the 2011 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout will be streamed live in video on GoSeawolves.com. Full-tournament subscription packages cost $19.95, while single-day passes can be purchased for $6.95. You can listen to audio of the games at USFDons.com.