The University of San Francisco Dons travel to Moraga to face the Saint Mary's Gaels in a Bay Area rivalry game that will be featured on Comcast SportsNet California. The Dons are struggling early in conference play, having dropped their first two games. The Gaels have shot out to 3-0 in conference play and have a chance to climb into the Coaches Poll Top 25 with a sweep of USF, Gonzaga and Portland this week.
Saint Mary's has claimed eleven straight meetings in this series and 16 of the last 18. The most recent game saw SMC defeat USF 86-68 last February. USF last beat Saint Mary's in 2006 when they won 53-52 at home. The Dons are coming off a poor shooting night that doomed them against the BYU Cougars. Saint Mary's had to battle well into the second half to defeat San Diego on the road, but benefited from a huge night from Rob Jones, who scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the victory.
The Dons are led by Angelo Caloiaro who averages a team leading 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. They will need strong contributions from Perris Blackwell, Rashad Green and Michael Williams if they are going to spring the upset. The Dons are 17 point underdogs in Moraga.
Saint Mary's ranks in the top-two among West Coast Conference leaders in nearly every offensive category, including scoring (76.2) field goal percentage (.472) and scoring margin (+17.6). Rob Jones leads the way for SMC and averages a double-double with 15.2 points and a team-high 10.6 rebounds. Junior guard Matthew Dellavedova adds 14.4 points and 6.6 assists per game.