Monday, November 24th, 10:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: War Memorial Gymnasium (4,800) -- San Francisco, California. Television: None. Home Record: UCSB 1-2, USF 1-0. Away Record: UCSB 0-0, USF 1-1. Neutral Record: UCSB 0-0, USF 1-0. Conference Record: UCSB 0-0, USF 0-0. Series Record: San Francisco leads, 23-11.

GAME NOTES: The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara hit the road for the first time this season as they contend with the San Francisco Dons in non-conference action at War Memorial Stadium. After defeating Cal State Los Angeles by a score of 64-55 in the season opener, the Gauchos have dropped back-to-back outings. First it was a narrow 61-59 setback versus Utah State a week ago, and then Friday saw the team bow to top-ranked North Carolina, 84-67. UCSB is now on the road for a few weeks and won't play another home game until December 13th versus Loyola Marymount. Meanwhile, the Dons have started off the new season well with three wins in four attempts, especially considering the team was just 10-21 a year ago. Defeating Hawaii and Texas State in back-to-back games to start out, the Dons bowed to California on November 18th by a score of 87-74. On Friday, new head coach Rex Walters was tossed an easy one as USF ripped through little-known Academy of Art with a 74-23 final. San Francisco leads the all-time series with the Gauchos by a count of 23-11, but UCSB has won three in a row over the Dons, including a 74-69 decision last season.

For much of the game, UCSB kept pace with the Tar Heels, but then the Gauchos began to lose their touch from the field, hitting a mere 39.3 percent in the second half, en route to the disappointing outcome. James Nunnally came off the bench to offer up a team-best 22 points and seven rebounds in just 26 minutes, while Jesse Byrd tacked on 12 points and five boards as the most productive starter. James Powell tried desperately to find his stroke but was left just 4-of-16 from the field and 1-of-9 beyond the arc. A reserve in all three games thus far, Nunnally showed that he has the potential for big games, yet is averaging just 10 ppg at the moment. Powell accounts for 13 ppg and Chris Devine 11.7 ppg, but the former is shooting a meager 4-of-23 out on the perimeter and the latter has 14 turnovers, against just four assists. D.J. Posley leads the group with better than four assists per contest, but unless he starts to pick up the pace at the offensive end (3.0 ppg), defenders are going to play him accordingly and limit those passing opportunities.

Beating up on the Academy of Art did little more than pad some stats for the Dons as they held the visitors to just three field goals in the first half and 7-of-38 from the floor overall. USF forced an ugly 30 turnovers, yet the Dons also fumbled the ball away 15 times as well. The Dons called off the dogs rather early, which meant only Dior Lowhorn finished in double-digits with his 26 points, adding nine rebounds for good measure. Blake Wallace contributed nine points and six boards in 19 minutes. As was expected, Lowhorn is again one of the top performers in the West Coast Conference this season with his 22 ppg, adding seven boards per outing. Now, if only he could do something about his mere two assists in more than 100 minutes of action. Manny Quezada contributes another 13.8 ppg and has issued better than six assists per outing as well for a team that is outscoring the competition by more than 14 ppg in the early going.

Thumping their last opponent did little to enhance the toughness of the Dons, but at least the team heads into this contest on a positive note.

Predicted Outcome

San Francisco 72, UC Santa Barbara 69