By Malika Andrews |
Dont’e Reynolds’ breakaway dunk put the nail in Portland’s coffin on Thursday night. The Pilots let a once commanding 15-point lead in the second half slip away, falling to the Dons 107-95 in the War Memorial Gym. This is Portland’s first loss in conference play. With the win, the Dons improve to 2-1.
Senior Tim Derksen, recorded a new career high and led USF with 27 points. Sophomore Devin Watson added 22 points and seven assists. Reynolds finished with a double-double 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Jazz Johnson scored 22 points off the bench for Portland to record a new season high. Alec Wintering, the reigning WCC player of the week, led all scorers with 31 points, his second consecutive 30-point game.
Portland went cold in the second half shooting only 26.5 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from the 3-point line. Where Johnson missed only one shot in the first half, the Pilots missed five open 3-pointers in the final 3:32.
“The shots weren’t falling,” Johnson said. “I shot it with the same relaxed feeling (as I did first half), but the shots didn’t drop.”
With the clock winding down in the first half, Wintering passed the ball out to Bryce Pressley who missed the open 3-pointer, but Phillip Hartwich, ready at the rim, was able to sink a hook shot to bring the score to 62 points, the highest scoring half for Portland this season. Previously, the most points the Dons had allowed in a half was 54 to Montana. San Francisco trailed by 11 at the break.
Pressley sunk a deep 3-pointer to start the second half right where Portland left off in the first. Pressley, who had a quiet first half, splashed in his second consecutive 3-pointer of the half put Portland up 70-56.
Then, the tables turned. The Pilots went scoreless in the final 3 minutes 40 seconds and only made 1-of-14 shots from the field. The Dons outscored the Pilots 29-10 in the final 9:32.
Portland will conclude their Bay Area road trip on Sunday with a 1 p.m. tipoff against Santa Clara. The Broncos are coming off a 79-77 loss to Gonzaga.
Malika Andrews is the sports editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @malika_andrews.
