Sal Aversa |
Sophomore D’Marques Tyson sank eight 3-pointers on Thursday night against the San Francisco Dons en route to a career high 27 points. Despite Tyson's sharp shooting from deep, USF beat the Pilots for the second time this season by a margin of 87-76.
Junior Alec Wintering contributed 24 points for the Pilots. Sophomore Philip Hartwich started for Ray Barreno, who was sidelined with a concussion, added six rebounds, two blocks and one dunk.
Ronnie Boyce led the Dons with 19 points and was one of six USF players to score in double digits tonight.
With the loss, the Pilots fall to 9-14 overall and 3-7 in the WCC. The Dons improve to 11-9 overall and 5-5 in the conference.
The Pilots have lost seven of their last eight games played.
The Dons went on a 17-2 run in the first half. During that stretch, USF made 10 of their 13 shots. This run led to the Dons to build an 18 point lead.
With 8:20 left in the first half, Tyson nailed a 3-pointer to end the Pilots’ 3 minute scoring drought. Tyson finished the night shooting 9-20 from the field and 8-17 from 3-point.
Despite shooting well in his first career start, Tyson was not satisfied.
“It felt great to start tonight, but it didn’t mean that much because we didn’t get the win. Winning is more important,” Tyson said.
Head coach Eric Reveno said that he has been so impressed with Tyson's efforts, he is considering making more permanent changes to his starting lineup.
“He’s been rebounding, defending and scoring the ball well. It made a lot of sense to start him,” Reveno said. “He’s been playing well. So as of right now I see him as a starter and (Jason) Todd coming off the bench.”
The Pilots have one more home game before going on the road again. Their next game is this Saturday against Santa Clara. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. in the Chiles Center.
Sal Aversa is a sports writer for The Beacon. He can be reached at aversa17@up.edu or on Twitter @sal_aversa.
