CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament: USF downs Idaho to advance in CIT

March 17, 2011

USF downs Idaho to advance in CIT

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO - USF's first postseason appearance in six years won't be a one-and-done. The Dons (17-14, 10-4 WCC) hosted Idaho (18-13, 8-7 WAC) in the opening round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament Wednesday night at War Memorial Gym and never trailed, taking down the Vandals, 81-73.

Now USF advances to the second round of the CIT and travel to Hawaii. The Dons play the Rainbow Warriors at 10:00 PM (PT) Saturday and could get another battle with Santa Clara at home next week if they advance.

Coach Rex Walters was pleased with the Dons' defensive showing but thought the offense, which shot a respectable 23-for-50 (46.0%), struggled to adjust to Idaho's 1-2-2 zone.

"Survive and advance. That's what this thing is all about – March – and that's exactly what we did," Walters said of the performance.

San Francisco's two All-West Coast Conference First Team picks played key roles for the Dons. Michael Williams scored 10 second-half points on the way to his 15-points for the game. Rashad Green led the Dons in scoring with 16, and chipped in eight rebounds and six assists.

Angelo Caloiaro had a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with 11 points. Caloiaro got the Dons off and running with two 3-pointers right out of the gate in the opening minute. The junior finished 3-for-7 from behind the arc and completed his fifth double-double of the year.

Perris Blackwell and Moustapha Diarra also finished in double-figures in scoring, with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

USF was in control right from the start and stretched the lead to 10-points for the first time on a 3-pointer by Marko Petrovic just 3:31 into the first half. The Vandals answered and kept it close for the remainder of the half, but never managed to pull even.

Idaho did get to within one point of the Green and Gold the last three minutes of the half, but stretched it back out to seven at the break with back-to-back three pointers, including one at the buzzer by Petrovic.

The Dons slowly pulled away in the second half thanks to some solid scoring by Diarra off the bench. They reached their biggest lead at 75-61 with 3:23 to go before the Vandals answered with a 6-0 run. Idaho's Jeff Ledbetter led all scorers with 22, 14 of them in the second half as he carried the Vandals back into the game late.

When the Vandals went into prevent defense in the final minutes, fouling on each possession, the Dons were able to withstand the pressure as Green and Cody Doolin knocked down six straight from the charity stripe in the final 1:04 to ice the game. The Dons were a perfect 17-for-17 from the line in the second half.