The West Coast Conference may very well place three teams in the NCAA Tournament this season.
For the second time in less than three weeks, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team nearly toppled the best of them.
After playing a perfect first half, holding No. 2 Gonzaga to its fewest points in a half this season, the Dons couldn't hold on in the face of a second-half Bulldogs' onslaught. Despite a heroic 22-point effort from Charles Minlend and a stifling defensive performance, the Dons fell 71-54.
USF (17-11, 6-7 in WCC) held Gonzaga — the highest-scoring team in Division I — to 17 points below their season average, with the Bulldogs scoring just 22 points in the first half.