1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team
The 1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the West Coast Athletic Conference during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dons opened the season with a top 20 ranking, but fell out after a couple early season losses. San Francisco battled back to finish the season with a 22–7 record (12–2 WCAC) and a No. 12 ranking in the final AP poll. As champions of the West Coast Athletic Conference, San Francisco played in the NCAA Tournament as No. 4 seed in the West region. To date, this season marks the most recent time the Dons have reached the Sweet Sixteen.
| 1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball | |
|---|---|
West Coast Athletic Conference champions | |
| Conference | West Coast Athletic Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 17 |
| AP | No. 12 |
| Record | 22–7 (12–2 WCAC) |
| Head coach |
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| Home arena | War Memorial Gymnasium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 San Francisco | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 22 | – | 7 | .759 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 22 | – | 10 | .688 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 21 | – | 7 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 15 | – | 11 | .577 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 6 | – | 8 | .429 | 13 | – | 14 | .481 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 18 | – | 10 | .643 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Mary's | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 13 | – | 15 | .464 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loyola Marymount | 1 | – | 13 | .071 | 5 | – | 21 | .192 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior center Bill Cartwright was named conference Player of the Year for the third time and received consensus second-team All-American honors. He ended his career with the Dons as the top scorer and shot blocker (since surpassed) in school history and third on the career rebounding list.
Roster
| 1978–79 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule and results
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| Nov 25, 1978* |
No. 17 | at UC Santa Barbara | W 91–68 | 1–0 |
Robertson Gymnasium Santa Barbara, California | ||||||
| Nov 28, 1978* |
No. 15 | Cal State-Chico | W 77–53 | 2–0 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | ||||||
| Nov 30, 1978* |
No. 15 | at California | W 76–67 | 3–0 |
Harmon Gym Berkeley, California | ||||||
| Dec 2, 1978* |
No. 15 | at No. 18 Nevada-Las Vegas | L 82–117 | 3–1 |
Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada | ||||||
| Dec 5, 1978* |
No. 17 | San Diego State | L 75–77 | 3–2 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | ||||||
| Dec 8, 1978* |
No. 17 | Stanford | W 87–77 | 4–2 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | ||||||
| Dec 9, 1978* |
No. 17 | Sacramento State | W 78–59 | 5–2 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | ||||||
| Dec 15, 1978* |
No. 19 | Pacific Golden Gate Invitational |
W 69–57 | 6–2 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | ||||||
| Dec 16, 1978* |
No. 19 | Texas A&M Golden Gate Invitational |
L 65–68 | 6–3 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | ||||||
| Dec 22, 1978* |
San Francisco State | W 79–51 | 7–3 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | |||||||
| Dec 23, 1978* |
Seattle Pacific | W 90–61 | 8–3 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | |||||||
| Dec 30, 1978* |
Texas | W 69–48 | 9–3 |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | |||||||
| Jan 5, 1979 |
at Loyola Marymount | W 95–66 | 10–3 (1–0) |
Loyola Memorial Gymnasium Los Angeles, California | |||||||
| Jan 18, 1979* |
at No. 1 Notre Dame | L 69–88 | 13–4 |
Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana | |||||||
| Feb 24, 1979 |
Loyola Marymount | W 103–69 | 21–6 (12–2) |
War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California | |||||||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| Mar 11, 1979* |
(4 W) No. 12 | vs. (5 W) Brigham Young Second Round |
W 86–63 | 22–6 |
McKale Center Tucson, Arizona | ||||||
| Mar 15, 1979* |
(4 W) No. 12 | vs. (1 W) No. 2 UCLA West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen |
L 81–99[1] | 22–7 |
Marriott Center Provo, Utah | ||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time. | |||||||||||
Rankings
Awards and honors
References
- "Indiana St., Arkansas, DePaul, UCLA Win". The Washington Post. March 16, 1979. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- "1979 West Coast Conference Champions". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- "Men's Basketball Yearly Results (1970-80) - University of San Francisco Athletics". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- "1979 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 11, 2022.