# 1977–78 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team

The 1977–78 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco as a member of the West Coast Athletic Conference during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dons opened the season with a top 5 ranking, but played all but three weeks of the season outside the top ten. San Francisco finished the season with a 23–6 record (12–2 WCAC) and a No. 11 ranking in the final AP poll. As champions of the West Coast Athletic Conference, San Francisco played in the NCAA Tournament as No. 3Q seed (automatic qualifier) in the West region where they were upset in the regional semifinal by Cal State Fullerton.
Junior center Bill Cartwright was named conference Player of the Year for the second time.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 26, 1977* | No. 5 | San Francisco State | W 100–67 | 1–0 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Dec 2, 1977* | No. 5 | vs. Tennessee Sun Devil Classic | W 84–75 | 2–0 | ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona |
| Dec 3, 1977* | No. 5 | at Arizona State Sun Devil Classic | L 79–89 | 2–1 | ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona |
| Dec 8, 1977* | No. 8 | at Stanford | W 99–78 | 3–1 | Maples Pavilion Stanford, California |
| Dec 10, 1977* | No. 8 | UC Santa Barbara | W 63–57 | 4–1 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Dec 16, 1977* | No. 11 | Idaho Golden Gate Invitational | W 109–70 | 5–1 | Cow Palace San Francisco, California |
| Dec 17, 1977* | No. 11 | Baylor Golden Gate Invitational | W 98–93 | 6–1 | Cow Palace San Francisco, California |
| Dec 22, 1977* | No. 11 | California | L 89–90 | 6–2 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Dec 23, 1977* | No. 11 | Rhode Island | L 85–87 | 6–3 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Dec 27, 1977* | No. 19 | vs. Austin Peay All-College Tournament | W 75–66 | 6–3 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Dec 29, 1977* | No. 19 | vs. Miami (OH) All-College Tournament | W 91–88 | 7–3 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Dec 30, 1977* | No. 19 | vs. Arizona State All-College Tournament | W 102–90 | 8–3 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Jan 5, 1978 | No. 19 | at Nevada | L 80–82 | 9–4 (0–1) | Centennial Coliseum Reno, Nevada |
| Jan 7, 1978 | No. 19 | Saint Mary's | W 111–87 | 10–4 (1–1) | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Jan 10, 1978* | | No. 5 Notre Dame | W 79–70 | 11–4 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena Oakland, California |
| Jan 13, 1978 | | Portland | W 101–68 | 12–4 (2–1) | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Jan 14, 1978 | | Seattle | W 93–80 | 13–4 (3–1) | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Jan 25, 1978 | | at Santa Clara | W 74–66 | 14–4 (4–1) | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, California |
| Jan 28, 1978 | | Santa Clara | W 92–73 | 15–4 (5–1) | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Feb 2, 1978 | No. 20 | at Portland | L 87–101 | 15–5 (5–2) | Howard Hall Portland, Oregon |
| Feb 4, 1978 | | at Seattle | W 96–85 | 16–5 (6–2) | Seattle Center Coliseum Seattle, Washington |
| Feb 10, 1978 | | at Pepperdine | W 85–73 | 17–5 (7–2) | Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, California |
| Feb 11, 1978 | | at Loyola Marymount | W 82–80 | 18–5 (8–2) | Loyola Memorial Gymnasium Los Angeles, California |
| Feb 17, 1978 | | Loyola Marymount | W 99–71 | 19–5 (9–2) | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Feb 18, 1978 | | Pepperdine | W 89–56 | 20–5 (10–2) | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Feb 23, 1978 | | at Saint Mary's | W 87–81 | 21–5 (11–2) | McKeon Pavilion Moraga, California |
| Feb 25, 1978 | | Nevada | W 78–73 | 22–5 (12–2) | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1978* | (W 3Q) No. 20 | vs. (W 1L) No. 11 North Carolina First Round | W 68–64 | 23–5 | ASU Activity Center (11,213) Tempe, Arizona |
| Mar 16, 1978* | (W 3Q) No. 11 | vs. (W 4L) Cal State Fullerton West Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | L 72–75 | 23–6 | University Arena Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Bill Cartwright – WCAC Player of the Year (2x)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 11 | James Hardy | New Orleans Jazz |
| 1 | 13 | Winford Boynes | New Jersey Nets |