Video Highlights

Pressley Scores 25 and Nicholas Hits Career Milestone in Big Win Over Princeton

LAS VEGAS, Nev. --- Bryce Pressley scored a career-high 25 points and Ryan Nicholas scored his 1,000th career point as Portland raced by Princeton 93-79 in the final game of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic Saturday night at South Point Arena. Pressley was named the tournament MVP, while Nicholas joined him on the all-tourney team.

Pressley, a sophomore from Sacramento, Calif., bested his previous career high of 10 points by drilling 8-of-10 field, including 5-for-5 from three-point range, and 4-for-4 at the foul line. It marked just the second loss of the season for the Tigers (9-2) whose only other loss for a 70-67 decision at Butler.

Nicholas entered the game needing 11 points to reach the milestone and passed that mark with a pair of free throws with 4:56 remaining. He becomes the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 points after finishing the game with 12.

The Pilots (8-4) conclude non-league play with a pair of victories after posting a 74-53 win over Bradley on Friday night.

Junior guard Kevin Bailey recorded his fifth 20-point game of the season finishing with 21 points. Freshman point guard Alec Wintering added 12 points, including 10-for-10 at the free throw line. After going 19-for-20 against Bradley from the foul line, the Pilots finished Saturday 31-for-37 at the stripe.

Princeton came in as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation and drilled 18-of-39 from long range in last night's 83-58 win over fellow West Coast Conference foe Pacific. Portland's game plan was to force dribble penetration and not allow open threes. The Tigers finished 5-of-16 from three-point range, but still managed to shoot 54 percent from the field.

Portland answered by forcing 17 turnovers which led to a 24-14 margin in points off of turnovers. The Pilots also shot 56 percent from the field and drained 8-of-15 three-pointers.

Senior point guard T.J. Bray finished with 25 points and Jimmy Sherburne added 15 for the Tigers.

Portland had an early 11-5 lead, but a 10-2 run put the Tigers on top. A Pressley triple tied the game a 30 and six free throws gave the Pilots a 41-36 halftime lead, the ninth straight halftime advantage for Portland.

The Tigers re-took the lead at 49-48 on a Spencer Weisz three, but Bailey hit his own triple and followed with a three-point play to ignite a 12-2 run. The Pilots would lead the rest of the way building as much as an 18 point margin late in regulation.

Portland will take a brief break for the Holidays and then open WCC play with five consecutive home games beginning on Saturday, Dec. 28 vs. San Francisco at 7 p.m. The first four league home games will be free admission to kids 6th grade and younger and 2-for-1 adult general admission prices.