About The Pilots

The Pilots (2-4) split a pair of games in Corvallis last weekend, stomping Idaho State 76-52 on Saturday, before laboring to a 67-57 loss versus the host Oregon State Beavers on Sunday. Portland was without sophomore starting point guard Taishi Ito for both games. Ito returned to Japan on Friday to be with his family after his father passed away on Thanksgiving Day after a long battle with a brain tumor. Ito will not be available on Wednesday against Portland State.

In the Pilots’ best performance of the season, UP held the Bengals to 34 percent shooting and gained a 45-26 edge on the boards on Saturday. Senior F Sherrard Watson led all scorers with 18 points, while three other Pilots reached double figures. Sophomore G Nik Raivio filled in for Ito at the point and finished with 15 points.

The loss of Ito became more apparent on Sunday, when the Pilots committed a season-high 27 turnovers in a loss to the Beavers. Portland shot a season-high 50 percent from the field and led 27-26 at the half, but struggled down the stretch on the road.

Freshman G Jared Stohl started both games in place of Ito and finished with nine and 13 points, respectively. Freshman F Luke Sikma missed a double-double in both games by merely one rebound. Sikma is averaging 8.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, second in the West Coast Conference.

Sophomore F Robin Smeulders leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game off the bench. He has reached double figures in five of the team’s six games thus far. Smeulders adds 6.5 rebounds per game. He sat out last season after his amateur status was questioned by the NCAA because of his affiliation with a German club team. Smeulders does have international experience with the Dutch National Team. He has played with the Under-20 team at the last two European Championships and was named to the senior Dutch National Team this past summer.

Despite not having a single post player with Division I game experience entering the season, Portland has a +7.0 rebounding margin. The Pilots have struggled with turnovers (18.2 per game) and three-point shooting (.313).

Watson, the lone senior on the roster, is averaging 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. Watson is the team’s leading returning scorer from last year (9.0 ppg). He was named one of two team captains this season.

Ito is the other captain and returns with loads of experience after starting the final 17 games of the regular season. An All-WCC Freshman Team pick, Ito led all WCC freshmen in seven statistical categories during league games last season.

About Portland State

The Vikings (3-3) are coming off of a 76-68 loss at UC Davis on Saturday. Portland State had four players reach double figures in the loss, led by 13 points and five rebounds from senior center Scott Morrison. PSU opened the season with a 69-48 loss to current No. 1 UCLA, while wins have come against IUPUI, Akron and Linfield. Former University of Portland point guard Jeremiah Dominguez is now running the show for the Vikings. Dominguez and Morrison lead five players averaging double figures at 11.2 points per game. Former Pilot forwards Alex Tiefenthaler and Jamie Jones are also on the PSU roster, but are not unavailable for Wednesday’s game. Head coach Ken Bone is 34-32 in his third season with the Vikings. PSU was picked to finish third in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll.

Portland-Portland State Series Notes

All-Time: UP leads 31-14 

At PSU: UP leads 8-6        

At UP: UP leads 21-7        

At Neutral: UP leads 2-1

Last Five: PSU leads 3-2   

Current Streak: PSU, 1 win             

Last Meeting: PSU 69, UP 53 (11/27/06, at Portland State)