The Portland Pilots look to build on a season-opening victory over the Washington Huskies with a road game at crosstown Portland State on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Stott Center. It is the first of three games in six days for Portland, who will host Yale on Friday at 7 p.m. and travel to UC Davis on Sunday at 2 p.m. All Portland games will be on the radio this season on AM970 “The Talker” in the Portland metro area with a free live simulcast available through portlandpilots.com.

About The Pilots

     Portland opened the 2008-09 season with an 80-74 victory over the Washington Huskies at the Chiles Center on Saturday. Junior forward Robin Smeulders and junior guard Nik Raivio combined for 39 points and 13 rebounds. All five Portland starters reached double figures as the Pilots racked up a 24-12 edge in points off turnovers. The victory was the first for third-year head coach Eric Reveno over a Pac-10 foe.

Smeulders was named the WCC Player of the Week for his 20-point, 6-rebound performance. The Braunschweig, Germany native made numerous clutch baskets down the stretch to secure the win for the Pilots.

Junior point guard T.J. Campbell made splash in his Pilot debut by going for 10 points, five assists, and four rebounds, while playing solid perimeter defense.

Campbell is one of four newcomers join the roster this season. He earned Junior College All-America honors as a sophomore last year at Glendale JC (Ariz.). Freshmen Eric Waterford (6-0, 175) and John Hegarty (7-0, 320) both have played against top prep school competition in the Northeast Prep School Athletic Conference, while freshman Nemanja Mitrovic (6-5, 190) has trained the last two years with the Canadian Junior National Team. Hegarty has taken a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons and will not be available for today’s game.

One of the main focuses for the program throughout the offseason was improving in the weight room and Reveno is quick to point to the work of second year strength coach Bradford Scott as pivotal to the team’s development. The results are noticeable, as every player has either added good basketball weight or dropped pounds, if necessary. Reveno describes sophomore center Jasonn Hannibal as the “poster boy” for the strength and conditioning program. Hannibal dropped 30 pounds and reduced his body fat to below 10 percent. Fellow center Kramer Knutson added 25 pounds and Smeulders put on 20 to his frame.

The increased physicality will be necessary as the Pilots will be competing with perhaps the best returning core group of players in West Coast Conference basketball history. After a banner year in which the league sent a record three teams to the NCAA Tournament, 13 of 15 starters will be returning to those squads. Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and San Diego are the favorites to compete for the WCC crown again this year as the league moves the WCC Tournament to a neutral site (Las Vegas, Nev.) for the first time in school history. The Pilots will play 11 total games this season against teams that advanced to postseason play last year.

About Portland State

     PSU (1-0) opened the season with a tight win over Rice, 78-74, on the road last Saturday. Big Sky Conference Player of the Year Jeremiah Dominguez led the Vikings with 24 points. The Vikings are paced by Dominguez (14.1 ppg, 4.1 apg, 84 3-pt FG). Returning starters include junior forward Kyle Coston (6-8, 5.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 41% 3-pt FG) and senior guard Andre Murray (6-2, 9.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 apg). Other returning players includes junior forwards Tyrell Mara (6-6, 4.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 40% 3-pt FG) and Julius Thomas (6-5, 4.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 71% FG), as well as senior guard Mickey Polis (5-8, 3.2 ppg, 50% 3-pt FG, 82% FT).

Notable additions to the Vikings roster include three transfers in junior forward Jamie Jones (6-7, University of Portland), sophomore forward Phil Nelson (6-7, University of Washington) and junior guard Dominic Waters (6-1, University of Hawai’i). 

Head Coach Ken Bone is in his fourth season at PSU. Bone will be looking to build on a program best 23-10 season last year that saw them win the Big Sky Conference regular season (14-2) and the conference tournament. The Vikings lost out in the first round of the national tournament to eventual champion Kansas. Six letterwinners and three starters returned this fall.

In the last 10 matches between the two programs, Portland has the 6-4 edge. Coach Reveno is 0-2 against the Vikings, while Portland has a 2-4 record playing the Stott Center since PSU basketball moved there for the 1996-97 season.