Tournament Central I Live Audio I Complete Release (PDF)
Tournament Information
The 76 Classic features six teams that made the 2009 NCAA Tournament, four teams currently in the Top 25, and an eight-team field that has put together a combined 22-2 record to start the 2009-10 season. The Portland Pilots (3-0) will face the UCLA Bruins (2-1) in the opening round matchup on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. live on ESPN2. Portland will then face either No. 10 Butler or No. 16 Minnesota on Friday night and then either No. 8 West Virginia, No. 19 Clemson, Texas A&M or Long Beach State on Sunday.
Game Coverage
All 12 games of the 76 Classic will be aired live on the ESPN family of networks. Dave O’Brien, Steve Lavin and Andy Katz will provide the coverage. Portland will be on ESPN2 on Thursday, ESPNU on Friday and either ESPNU or ESPN2 on Sunday. Thursday’s and Sunday’s Pilot games will be live on the radio on 970 AM (KCMD), while Friday’s contest will be aired live on 750 AM (KXL). Tom Kolker and Jason Brough will provide the radio commentary, which will have a free audio simulcast at www.portlandpilots.com.
About UCLA
The Bruins (2-1) defeated Pepperdine (71-52) on Monday and Cal State Bakersfield (75-64) last Friday. UCLA opened the season with a 68-65 double overtime home loss to Cal State Fullerton. UCLA has been led by sophomore Drew Gordon with 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Senior Michael Roll (15.3) and sophomore Malcolm Lee (13.3) also are averaging double figures. Head coach Ben Howland has led UCLA to three NCAA Final Fours in his six years with the Bruins. Last season, UCLA finished 26-9 overall and second in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Bruins advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Howland returns one starter and 10 lettermen from that team, while adding a heralded five-player freshman class. The Bruins were picked to finish third in the Pac-10 Preseason Poll.
Portland-UCLA Series
The Bruins have won all three previous meetings with Portland, including a 105-67 win during 2002-03. UCLA also posted a 93-69 win in 1967-68 and a 122-57 rout in 1966-67.
Portland vs. the rest of the 76 Classic Field
Portland-Butler: Butler leads 4-0... 0-2 at home, 0-2 on the road
Butler 76, Portland 50 (1989-90 at Butler)
Butler 86, Portland 80 (1990-91 at Butler)
Butler 75, Portland 74 (1994-95 at Portland)
Butler 87, Portland 80 (1995-96 at Butler)
Portland-Minnesota: No previous meetings.
Portland-Clemson: No previous meetings.
Portland-West Virginia: No previous meetings.
Portland-Texas A&M: UP leads 1-0... Portland 60, Texas A&M 51 in Missoula, Mont. (1982-83).
Portland-Long Beach State: UP leads 5-0... 3-0 at home, 2-0 on the road.
Portland 72, Long Beach State 70 (1962-63 at Portland)
Portland 54, Long Beach State 49 (2002-03 at Long Beach)
Portland 65, Long Beach State 59 (2003-04 at Portland)
Portland 71, Long Beach State 70 (2004-05 at Long Beach)
Portland 99, Long Beach State 95 (2005-06 at Portland)
Pilots Briefly
*Portland (3-0) defeated Oregon 88-81 on Saturday at the Chiles Center
*Nik Raivio had 24 points and eight rebounds, while T.J. Campbell had 16 points and five assists
*Campbell was named the WCC Co-Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points and 8.0 assists in wins over Seattle (98-81) and Oregon
*Raivio added a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Seattle
*After finishing 2nd nationally in 3-point shooting last year (.418), Pilots are shooting 52.1 percent so far this year from beyond the arch
*Portland is ranked No. 9 in this week’s CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
*Portland was picked second in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll behind Gonzaga
*Raivio and Campbell were named to the 10-player WCC Preseason All-Conference Team
*Raivio was also named an honorable mention mid-major All-America by CollegeInsider.com
*Portland appeared in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) last year, the program’s first postseason appearance since 1996
*The Pilots tied for second in school history last year in total wins (19) and WCC wins (9)
*Portland returns 12 players and all five starters
*2009 WCC Coach of the Year Eric Reveno and his staff remain together and enter their fourth year at the helm of the Pilots (assistants Joel Sobotka, Eric Jackson and Michael Wolf)
*ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla listed UP among the top 10 mid-major programs in the nation
*FOXSPORTS.com’s Jeff Goodman has the Pilots in his preseason NCAA bracket as a 12-seed
*Goodman lists Jared Stohl as the No. 6 shooter in the nation and Campbell the No. 31 shooter
*Four high school seniors singed NLI’s with Portland on Nov. 11, 2009: Riley Barker, John Bailey, Ryan Nicholas and Tanner Riley
Last Time Out
Portland 88, Oregon 81 (Nov. 21): Nik Raivio scored a game-high 24 points and the Portland Pilots erased an eight point halftime deficit in an 88-81 victory over the Oregon Ducks Saturday night at the Chiles Center. A crowd of 3,386 watched as the Pilots improved to 3-0 on the season and handed the Ducks their first defeat of the year. Senior forward Robin Smeulders added 17 points and eight rebounds, while senior point guard T.J. Campbell finished with 16 points, including a thunderous breakaway dunk in the closing seconds to put an exclamation point on the win.
Portland opened the second half with a 15-1 run, which included three three-pointers. Smeulders capped the run with a tip-in to put Portland ahead, 52-46. The Pilots would push the lead to 10 points at 66-56 on a Raivio lay-in and seemed in control of the game. But the Ducks would rally behind reserve guard Malcolm Armstead, who drilled a three-pointer and then stole the inbounds pass and converted a layup to cut the margin in half. Armstead drilled another three-pointer to make it a one-possession game. Oregon would regain the lead on a pair of E.J. Singler free throws with 6:53 remaining and Armstead hit another three for a 72-70 Oregon lead. Two free throws by Smeulders tied it up and then Jared Stohl nailed a three-pointer on the fast break to give the Pilots another lead. This time, Portland would not allow the Ducks back in the game. The Pilots closed the contest with a 13-4 run as Campbell got the crowd roaring with his dunk.
Portland shot a blistering 67 percent from the field in the second half en route to 51 points after the break. The Pilots also made 6-of-7 three-pointers in the half and 11-of-19 for the game. The Pilots shot 53 percent for the game, compared to Oregon’s 45 percent. Senior Ethan Niedermeyer was the fourth Pilot in double figures with 11 points. Portland outrebounded the Ducks 37-33.
Campbell Named WCC Co-Player of the Week
Senior PG T.J. Campbell was named the WCC Co-Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Pilots to wins over Seattle University and Oregon. Campbell averaged 18.5 points and 8.0 assists in the two games, including big second half performances each night. Against Seattle, Campbell took over in the second half by scoring 16 points and dishing out 10 assists with two steals as Portland turned a two-point halftime lead into a rout. He finished with career-highs of 21 points and 11 assists, despite only eight field goal attempts. Against Oregon, it was again Campbell that provided the second half boost with 14 of his 16 points coming after the break. He also had four second-half assists, while going 4-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line to erase an eight-point halftime deficit. Campbell shot 10-for-14 from the field, 2-for-4 from three-point range and 15-for-18 from the foul line in the two games combined.
Second Half Surges
The Pilots have outscored opponents by 10.0 points her game in the second half so far this season (144-114). Portland, an experienced team that returned five starters and its top 12 players from last year, is shooting 53 percent from the field and averaging 48.0 points in the second half.
Raivio Approaching 1,000 Career Points
Senior G Nik Raivio is on pace to become the 31st 1,000-point scorer in UP history. Raivio currently has 948 points and would become only the 12th player to accomplish the feat in three years or less. He has gotten off to a good start this year by nearly averaging a double-double with 19.0 points and 9.0 rebounds. Raivio was the top rebounding guard in the WCC last year (6.5).
Pilots Dial it in From Distance
Portland ranked second nationally last season at 41.8 percent, while Jared Stohl was third individually in the nation at 45.6 percent from three-point range. T.J. Campbell led the WCC and would have been the national leader in three-point percentage (.531), but was four made shots short of qualifying. The Pilots started the 2009-10 season where they left off, drilling 25-of-48 (.521) attempts from the three-point line through three games.
