Box Score
ANAHEIM, Calif. --- Head coach Eric Reveno, senior point guard T.J. Campbell and the rest of the Portland Pilots continue to open eyes on the national stage. A day after defeating UCLA by 27 points, the Pilots led from start to finish in a 61-56 upset of No. 16 Minnesota in the semifinals of the 76 Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center Friday night. Portland will advance to face No. 8 West Virginia in Sunday’s championship game live on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.
Campbell scored a game-high 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and senior forward Robin Smeulders added 13 points, including clutch points late in regulation to seal the win.
Portland, widely considered a dangerous team because of its three-point efficiency and overall offense, showed that it isn’t one dimensional on Friday. Despite shooting a season-low 39 percent from the field and 37 percent from the three-point line, the Pilots used solid defense and a 42-33 rebounding edge to knock off a ranked opponent for just the second time in the last 28 years. Portland improves to 6-42 all-time against ranked opponents.
The Pilots jumped out to a 10-point lead on an Ethan Niedermeyer layup with 4:34 left in the first half, capping a 14-4 run for a 26-16 lead. Portland took a 33-27 halftime lead on a Campbell three-pointer. Campbell finished with 15 first-half points, going 4-for-6 from the field with a trio of three-pointers.
The Gophers (4-1) tied the game early in the second half on a Lawrence Westbrook jumper at 34-34, but Portland answered with a 19-9 run as Campbell again provided a big three to close the spurt. The Pilots would extend to an 11 point lead on a Niedermeyer three with 6:32 left for their largest margin of the game, but the Gophers didn’t back down.
Minnesota responded with a 9-0 run to make it 56-54 on a Al Nolen jumper with a 3:14 remaining. Smeulders then made a big layup on the block at the end of the shot clock to take a four-point lead with 2:40 left, but the Pilots would be held without a field goal for the rest of regulation.
Minnesota made it a one-possession game after turnover in the final minute led to a pair of Nolen free throws to make it 59-56 with 20 seconds remaining. Another Pilot turnover gave the Gophers a chance to tie, but Blake Hoffarber’s long range attempt missed and Campbell sealed the victory by converting both ends of a 1-and-1 at the free throw line.
The Gophers, who defeated No. 10 Butler in the opening round game by an 82-73 margin, were held to their lowest point total and field goal percentage of the season on Friday. This after Portland held UCLA to just 47 points in the opening round.
Game No. 7 Post-game Quotes - Portland vs. Minnesota
Portland
Coach Eric Reveno -
“My comments are pretty similar to last night. I’m so proud of these guys. We worked hard to get here and it kind of chokes me up. There’s been so much blood, sweat and tears with this team. There discipline, commitment and trust in our staff and selves is great to see. You can’t really do anything in your practice plan to simulate the last couple of nights. I’m most proud of how good we were offensively. I try to appreciate to them how our offense is solid, but we need to improve on our defense. Tonight we guarded and disrupted them and that shows the improvement of our defense.”
(On quality wins)
“We thought playing a good team like Eastern Washington and defeating Oregon were pretty big wins for us. If we had played this tournament two weeks ago, I don’t think we would have had the same results, and that just shows the improvement of this team.”
(on possibly appearing in the top-25)
“I turned the TV on a little and then quickly turned it off. It’s tough to get your hands around what could happen. We are just going to continue to be grounded and level-headed. We have to focus on our goals which are beyond Sunday. It’s tough not to get distracted, but we have to let the guys celebrate these big victories and accolades that come with them.”
Player TJ Campbell (on shot selection)
“It seemed like we got open shots, but the stats show that we weren’t shooting that well. It’s great to see our defense step up and really help us tonight.”
(on not relinquishing the lead)
“It’s tough for any team to come back when they are down. We just kept pushing and didn’t let them get ahead of us.”
(on playing quality teams)
“It helps us a lot because it gives us more experience and we know where we are at and what we need to work on.”
Player Robin Smeulders (on possibly moving into the top-25)
“I think we deserve it. My first three years we got rocked, sometimes by 40 points, and it’s nice to see us finally battling and winning against some solid teams. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if we were ranked after this tournament.”
Minnesota
Coach Tubby Smith (Overall Statement)
“I was most certainly impressed with Portland and the way they executed and made shots. They did a good job defensively, so you have to give them credit where it’s deserved. (T.J.) Campbell really controlled the game from start to finish. I thought T.J. is a very outstanding point guard, so we had our problems trying to contain him. We really couldn’t get it going, so it was a tough loss, so I really commend Portland on how they played.”
(On the team’s shot selection against Portland)
“We took some poor shots last night and we did that for a few games and got away with it and those things will catch up with you. We had some good looks and they just didn’t drop. The shot selection wasn’t a good night.”
(On what’s coming next for the team)
“It’s still early in the season and we got a lot to work on and a lot to learn. I think just from tonight we’ve got to work on our execution, shot selection, rebounding the ball and free throw shooting. It’s just a lot of things we’ve got to get busy concentrating on.”
