Live Video I Live Audio I Live Stats I Complete Release (PDF)
Game Information
The Portland Pilots look to build on an impressive win when they host the Pepperdine Waves (7-13, 3-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Chiles Center. The Pilots crushed Loyola Marymount 79-39 on Thursday, while the upstart Waves played No. 10 Gonzaga tough on the road before falling 91-84. Saturday will also be ‘Mascot Night’, as 10 renowned mascots from the area will join Wally Pilot throughout the game. The game will not be on the radio, but will have free audio at portlandpilots.com.
Ticket Information
Tickets for Portland home games are available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, over the phone at (800) 745-3000 or in-person at the Pilot Box Office.
Pilots Briefly
*UP posted its largest margin of victory since the 1999-00 season with a 79-39 win over LMU on Thursday despite missing leading scorer Nik Raivio (Achilles’ strain)
*Raivio will not play on Saturday vs. Pepperdine with the injury
*Junior F Luke Sikma scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win vs. LMU
*The 39 points scored by LMU were 24 points lower than their previous season low
*The Lions were held to just three two-point field goals and 21 percent shooting from the field
*Sikma leads the WCC in FG percentage (.609) and has three double-doubles off the bench this year
*Jared Stohl leads the WCC in 3-pointers made (2.7) and is ninth nationally in 3-point percentage (.462)
*Robin Smeulders is averaging 20.8 points in four WCC games
*Stohl is third in UP history in 3-pointers made (196), four shy of 2nd place (Pooh Jeter)
*Stohl went 10-for-15 from the three-point line vs. Idaho on Dec. 22 with 30 points, becoming the first college player in a decade to score 30 without making a free throw or two-point field goal
*UP also set a team and Chiles Center record for total three-pointers (16) in the win vs. Idaho
*UP cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time in 50 years on Nov. 30
*Portland defeated UCLA (74-47) and No. 16 Minnesota (61-56), before falling to No. 8 West Virginia (84-66) at the 76 Classic in Anaheim over Thanksgiving weekend
*Senior PG T.J. Campbell earned 76 Classic All-Tournament Honors and his second consecutive WCC Co-Player of the Week award after averaging 16.7 points in the three games
*Raivio recorded his 1,000th career point on Dec. 2 vs. Portland State
*Portland was picked second in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll behind Gonzaga
*Campbell and Raivio 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)
*Four high school seniors singed NLI’s with Portland on Nov. 11, 2009: Riley Barker, John Bailey, Ryan Nicholas and Tanner Riley
About Pepperdine
The Waves (7-13, 3-1 WCC) have come to life during league play as their three-game win streak was halted at Gonzaga on Thursday, but not before a great effort against the 10th-ranked Bulldogs. Pepperdine lost 91-84 in Spokane as sophomore G Keion Bell erupted for 37 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Waves. Lorne Jackson and Mychel Thompson added 17 and 13 points, respectively. After struggling in non-conference play, Pepperdine opened WCC action with wins over LMU (79-75), Santa Clara (61-60) and San Francisco (83-68). All three wins came on the Waves’ home court. Bell (20.1 ppg) and Thompson (12.2 ppg) are the only players averaging double figures overall, but Jackson has picked it up in league games at 17.5 points per contest. Pepperdine is 0-6 on the road this season. Head coach Tom Asbury is in the second year of his second stint at Pepperdine. Asbury returns four starters and 12 lettermen from a young 2009 team that finished 9-23 overall and 5-9 in the WCC. Portland took all three meetings from the Waves last year by double digit margins, including a 69-65 win in the WCC quarterfinals in Las Vegas. Pepperdine owns a 52-28 margin in the all-time series.
