Live Audio I Live Stats I Complete Release (PDF)
Game Information
The Portland Pilots open West Coast Conference play by hosting the No. 19/18 Gonzaga Bulldogs Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Chiles Center. The game is sold out, but will be televised live to a national audience on ESPNU. The contest will be on the air live on 95.5 The Game (KXTG-FM) in the Portland area with a free audio simulcast at www.portlandpilots.com.
Captain Wally’s Pregame
Get to the games early and meet your friends at “Captain Wally’s.” New this season, fans can purchase Widmer beer and dollar dogs before every home game in the Hall of Fame Room. The pre-game also features a coaches’ chalk talk 40 minutes prior to tip-off. Open to all UP alumni, season ticket holders and friends of UP. Please have your “UP Alumni & Friends Benefit card” (complimentary through the Alumni Office at (503) 943-7328 or alumni@up.edu).
Pilots Briefly
*The Pilots won their fourth straight home game with a 67-57 win against Army last Saturday
*Junior F Luke Sikma grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds off the bench along with 12 points
*The 19 rebounds were the most by a Pilot since the 1978-79 season
*Portland had four players reach double figures and limited Army to 35 percent shooting
*The Pilots are 6-1 at the Chiles Center after going 12-2 at home last season
*Junior G Jared Stohl was named the Dec. 28 WCC Player of the Week after breaking his own school record with 10 three-pointers in an 82-52 win over Idaho on Dec. 22
*Stohl finished the Idaho game with 30 points, becoming the first college basketball player in a decade to do so 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
*Campbell also was named the November WCC Co-Player of the Month
* 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 Gonzaga
The Bulldogs (11-3) enter WCC play ranked #18 in the Coaches Poll and #19 in the AP Top 25. Gonzaga is coming off of an 85-83 overtime win against Illinois on Saturday. Other key wins have come against Wisconsin (74-61), Cincinnati (61-59) and Oklahoma (83-69). Gonzaga’s three losses came at Michigan State (75-71), vs. Wake Forest (77-75) and against Duke (76-41). The Bulldogs have won nine consecutive WCC Championships and are the preseason favorites to repeat in 2010. Head Coach Mark Few returns just one starter and six lettermen from last year’s team which went 28-6 and advanced to the Sweet 16, but Few returns senior Matt Bouldin (15.1 ppg) and junior Steven Gray (13.8) as savvy veterans. Freshman Elias Harris (13.9) and redshirt sophomore Robert Sacre (12.3) provide balance on the frontcourt. Gonzaga has won 12 straight and 26 of the last 27 games against the Portland. The last Pilot win came on Feb. 19, 2003, as Portland snapped a 21-game home conference winning streak by the Bulldogs at The Kennel (72-68). Portland last defeated Gonzaga at the Chiles Center on Jan. 27, 1996 by a 67-66 margin.
