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Game Information
The University of Portland will seek its second 20-win season as a Division I program on a memorable night for five seniors on Tuesday as the Pilots host the Lewis and Clark Pioneers at the Chiles Center in the regular season finale at 7 p.m. It will be Senior Night for Taishi Ito, Ethan Niedermeyer, Robin Smeulders, Nik Raivio and T.J. Campbell. The quintet will be recognized prior to the tip, individually and collectively, for their efforts in turning around the Portland basketball program. The game will be tape delayed on the air on 95.5 The Game (KXTG-FM) beginning at 8 p.m.
Ticket Information
Tickets are still 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. Tuesday game also has a special on general admission tickets for $5.
Pilots Briefly
*Portland (19-9, 10-4 WCC) finished third-place in the WCC standings and earned a first round bye at the WCC Tournament, scheduled for March 6-9 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas
*The 10-4 league record tied the best in UP history (1994-95)
*UP has finished in third place for the second straight season, a first in program history, while the 19 league wins over a two-year period are the most ever for the Pilots
*The team is 12-2 at home this season after wins over San Francisco (70-59) and Santa Clara (68-55) last week
*Portland is 24-4 at the Chiles Center over the last two seasons
*Robin Smeulders is a single point shy of 1,000 for his career
*Portland ranks seventh nationally in team three-point percentage this year (.406)
*Jared Stohl is the school’s career leader in three-pointers made (238) and tied for 10th in WCC history
*Stohl currently leads the nation in three-point percentage (.487)
*Leading scorer Nik Raivio has missed the last 11 games (Achilles’ strain), but the Pilots are 9-2 in his absence
*T.J. Campbell is the first Pilot in history to earn three WCC player of the week honors in one year
*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 (#25)
*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
*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 at the 76 Classic
*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
Senior Moment
It will be an emotional night at the Chiles Center for the five University of Portland seniors and the coaching staff. Three of the five seniors were the first players recruited by head coach Eric Reveno. After accepting the position in April of 2006, Reveno secured commitments from Robin Smeulders, Taishi Ito and Ethan Niedermeyer that spring. A year later Nik Raivio came aboard and then T.J. Campbell joined the class two seasons ago. Portland went from winning nine games the first two years, to 19 games last year and a postseason appearance for the first time since 1996. This year the team cracked the Top 25 for the first time in 50 years and is now on the cusp of the second 20-win season in program history and back-to-back postseason appearances.
WCC Tournament Brackets Announced
Portland earned the No. 3 seed and a first round bye in the WCC Tournament. The Pilots will play the winner of No. 6 San Diego and No. 7 Santa Clara, who play on Friday night. The quarterfinal matchup will take place on Saturday at approximately 8:30 p.m. and will be aired live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest. No. 2 seeded Saint Mary’s awaits the winner on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2, while the WCC Championship game will be played Monday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. The complete WCC Tournament bracket can be found here.
