Complete Release (PDF) I Game Central I Tickets

COMING UP
• Portland (5-13, 2-3 WCC) returns home to the Chiles Center for a pair of games this week. The Pilots host the San Diego Toreros (6-11, 1-4) on Thursday at 8 p.m. and then welcome the San Francisco Dons (12-8, 2-4) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
• Both games will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest with Scott Lynn and Bob Weiss calling the action.
• All Portland basketball games will be broadcast live on True Talk 800 AM, with a 30-minute pregame show. Bill Johnson will call the action courtside and an audio simulcast will also be available on www.PilotsVideo.com.
 
TICKETS AND PROMOTIONS
• Thursday will feature a Walk to Defeat ALS tribute, recognizing local walkers and teams including UP assistant coach, Joel Sobotka, and former University professor Roger Doyle. They helped to raise over $6,000 during the 2011 Walk to Defeat ALS.
• Thursday is also a 2-for-1 ticket promotion and a Kids Club Game, so all members of the Pilot Kids Club will get in for FREE!
• Saturday the Pilots will welcome back all men’s basketball alumni for a pre-game gathering in the Pilot Club as well as in-game recognition. It is also CYO day and all kids that show up in their uniform will get in for FREE!
• Tickets are still available for all Portland home games are still available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com, or through the Pilot Box Office (M-F, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.). Tickets may also be purchased at the door 90 minutes prior to tipoff each game. Call the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-7525 with any questions.

GAME TIME CHANGES
• Fans are encouraged to check portlandpilots.com for updated game times as many times have changed from the originally printed pocket schedule and on season tickets. A reminder that the home game versus San Francisco on Saturday is now be a 1:30 p.m. tip-off.
 
LAST OUTING
• Saint Mary’s 69, Portland 61 (Moraga, Calif.): The Pilots challenged the league-leading Saint Mary’s Gaels as the frontcourt duo of Ryan Nicholas and Thomas van der Mars combined for 34 points. The Pilots trailed by only five points at the half and kept the deficit in single digits throughout most of the second period before Saint Mary’s pulled away late. The Gaels (17-2, 6-0 WCC) improved to a perfect 13-0 on their home court with the win. Saint Mary’s had previously defeated all 13 opponents by at least 15 points, including an 83-62 win over No. 21 Gonzaga on Thursday. van der Mars finished with a team-high 18 points for the visitors, one shy of his season high, to go seven rebounds. Tim Douglas matched his career-high by dishing out eight assists. Leading 30-25 at the half, Saint Mary’s promptly went on a 17-5 run to open the second period and take a 17-point lead. The Pilots didn’t fold though and were able to bring the deficit back to single digits on a Tim Douglas runner with 11:41 remaining to make it 49-40. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Gaels made it a 13-point deficit, but Douglas connected with van der Mars for consecutive layups to bring it back to 55-46 with 8:18 left. An ensuing 11-4 run put the game out of reach. Portland shot 51 percent from the field in the game, while holding the Gaels to 45 percent. The Pilots committed 20 turnovers which led to a 23-17 edge in points off of turnovers.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots played the Saint Mary’s Gaels closer than any other opponent at McKeon Pavilion this season, but ultimately dropped a 69-61 decision after a 104-70 loss at San Francisco last Thursday.
• Freshman C Thomas van der Mars scored a team-high 18 points in the loss to the Gaels.
• Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas leads the Pilots in scoring (11.6) and rebounding (7.4).
• UP underclassmen are accounting for 77 percent of the minutes played and 78 percent of the team’s scoring thus far.
• Portland has outrebounded 10 of 18 opponents this year.
• In the Pilots’ two league wins, Portland held Santa Clara and Pepperdine both under 40 percent shooting from the field. The Pilots are 5-0 when holding teams under 40 percent shooting.
• The Pilots played one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the nation, including nine of 13 games away from the Chiles Center. Portland’s strength of schedule entering Wednesday is No. 3 nationally, according to KenPom.com.
• Sophomore C Riley Barker (knee) has missed the last 11 games due to injury and will not be available on Thursday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno and all three assistant coaches return for their sixth year together on The Bluff, the longest current stretch of any Division I coaching staff in the nation.
• Portland is coming off of back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time ever.
• The Pilots were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) for the third consecutive season in 2011.
• Portland returns two starters and nine lettermen from last year’s team that finished 20-12 overall and 7-7 in the WCC.
• All nine UP graduates in the last two years and have gone on to play pro ball.
• The Pilots were picked to finish seventh in the nine-team West Coast Conference, while senior G Nemanja Mitrovic was named to the preseason all-conference team.
 
ABOUT SAN DIEGO
• The Toreros (6-11, 1-4 WCC) dropped an 82-63 decision at home on Monday. Sophomore F Dennis Kramer scored a team-high 18 points, while freshmen guards Johnny Dee and Christopher Anderson added 12 and 11, respectively
• USD knocked off Santa Clara on the road, 75-62, on Thursday to pick up their first league win.
• Dee leads USD and is fourth in the WCC in scoring on the year (15.0 ppg). He is averaging 17.2 ppg in WCC games.
• Anderson is fourth in the league in assists (4.5) and is averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 assists through five WCC games.
• USD’s roster consists of one senior, three juniors, one sophomore and nine freshmen.
• The Toreros were picked to finish ninth in the WCC Preseason Poll after going 6-24 and 2-12 in the WCC a season ago.
• Head coach Bill Grier is in his fifth year at the helm of the Toreros. In his first year, Grier led USD to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the WCC Tournament. He posts a 61-86 career record.
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE?
• In home wins over Santa Clara and Pepperdine, both teams shot under 40 percent shooting from the field.
• In all five Pilot wins, opponents have shot under 40 percent from the field and averaged 36.3 percent. In UP’s 13 losses, opponents have shot 50.9 percent with no opponent converting less than 42 percent from the floor.
• Portland is allowing 61.4 points in wins and 82.8 points in losses.
 
BREAKOUT WEEK AT HOME FOR VARIOUS PILOTS
• In addition to breaking a seven-game losing streak as a team against Santa Clara on Jan. 5, many Pilots recorded career-highs individually:
• POINTS: Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas (19), freshman G David Carr (11) and freshman F/C John Bailey (7); (freshman G Kevin Bailey (15) matched his high versus Pepperdine on Jan. 7.)
• ASSISTS: Sophomore PG Tim Douglas (8) and senior G Nemanja Mitrovic (5).
• REBOUNDS: John Bailey (5).
• TEAM HIGHS: Portland registered season highs in points (84), rebounds (44), assists (17), and free throws made (28).
 
LINEUP NOTES
• Sophomore C Riley Barker has missed the last 11 games (knee) and will not be available on Thursday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno has used six different starting lineups this year.
• Sophomore Ryan Nicholas is the only Pilot to start all 18 games this year, while 10 different Pilots have started at least one game.
• Three different freshmen have started at least four games.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland’s highly-touted four true freshmen have each appeared in all 18 games and are all averaging more than 15 minutes per game.
• Thomas van der Mars (Gouda, Netherlands) has started the last 13 games and is averaging a freshman-best 8.4 points and 5.0 rebounds. He also is fifth in the WCC in field goal percentage (.537).
• Kevin Bailey (Clovis, Calif./East Clovis HS) has started the last 10 games and has reached double figures five times this season. He played one of his best all-around games against Santa Clara on Jan. 5, holding the league’s leading scorer, Kevin Foster, to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. Bailey then matched his season-high with 15 points vs. Pepperdine on Jan. 7.
• Dorian Cason (Fontana, Calif./Summit HS) is the team’s third leading rebounder (4.4) and scored a season-high nine points at San Francisco.
• David Carr (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS) started the first four games at guard and is averaging 15.8 minutes per game. He recorded a career-high 11 points to go with three rebounds against Santa Clara.
• Redshirt freshman F John Bailey (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson HS) played a season-high 10 minutes against SCU and responded with highs of seven points, five rebounds and a blocked shot.
 
NICHOLAS’ TIME IS NOW
• After sitting behind All-WCC forward Luke Sikma and four-year starting center Kramer Knutson last season as a freshman, Ryan Nicholas is off to a fast start this year.
• Making his first 18 career starts, Nicholas is averaging team-highs of 11.6 points (12th in the WCC) and 7.4 rebounds per game (fifth in the WCC). He is also 12th in the league in FG percentage (.497).
• He recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opener against FAU. He has since topped those career highs with 19 points versus Santa Clara and 13 rebounds at Gonzaga.
 
DOUGLAS GIVEN THE KEYS
• Sophomore PG Tim Douglas moved into the starting lineup during WCC play last season, but missed the team’s final three games due to injury (all losses). He was voted team co-captain by his peers entering this season.
• He was named the WCC Player of the Week twice as a freshman, joining Elias Harris (Gonzaga, 2010), Patrick Mills (Saint Mary’s, 2008), Darrell Tucker (San Francisco, 2000) and Greg Anthony (Portland, 1987) as the only freshmen in league history to do so.
• Douglas is leading the Pilots in assists (63) and second on the team in scoring (9.7).
• He has recorded a career-high eight assists in two of the last four games.
 
NOT AN EASY ROAD
• The Pilots have played one of the most challenging schedules in the nation.
• Ken Pomeroy lists Portland’s strength of schedule No. 3 nationally entering Wednesday.
• UP faces eight teams that made the post-season last year, while nine of the team’s 13 non-league games were away from the Chiles Center.
• Road games included: at Washington, at #2 Kentucky, at #23 Saint Louis, at Nevada, at UC Santa Barbara, at Utah and at Boise State.
• Entering Friday, UP’s non-conference D-I opponents are a combined 129-75 (.632).
 
HOME SWEET HOME
• Portland has rattled off a 41-9 home record since the start of the 2008-09 season.
• The Pilots’ 19-game home win streak was snapped by Gonzaga last February.
• Signature home wins have come against Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Saint Mary’s three times.
• Portland finished the 2010-11 regular season with a 13-2 record at the Chiles Center for the second straight season.
 
MITROVIC MAKES ALL-TOURNEY TEAM 
• Senior G Nemanja Mitrovic was named to the World Vision Classic All-Tournament Team after leading the Pilots to a 2-1 record and averaging 12.0 points per game.
• Mitrovic finished last season No. 6 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.463) and 20th in three-pointers made per game (2.9).
• One of only two seniors on the roster, Mitrovic was voted a team captain this year along with sophomore PG, Tim Douglas.
• A native of Toronto, Mitrovic played just 43 minutes as a freshman and 312 minutes as a sophomore before averaging 13.5 ppg and earning All-WCC honors last year.
 
STAFF STABILITY
• Eric Reveno was named the 2009 WCC and District 9 Coach of the Year after leading UP to a 10-win improvement during the 2008-09 season.
• Now in his sixth year on The Bluff, Reveno credits the stability of his coaching staff as key to the program’s turnaround.
• All three assistants that joined Reveno when he was hired in April of 2006 have remained on the Portland bench ever since.
• No other current Division I coaching staff in the nation has retained the same four-member coaching staff longer than Reveno and his staff.
• Reveno is the third longest tenured WCC coach behind Gonzaga’s Mark Few (13) and Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett (11).
 
THREE-POINT THREATS
• Portland was the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the nation over the previous three seasons combined (.412, 752-1825).
• The Pilots led the nation in three-point percentage in 2009 (.418), were No. 5 in 2010 (.407), and No. 3 in 2011 (.412).
• Portland is struggling this season far from beyond the arc (.313, 86-275).