Pilots Host Rival Gonzaga on National TV
Complete Release (PDF) I Game Central I Tickets
Portland Pilots (5-15, 2-5) vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-3, 6-1)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Television: ESPN2
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 65-89
At UP: 34-34
At GU: 22-43
At Neutral: 9-12
Last: GU 90, POR 51 (Dec. 28, 2011 at Gonzaga)
COMING UP
• Portland (5-15, 2-5 WCC) concludes its three-game WCC home-stand when the Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-3, 6-1) visit the Chiles Center on Thursday at 8 p.m.
• The game will be televised live on ESPN2 with Dave Flemming and Miles Simon 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
• A handful of tickets were still available for Thursday’s game through the Pilot Box Office, or any Ticketmaster outlet, as of Wednesday morning.
• The first 4,000 fans will receive a complimentary Pilots rally towel at Thursday’s game.
• Tickets are still available for Portland’s three final home games 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.
LAST OUTING
•
San Francisco 72, Portland 71 (Portland, Ore.): Freshman Kevin Bailey led five Portland players in double figures with 13 points, but the Dons held on for a 72-71 win over the Pilots on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Thomas van der Mars added 12 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Dorian Cason added a career-high 10 points and eight rebounds for Portland. The Pilots led by seven at the half and nine early in the second period before USF used a 19-2 run to take a 53-45 lead with 10:14 remaining. Portland would battle back and a three-pointer by Tanner Riley with 37 seconds left made it a 69-67 deficit. The Dons (13-9, 3-5) then missed three of their next four free throws and a van der Mars layup with 21 ticks left made it 70-69. Cody Doolin hit two free throws to push the margin back to three and a contested three-pointer by Portland senior Nemanja Mitrovic was short. Riley made the putback with 1.5 seconds remaining, but USF was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock for the win. Riley and Derrick Rodgers finished with 10 points each off the bench for the Pilots, who outrebounded the Dons by a 39-30 margin. USF shot 45 percent from the floor and made 5-of-20 three-pointers, while the Pilots shot 40 percent overall and made 4-of-15 threes.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots dropped their fourth straight game with the loss to San Francisco on Saturday. Nine days after dropping a 104-70 road game to the Dons, the Pilots led by seven at the half before falling by a 72-71 margin.
• Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas leads the Pilots in scoring (11.3) and rebounding (7.6).
• UP underclassmen are accounting for 77 percent of the minutes played and 79 percent of the team’s scoring thus far.
• Portland has outrebounded 12 of 20 opponents this year.
• In all five Pilot wins this year, the team has held opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field.
• 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. 16 nationally, tops in the WCC according to KenPom.com.
• Senior PG Eric Waterford made his first start of the season on Saturday, but left the game with a knee injury after just three minutes and is questionable for Thursday. The Pilots have been without sophomore C Riley Barker (knee) since Dec. 3.
• 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 GONZAGA
• The Bulldogs (16-3, 6-1 WCC) have won three straight and 11 of their last 12 outings.
• Gonzaga’s lone WCC loss was an 83-62 drubbing at Saint Mary’s.
• Signature non-conference wins for the Bulldogs came at home against Washington State (89-81), Notre Dame (73-53), Arizona (71-60) and Butler (71-55). GU’s only non-conference losses were at Illinois (82-75) and versus Michigan State (74-67).
• Junior F Elias Harris leads the Bulldogs in scoring (13.5) and rebounding (7.9), while freshman PG Kevin Pangos adds 13.4 points per game.
• Senior C Robert Sacre (11.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg) joined Harris on the WCC Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Gonzaga has won or shared 11 consecutive WCC regular season titles and was the preseason favorite to win again in 2012 according to the league’s head coaches.
• Mark Few is in his 13th season as the head coach and 23rd year overall at Gonzaga.
LINEUP NOTES
• Senior PG Eric Waterford earned his first start of the season on Saturday after a solid game off the bench last Thursday, but suffered a knee injury after just three minutes and was unable to return. Waterford is questionable for Thursday.
• Sophomore C Riley Barker has missed the last 13 games (knee) and will not be available on Thursday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno has used seven different starting lineups this year.
• Sophomore Ryan Nicholas is the only Pilot to start all 20 games this year, while 11 different Pilots have started at least one game.
• Three different freshmen have started at least four games.
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 15 losses, opponents have shot 50.8 percent with no opponent converting less than 42 percent from the floor.
• Portland is allowing 61.4 points in wins and 82.0 points in losses.
BAILEY BREAKING THROUGH
• Freshman G Kevin Bailey is averaging 10.3 points in WCC games, including a season-high 22 points versus San Diego on Thursday.
• Bailey has reached double figures in three of the last five games.
• The Clovis, Calif. native has also blocked five shots and recorded five steals in the last five outings.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland’s highly-touted four true freshmen have each appeared in all 20 games and are all averaging more than 15 minutes per game.
• Thomas van der Mars (Gouda, Netherlands) has started the last 15 games and is averaging 10.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in WCC games. He also is fourth overall in the WCC in field goal percentage (.536).
• Kevin Bailey (Clovis, Calif./East Clovis HS) has started the last 12 games and has reached double figures seven times this season.
• Dorian Cason (Fontana, Calif./Summit HS) is the team’s third leading rebounder (4.5) and scored a season-high 10 points versus San Francisco on Saturday.
• David Carr (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS) started the first four games at guard and is averaging 15.4 minutes per game. He recorded a season-high 11 points to go with three rebounds against Santa Clara on Jan. 5.
• Redshirt freshman F John Bailey (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson HS) played a season-high 10 minutes against SCU on Jan. 5 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 having a breakout year.
• Nicholas is averaging team-highs of 11.3 points (15th in the WCC) and 7.6 rebounds per game (fifth in the WCC). He is also 11th in the league in FG percentage (.491).
• He recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opener against FAU. He has since recorded two more double-doubles, including 10 points and 13 rebounds versus San Diego on Thursday.
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. 16 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 Wednesday, UP’s non-conference D-I opponents are a combined 145-81 (.642).
HOME SWEET HOME
• Portland has rattled off a 41-11 home record since the start of the 2008-09 season.
• The Pilots had a 19-game home winning streak 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 (.305, 94-308).
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland’s 2011-12 roster features only three upperclassmen in seniors Nemanja Mitrovic and Eric Waterford, along with junior Derrick Rodgers.
• The six-player sophomore class played significant minutes as freshmen last year.
• Freshman G Kevin Bailey is the first top 100 recruit that the Pilots have landed, while freshman G David Carr is the first local Portland product to sign with the Pilots since Reveno took over the program.
• Underclassmen have accounted for 77 percent of the minutes played and 79 percent of the team’s scoring this year.
OREGON STATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR SIGNS WITH PILOTS
• Portland signed the reigning Oregon ‘5A’ State Player of the Year, Jake Ehlers, to a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 9.
• Ehlers (6-7, 200) led Corvallis High School to a 27-1 record and the Oregon ‘5A’ state championship as a junior last season while averaging 22 points per game.
