Pilots Travel to LMU for Saturday Night Game

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Portland Pilots (5-16, 2-6) at Loyola Marymount Lions (12-9, 5-3)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Arena: Gersten Pavilion (4,156)
Television: CSN-NW/FSN-W
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 40-44
At UP: 25-15
At LMU: 13-24
At Neutral: 2-5
Last: LMU 72, POR 68 (March 4, 2011 at Las Vegas)

COMING UP
• Portland (5-16, 2-6 WCC) travels to Los Angeles to take on the Loyola Marymount Lions (12-9, 5-2 WCC) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Saturday’s game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest and Fox Sports West with Chris McGee and Mitchell Butler 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.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots dropped their fifth straight game with competitive 74-62 loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs at home on Thursday. Portland led by four at the half and was within three late in regulation before the veteran Bulldogs pulled away in the closing minutes.
• Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas recorded his fourth double-double with 13 points and rebounds in the loss and leads the Pilots in scoring (11.3) and rebounding (7.7).
• UP underclassmen are accounting for 77 percent of the minutes played and 79 percent of the team’s scoring thus far.
• In all five Pilot wins this year, the team has held opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field.
• Portland has outrebounded 12 of 21 opponents this year.
• 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 Friday is No. 10 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. He had surgery on Thursday and will be unavailable on Saturday.
• The Pilots have also been without sophomore C Riley Barker (knee) since Dec. 3 and he will not play on Saturday.
• 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.
 
LAST OUTING
• Gonzaga 74, Portland 62 (Portland, Ore.): The Pilots led by four at halftime, but the Bulldogs erupted in the second half for a 74-62 win before a sold out crowd of 4,852 Thursday night at the Chiles Center. Sophomore Ryan Nicholas recorded his fourth double-double of the season for the Pilots with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Tim Douglas added 11 points off the bench. The Bulldogs (17-3, 7-1 WCC) shot 68 percent from the field in the second half, opening the period with an 8-0 run to grab the lead. Consecutive jumpers by Portland sophomore Tanner Riley and a layup by junior Derrick Rodgers gave the Pilots a two-point lead, but a 15-5 Gonzaga run created some separation. Trailing by nine, the Pilots made one more run to cut the margin to 55-52 on consecutive three-pointers by Riley and Douglas with 5:26 remaining, but the Bulldogs ran off nine straight points to seal the win. The Pilots were in control most of the first half, leading by as much as seven on two occasions. A three-pointer by senior guard Nemanja Mitrovic with 28 seconds remaining gave Portland a 29-25 lead at the break. Portland shot 46 percent from the field in the first period, while holding the Bulldogs to 31 percent, including 0-of-7 on three-pointers. The Pilots also gained a 19-17 rebounding edge in the period as Nicholas led the way with 13 points and eight rebounds. The tables turned in Gonzaga’s favor after the break as Nicholas was held scoreless and the Pilots struggled to 41 percent shooting. The Bulldogs held a 19-11 rebounding margin in the second stanza en route to the win. For the game the Bulldogs had four players reach double figures led by freshman guard Gary Bell, Jr. with 18 points. Junior forward Elias Harris recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while senior center Robert Sacre added 16 points as Gonzaga gained a 44-22 points in the paint advantage on the night.
 
ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
• After a road sweep of BYU (82-68) and Santa Clara (74-62) last week, the Lions (12-9, 5-3 WCC) dropped a 71-64 decision at home to No. 20 Saint Mary’s on Thursday.
• Senior F Drew Viney led the way against the Gaels with 18 points, while sophomore PG Anthony Ireland added 15 points and five assists.
• Signature non-conference wins for the Lions came against UCLA (69-58), Saint Louis (75-68). LMU also lost games to Florida State (77-61) and Harvard 77-67.
• Viney, who was named to the WCC Preseason All-Conference Team, is averaging 16.1 points per game. Ireland adds 15.8 ppg and is third in the WCC with 5.1 assists per game.
• Max Good is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Lions and posts a 44-71 overall record.
• Portland owns an 8-4 record over LMU under head coach Eric Reveno and have won three of the last five meetings.
• The Pilots won both regular season meetings a season ago, but the Lions knocked UP out of the WCC Tournament with a 72-68 win in the quarterfinals.
 
LINEUP NOTES
• Senior PG Eric Waterford (knee) is out for Saturday after suffering the injury last Saturday against San Francisco.
• Sophomore C Riley Barker has missed the last 14 games (knee) and will also not be available on Saturday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno has used eight different starting lineups this year.
• Sophomore Ryan Nicholas is the only Pilot to start all 21 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 49.6 percent with no opponent converting less than 42 percent from the floor.
• Portland is allowing 61.4 points in wins and 81.4 points in losses.
 
BAILEY BREAKING THROUGH
• Freshman G Kevin Bailey is averaging 9.8 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 six games.
• The Clovis, Calif. native has also blocked five shots and recorded five steals in the last six outings.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland’s highly-touted four true freshmen have each appeared in all 21 games and are all averaging more than 15 minutes per game.
• Thomas van der Mars (Gouda, Netherlands) has started the last 16 games and is averaging 9.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in WCC games. He also is fourth overall in the WCC in field goal percentage (.543).
• Kevin Bailey (Clovis, Calif./East Clovis HS) has started the last 13 games and has reached double figures seven times this season.
• Dorian Cason (Fontana, Calif./Summit HS) is the team’s third leading rebounder (4.3) 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 15.2 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 7.7 rebounds per game (fifth in the WCC). He is also 15th in the league in FG percentage (.486).
• He recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opener against FAU. He has since recorded three more double-doubles, including two of the last three 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. 10 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 152-85 (.641).
 
HOME SWEET HOME
• Portland has rattled off a 41-12 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 (.304, 100-329).
 
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.