Completer Release (PDF) I Game Central I Tickets

Portland Pilots (4-11, 1-1) vs. Pepperdine Waves (7-7, 1-2)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012
Tip-off: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Television: CSN Northwest
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 32-53
At UP: 17-23
At PEP: 13-25
At Neutral: 2-5
Last: PEP 66, POR 64 (Feb. 10, 2011 at Pepperdine)

COMING UP
• Portland (4-11, 1-1 WCC) looks to complete a West Coast Conference weekend home sweep as the Pepperdine Waves (7-7, 1-2) visit the Chiles Center on Saturday at 5 p.m.
• The Pilots are coming off of an 84-74 win over Santa Clara, while the Waves dropped a 73-45 decision at Gonzaga on Thursday.
• Saturday’s game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest with Scott Lynn, Bob Weiss, and Abby Chin 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
• Saturday is Military Appreciation Night and all active and retired military will receive free admission to the game. The 204th Army Band, based in Vancouver, Wash., will perform the national anthem and a halftime medley.
• 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. In addition to Saturday’s 5 p.m. tip-off, the Saturday, Jan. 21 game versus San Francisco will now be a 1:30 p.m. tip-off.

LAST OUTING
• Portland 84, Santa Clara 74 (Portland, Ore.): Ryan Nicholas scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead five Pilots in double figures. Tim Douglas added 11 points and a career-high eight assists, Nemanja Mitrovic and David Carr also finished with 11 points, while Thomas van der Mars had 10 points and seven rebounds in just 15 minutes. Eight of the nine Pilots to see the court scored, including freshman John Bailey with career-highs of seven points and five rebounds. Portland jumped out to an early double-digit lead after a pair of Nicholas free throws made it 22-11. The Pilots would extend the lead to as much as 18 points late in the period. A dunk by John Bailey with 15 seconds left before the halftime buzzer ignited the crowd and gave Portland a 44-27 halftime edge. The lead would grow to as much as 21 points with 6:52 remaining in the game as Nicholas capped a 9-2 run with a pair of free throws and a lay-up. The Broncos (8-6, 0-1) would rally to pull within seven on a three-pointer by Brandon Clark with 25 seconds remaining, but the Pilots would hold on for the win. Portland finished the game at 51 percent shooting, while holding Santa Clara to 39 percent shooting.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots snapped a seven-game losing streak with the win over Santa Clara.
• Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas leads the Pilots in scoring (11.3) and rebounding (7.8).
• 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 15 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. 4 nationally, according to KenPom.com.
• Sophomore C Riley Barker (knee) has missed the last eight games due to injury and will not be available on Saturday.
• Portland is 0-8 on the road this year, with two of those losses coming against ranked opponents (#2 Kentucky, #23 Saint Louis).
• 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 PEPPERDINE
• The Waves (7-7, 1-2) dropped a 73-45 decision at Gonzaga on Thursday. Previously, Pepperdine defeated San Francisco (77-61) and lost to Saint Mary’s (74-45) in Malibu.
• Pepperdine’s biggest wins have come at Arizona State (66-60) and at home versus Hawaii (73-67). 
• Key losses have come at UCLA (62-39) and at Washington State (67-56).
• Pepperdine is last in the WCC in points per game (59.6) and field goal pct. (.390), but is third in points allowed (62.4) and field goal pct. defense (.403).
• The Waves are led by senior F Taylor Darby (11.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and senior C Corbin Moore (10.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg).
• Six players are averaging six or more points in Pepperdine’s balanced offensive attack, while junior G Caleb Willis dishes out a team high 4.1 assists per game.
• Former Pepperdine guard Marty Wilson is in his first year as head coach of the Waves after serving as associate head coach under Tom Asbury the last three seasons.

BREAKOUT GAME FOR VARIOUS PILOTS
• Thursday’s win over Santa Clara snapped a seven-game losing streak and also provided career-highs for various Pilots.
• POINTS: Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas (19), freshman G David Carr (11) and freshman F/C John Bailey (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 eight games (knee) and will not be available on Saturday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno has used six different starting lineups this year.
• Sophomore Ryan Nicholas is the only Pilot to start all 15 games this year, while 10 different Pilots have started at least one game.
• Three different freshmen have started at least four games.

FRESHMEN FIRSTS
• Portland’s highly-touted four true freshmen have each appeared in all 15 games and are all averaging more than 14.5 minutes per game.
• Thomas van der Mars (Gouda, Netherlands) has started the last 10 games and is averaging a freshman-best 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds. He also is third in the WCC in field goal percentage (.552) after finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds in just 15 minutes versus Santa Clara.
• Kevin Bailey (Clovis, Calif./East Clovis HS) has started the last seven games and has reached double figures four times this season. He played one of his best all-around games against Santa Clara, holding the league’s leading scorer, Kevin Foster, to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. Bailey also scored nine points on only five shot attempts.
• Dorian Cason (Fontana, Calif./Summit HS) averages 17.0 minutes per game and is the team’s third leading rebounder (4.5).
• David Carr (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS) started the first four games at guard and is averaging 14.5 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 15 career starts, Nicholas is averaging team-highs of 11.3 points (17th in the WCC) and 7.8 rebounds per game (fourth in the WCC).
• 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 (51) and second on the team in scoring (10.6).


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. 4 nationally entering Friday.
• 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 109-59 (.649).


HOME SWEET HOME
• Portland has rattled off a 40-9 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 (.301, 75-249).

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 78 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.