Men’s Hoops Hosts Idaho State in Thursday Home-Opener
Tickets I Live Video/Audio I Live Stats
PORTLAND PILOTS vs. IDAHO STATE BENGALS
Date: Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012
Location: Portland, Ore.
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Facility: Chiles Center (4,852)
Radio: True Talk 800 AM (KPDQ)
POR vs. ISU
Overall Series: 9-10
Here: 5-3
There: 3-7
Neutral: 1-0
Last: POR 76, ISU 52 (Corvallis, Ore. - Nov. 24, 2007)
TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
• Tickets for Thursday’s home opener and all single-games are available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com, or at the Pilot Box Office 90 minutes prior to tip-off.
• The first 500 fans through the gate will receive a Portland Pilots T-Shirt.
• Team posters will also be distributed to fans at the door.
• Season tickets, mini packs and group packages are available as well. Contact the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-7525 or click here for more information.
GAME COVERAGE
• Thursday’s game, and all non-televised Portland home games, will have a free video stream provided on PortlandPilots.com.
• All Portland basketball games will be broadcast live on True Talk 800 AM, with a 30-minute pregame show and Bill Johnson calling the play-by-play. The audio simulcast and live game statistics will also be available on PortlandPilots.com.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Head coach Eric Reveno returns for his seventh year on The Bluff. Assistant coaches Eric Jackson and Mike Wolf also return for their seventh year, while Colin Pfaff returns for his first year as an assistant coach after two years as Director of Basketball Operations. Marshall Cho (Director of Basketball Operations) and Kevin Bruinsma (Director of Basketball Technology) are new to the staff this year.
• Portland is coming off a 7-24 season after winning 60 games from 2008-2011, a stretch that included back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.
• Portland returns three starters and 10 lettermen from last year’s team that finished eighth in the WCC with a 3-13 league record.
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas led the team in scoring (11.5) and rebounding (7.6) last season. Sophomore G Kevin Bailey was second on the team in scoring (9.5) and started the team’s final 23 games. Senior G Derrick Rodgers is the team’s lone senior.
• Sophomore F Dorian Cason has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules.
• Four newcomers join the team: G Oskars Reinfelds, G Bryce Pressley, F Jake Ehlers, and G David Ahern. Ahern is expected to redshirt.
• The Pilots were picked to finish eighth in the nine-team West Coast Conference in the pre-season coaches poll.
• The Pilots were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) for three consecutive seasons from 2008-2011.
• All 11 UP graduates in the last three years and have gone on to play pro ball.
ABOUT IDAHO STATE
• Idaho State opened the regular season with a 56-48 loss at Utah State last Saturday.
• Melvin Morgan was the only ISU player in double figures with 19 points, while Tomas Sanchez had nine points, seven assists and four steals.
• Idaho State forced 17 Aggie turnovers, but were outrebounded 36-23.
• The Bengals won both of their exhibition games, defeating Montana Tech, 71-41, and Whitworth, 68-65.
• Bill Evans was named head coach of ISU last March after serving the previous four seasons on staff at Montana. Evans, previously the head coach of Southern Utah from 1992-2007, has 33 years of coaching experience.
• Six players return from ISU’s 2011-12 team that went 9-21 overall, but finished 7-9 in the Big Sky Conference.
LAST TIME OUT
• Portland opened the season with a tough road loss at Ohio on Saturday, 81-52.
• The Bobcats returned all five starters and unveiled their Sweet 16 banner before tip-off.
• The Pilots led a majority of the first half and were tied at halftime 33-33, but Ohio opened the second period with a 21-4 run and pulled away.
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas recorded his seventh career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
• Portland committed 23 turnovers which led to a 35-10 deficit in points off of turnovers.
NICHOLAS LOOKS TO LEAD
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas will undoubtedly look to lead the Pilots as the team’s top returning scorer and rebounder.
• He got off to a good start after finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the season opener at Ohio. It was his seventh career double-double.
• After sitting behind All-WCC forward Luke Sikma and four-year starting center Kramer Knutson as a freshman, Nicholas had a breakout sophomore year (11.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg).
• He finished the year strong with a 19-point, 14-rebound effort in the regular season finale at BYU, followed by a 24-point, 11-rebound performance in the WCC Tournament opening round win over Santa Clara.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland will once again have one of the youngest rosters in the nation.
• The Pilots have just one senior and three juniors.
TOUGH SCHEDULE...AGAIN
• For the second straight year, the Pilots will play one of the most challenging schedules in the nation.
• Ken Pomeroy listed Portland’s non-conference strength of schedule No. 8 nationally last year.
• The 2012-13 schedule features 15 regular season games against teams that reached postseason play last year, including 10 contests against NCAA Tournament squads.
• Road games at Kentucky (NCAA Champions), Ohio (Sweet 16) and New Mexico (Third Round) are on the docket.
• Portland will also host No. 18 UNLV (NCAA First Round) on Dec. 4 and play No. 22 Gonzaga (Third Round), BYU (Second Round) and Saint Mary’s (Second Round) twice each during league play.
• ESPN gave Portland a rank of 10-out-of-10 on non-conference schedule strength, highest in the WCC.
CHILES CENTER RENOVATIONS
• The men’s basketball team benefited from some facility upgrades to the Chiles Center over the summer
• The locker room was renovated as part of a $2.5 million investment.
• A new state-of-the-art ‘Pilot Teaching Board’ was installed in the locker room, as well as modern lockers and a more spacious wet area.
• The men’s basketball coaching staff moved into new offices as part of the build-out, while the Chiles Center training and weight rooms were also upgraded.
WCC PRESEASON POLL
• The Pilots were picked to finish eighth in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Gonzaga was the pick to win the league, while BYU and Saint Mary’s were second and third and received one first place vote apiece.
• No Pilots were named to the preseason all-conference team.
FRESH FACES
• Four freshmen are new to the roster this year...
• Jake Ehlers (Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis HS) is a two-time state champion and state player of the year at the Oregon 5A classification.
• Oskars Reinfelds (Riga, Latvia/Canarias Basketball Academy) was a teammate of fellow Pilot Thomas van der Mars at the CBA and is a member of the Latvian Youth National Team.
• Bryce Pressley (Sacramento, Calif./Jesuit HS) is the son of former NBA player and Villanova NCAA Champion, Harold Pressley.
• David Ahern (Novato, Calif./Marin Catholic HS) is a walk-on that is expected to redshirt this season.
SOPHOMORE SURGE?
• UP’s sophomore class proved to be the most productive freshman class in Coach Reveno’s six years on The Bluff.
• The group accounted for at least 40 percent of nearly all key statistical categories this season for the Pilots.
• By the end of last season David Carr, Kevin Bailey and Thomas van der Mars were starting.
• Among the nine WCC programs, the Pilots led the league in freshman rebounding and were second to only San Diego in minutes played and scoring.
BARKER’S BACK
• Sophomore Riley Barker played in seven games last year before a knee injury sidelined him for the season.
• He was granted a medical redshirt and enters the 2012-13 campaign healthy.
• Barker is expected to log big minutes for the Pilots after starting the first five games a season ago.
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 seventh year on The Bluff, Reveno credits the stability of his coaching staff as key to the program’s turnaround.
• Assistants Eric Jackson and Michael Wolf joined Reveno when he was hired and have remained on the Portland bench ever since.
• Colin Pfaff moved from his Director of Basketball Operations position to an assistant coaching spot this season, his third wit the Pilots.
• Reveno is the third longest tenured WCC coach behind Gonzaga’s Mark Few (14) and Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett (12).
HOME SWEET HOME
• Portland has rattled off a 41-15 home record since the start of the 2008-09 season.
• The Pilots had a 19-game home winning streak snapped by Gonzaga in February of 2011.
• 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.
PILOTS SIGN POINT GUARD ALEC WINTERING
• Portland signed point guard Alec Wintering (Concord, N.C./United Faith Christian Academy) to a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 14.
• Wintering is beginning his senior season at United Faith and is coached by former NBA point guard, Muggsy Bogues.
• The 5-foot, 9-inch Wintering has a great mentor in Bogues, who stands 5-feet, 3-inches tall and followed a standout collegiate career at Wake Forest University with a 14-year NBA career.
• Bogues isn’t the only notable point guard with ties to Wintering. Former Pilot great T.J. Campbell attended Sunnyslope HS in Arizona, where Wintering began his prep career.
• After moving to North Carolina, Wintering attended Cannon School and as a sophomore averaged 24 points, 3.2 assists and 2.4 steals per game. He scored 30 or more points in five of the team’s final seven games that year.
• He began his junior year at Cannon and averaged 18.4 points, 3.3 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.4 rebounds before transferring to United Faith Christian Academy in December of 2011.
• Wintering opened the 2012-13 season with 34 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in an 82-72 victory over Durham Mount Zion on Nov. 13.
• He is rated the No. 3 point guard in the state of North Carolina, according to BasketballElite.com and played AAU basketball for the Upward Stars and the Charlotte Royals.
