Pilots Travel to Washington State before Hosting No. 20 UNLV
Complete Release (PDF) I Live Audio I Live Stats I WSU Hoops
Portland Pilots (3-3) at Washington State Cougars (4-3)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. (PST)
Location: Pullman, Wash.
Arena: Beasley Coliseum (12,058)
Television: Pac-12 Network
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 2-11
At UP: 2-2
At WSU: 0-7
At Neutral: 0-2
Last: WSU 83, POR 73 (at Portland - Nov. 20, 2011)
GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday’s game at Washington State will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network with JB Long and Lamar Hurd calling the action. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
• All Portland basketball games will be broadcast live on True Talk 800 AM, with a 30-minute pregame show. The audio simulcast and live game statistics will also be available on PortlandPilots.com.
COMING UP
• The Pilots return to the Chiles Center to host No. 20 UNLV on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
• The game will be televised live on ESPNU with Rich Cellini and Miles Simon on the call.
• Portland then heads to Lexington, Kent. to face the defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 9 a.m. (PST). That game will be televised live on ESPN2.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland (3-3) evened its record with a 78-73 victory over hot-shooting Lewis & Clark College on Tuesday.
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas and sophomore G Kevin Bailey scored 12 points each to pace the Pilots, who had all 11 players to see action score.
• Portland racked up 32 bench points as senior G Derrick Rodgers provided a lift with 11 points and four assists.
• The Pilots also committed a season-low four turnovers, but L&C made 14-of-26 three-pointers to hang around.
• UP improved to a perfect 3-0 record at the Chiles Center this season and are 44-15 at home the last five seasons.
• RS-Sophomore C Riley Barker (ill) missed Tuesday’s game, but is expected to return on Saturday.
• Nicholas, who averaged team highs of 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds last season, is again leading the Pilots in scoring (12.8) and is third in the WCC in rebounding (8.8).
•Bailey is the only other Pilot averaging double figures (11.8).
•Junior G Korey Thieleke has started the last three games and averaged provided a big energy boost while establishing career highs in every statistical category.
• 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.
• PG Derrick Rodgers is the team’s lone senior.
• 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.
• Portland announced the signing of PG Alec Wintering (Concord, N.C./United Faith Christian Academy) to a NLI on November 14.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
• The Cougars (4-3) are 4-0 at Beasley Coliseum this season following Wednesday’s 64-55 win over Idaho.
• Senior F Brock Motum scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Washington State committed just four turnovers in the contest.
• The Cougars also have wins over Eastern Washington (88-69), Utah Valley (72-49), Arkansas Pine-Bluff (66-38).
• WSU has a road loss at Pepperdine (58-56, OT) and neutral site losses to Kansas (78-41) and Texas A&M (55-54).
• Motum is the only WSU player averaging double figures (17.7), while Dexter Kernich-Drew adds 9.9 points per game.
• Head coach Ken Bone is in his fourth year with the Cougars, after serving five years as head coach at Portland State.
• Bone and the Cougars finished 19-18 overall last year and made a run to the CBI finals.
THIELEKE TAKES OVER
• Junior G Korey Thieleke made has started the last three games for the Pilots and established career highs in all statistical categories.
• The Bakersfield, Calif. native made the most of his first start of the season against Portland State on Nov. 21 by finishing with nine points, four assists, three rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals in 23 minutes of action.
• He followed up with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, four blocked shots and four steals in 37 minutes against New Mexico.
• He is averaging 9.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.0 blocks in his three starts.
HOME VERSUS ROAD
• Portland is 3-0 at home this season, but 0-3 on the road.
• At the Chiles Center the Pilots are scoring 70.0 points and allowing 60.3, while on the road UP is averaging 56.7 and surrendering 77.7 points.
• The Pilots have a +8.3 rebounding margin at home and -5.0 on the road.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland will once again have one of the youngest rosters in the nation.
• The Pilots have just one senior and three juniors.
• Freshmen Oskars Reinfelds, Bryce Pressley and Jake Ehlers have all seen action this season, while freshman PG David Ahern is expected to redshirt.
FRESHMAN IMPACT
• Oskars Reinfelds, a teammate of fellow Pilot Thomas van der Mars at the Canarias Basketball Academy, provided a spark off the bench with eight points in seven minutes against Lewis & Clark on Tuesday.
• Jake Ehlers, the two-time Oregon 5A State Player of the Year, also scored his first career points, finishing with six in 11 productive minutes on Tuesday.
• Bryce Pressley, the son of former NBA player and Villanova NCAA Champion Harold Pressley, is 4-for-8 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free line in five games off the bench.
• David Ahern (Novato, Calif./Marin Catholic HS) is a walk-on that is expected to redshirt this season.
RILEY PERFECT AGAINST PORTLAND STATE
• Junior G Tanner Riley erupted for a career-high 23 points and did not miss a shot in Portland’s win over Portland State on Nov. 21.
• The North Bend, Wash. native started the first three regular season games, but struggled to find his shot and scored just 13 points in those three games combined.
• He came off the bench against PSU and got a fortunate bounce when he banked in his first three-point attempt, but the rest of his shots were pure as he finished 8-for-8 from the field, 4-for-4 from three-point range, and 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
• Riley’s previous career-best was 16 points, although he did score 27 in an exhibition win this year over Concordia-Irvine.
NICHOLAS NOW THE MAN
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas will undoubtedly look to lead the Pilots as the team’s top returning scorer and rebounder.
• He has gotten off to a fast start with a double-double at Ohio (16 pts, 11 rebs) and a 22-point effort versus Idaho State.
• Affectionately known as ‘Rhino’, he is averaging team-highs of 12.8 points and 8.8 rebounds.
• 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.
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.
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 include at Kentucky (NCAA Champions), Ohio (Sweet 16) and New Mexico (Third Round).
• Portland will also host No. 20 UNLV (NCAA First Round) on Dec. 4 and play No. 12 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.
HOME SWEET HOME
• Portland has rattled off a 44-15 home record since the start of the 2008-09 season.
• The Pilots had a 19-game home winning streak snapped by Gonzaga in 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.
• 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.
• 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.
