Pilots Face Pepperdine in WCC Showdown on Saturday

Complete Release (PDF) I Game Central

Portland Pilots (6-20, 3-10) at Pepperdine Waves (8-18, 2-12)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Malibu, Calif.
Arena: Firestone Fieldhouse (3,104)
Television: FSN Prime Ticket
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 33-53
At UP: 18-23
At PEP: 13-25
At Neutral: 2-5
Last: POR 53, PEP 43 (January 7, 2012 at Portland)

COMING UP
• Portland (6-20, 3-10 WCC) concludes its Southern California road trip on Saturday against Pepperdine (8-18, 2-12) in a game that will go far in determining seeding for the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Basketball Championships.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse and the game will be televised live on FSN Prime Ticket and tape-delayed on CSN Northwest at 11 p.m. Paul Sunderland and Mitch Butler will call the action.
• The Pilots are one spot ahead of the Waves for seventh place in the league standings after a heartbreaking 78-75 overtime loss at San Diego on Thursday.
• All Portland basketball games will be broadcast live on True Talk 800 AM, with a 30-minute pregame show. Bill Johnson will provide the play-by-play and an audio simulcast will also be available on www.PilotsVideo.com.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots dropped overcame a 17-point deficit with less than eight minutes remaining to force overtime, but fell 78-75 at San Diego on Thursday.
• Freshman G Kevin Bailey scored 18 points, including a three-pointer at the regulation buzzer, to lead the Pilots.
• Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas leads the Pilots in scoring (11.2) and rebounding (7.5), while collecting four double-doubles this season.
• Portland underclassmen are accounting for 77 percent of the minutes played and 80 percent of the team’s scoring thus far.
• UP’s five freshmen have been the most productive freshman class in Coach Reveno’s six years on The Bluff.  The group has accounted for at least 40 percent of nearly all key statistical categories this season.
• In five of the Pilots six 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 non-conference strength of schedule is No. 10 nationally, while the Pilots’ overall SOS entering Friday was No. 43 nationally, the eighth highest among non-BCS schools and tops in the WCC according to KenPom.com.
• Senior PG Eric Waterford made his first start of the season on Jan. 22 against San Francisco, but left the game with a knee injury after just three minutes. He is doubtful for Saturday.
• The Pilots have also been without sophomore C Riley Barker (knee) since Dec. 3 and he will not play on Thursday.
• 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
• San Diego 78, Portland 75 (overtime) (Portland, Ore.): Portland freshman guard Kevin Bailey scored 18 points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of regulation to overcome a 17-point second half deficit, but the San Diego Toreros pulled out the 78-75 overtime victory on Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Bailey, who scored all of his points after halftime, gathered a missed free throw with seven seconds remaining and rushed down the court. His pull-up three-pointer from the top of the key went through as the horn sounded to ignite the Pilots bench and push the contest to overtime. It capped a massive comeback as the Pilots (6-20, 3-10 WCC) trailed 60-43 with less than eight minutes remaining. The Toreros (11-16, 6-8) immediately took control to start overtime as sophomore Dennis Kramer drilled a three-pointer on the first possession and USD took a six-point lead. Another three by USD freshman Johnny Dee with 17 seconds left made it 76-70, but Portland sophomore Tim Douglas answered with a three of his own five seconds later. A Kramer free throw made it a four-point deficit and Douglas made a runner before fouling Christopher Anderson. The USD freshman made one of two free throws for a three-point lead with 3.3 seconds left, and Douglas’ last heave from 40 feet went off the front rim. Bailey finished 7-for-10 from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point range on the night. Douglas scored seven of his 11 points in overtime, while sophomore forward Ryan Nicholas finished with 10 points, including two key baskets late in regulation. Kramer scored a game-high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Toreros. Dee added 12 points, while Anderson finished with 10 points, a career-high 13 assists and five steals. Portland shot 47 percent from the field and made 8-of-17 three-pointers, while the Toreros finished at 48 percent from the floor and 8-for-15 from beyond the arch. The Pilots committed 11 first half turnovers, but just 16 total for the game. Portland also outrebounded the Toreros by a 37-35 margin. The first half featured seven ties and five lead changes before the Toreros rattled off an 11-3 run to close the half with a 33-26 edge.
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE
• The Waves (8-18, 2-12 WCC) dropped an 81-70 non-conference road game to the Seattle Redhawks on Thursday.
• Seniors Taylor Darby and Corbin Moore scored 20 points each in the loss.
• The Waves have lost five in a row and 13 of their last 14 outings.
• Pepperdine’s biggest wins this season have come at Arizona State (66-60) and at home versus Hawaii (73-67).
• Pepperdine is last in the WCC in points per game (58.9) and field goal pct. (.393), but is fourth in points allowed (65.9).
• The Waves are led by Darby (11.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Moore (10.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg).
• Six players are averaging six or more points in Pepperdine’s balanced offensive attack.
• Portland defeated the Waves by a 53-43 margin on Jan. 7 at the Chiles Center.
• 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.

LINEUP NOTES
• Senior PG Eric Waterford (knee) is doubtful for Saturday.
• Sophomore C Riley Barker has missed the last 19 games (knee) and is out Saturday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno has used nine different starting lineups this year.
• Sophomore Ryan Nicholas is the only Pilot to start all 26 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 five of the Pilots six wins, opponents have shot under 40 percent from the field. Opponents are shooting a combined 37.4 percent. In UP’s 20 losses, opponents have shot 49.3 percent from the floor.
• Portland is allowing 64.2 points in wins and 79.9 points in losses.
 
BAILEY BREAKING THROUGH
• Freshman G Kevin Bailey is averaging 11.5 points in WCC games and has scored a season-high 22 points twice.
• After being held scoreless in the first half on Thursday, Bailey finished with 18 points including the game-tying three-pointer at the regulation buzzer to force overtime.
• Bailey has reached double figures in seven of the last 11 games, while leading the Pilots in scoring a team-high nine times this year.
• The Clovis, Calif. ranks 17th in scoring in WCC games and fourth among freshmen.

FRESHMEN PHENOMS
• UP’s 2011-12 freshman class is accounting for the most production of any freshman class in Reveno’s tenure as head coach.
• This year’s five freshman are logging 42 percent of the team’s minutes played, 40 percent of the scoring and 40 percent of the rebounds.
• Among the nine WCC programs, the Pilots lead the league in freshman rebounding and are second to only San Diego in minutes played and scoring.
• Thomas van der Mars is leading all WCC Freshman in rebounds per game (5.3) and second in FG percentage (.563, fourth among all players) and blocked shots (23).
• In WCC games, van der Mars is also the top rebounding freshman (5.8).

YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland’s highly-touted four true freshmen have each appeared in all 26 games and are all averaging more than 16 minutes per game.
• Thomas van der Mars (Gouda, Netherlands) has started the last 21 games.
• Kevin Bailey (Clovis, Calif./East Clovis HS) has started the last 18 games.
• Dorian Cason (Fontana, Calif./Summit HS) is the team’s third leading rebounder (4.4).
• David Carr (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS) started the first four games at guard and is averaging 16.0 minutes per game.
• Redshirt freshman F John Bailey (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson HS) played a season-high 10 minutes against SCU on Jan. 5 and responded with seven points, five rebounds.
 
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 11.2 points (15th in the WCC) and 7.5 rebounds per game (fifth 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 recorded three more double-doubles, including two of the last six games.
 
NOT AN EASY ROAD
• The Pilots have played one of the most challenging schedules in the nation.
• Ken Pomeroy listed Portland’s non-conference strength of schedule No. 10 nationally and the Pilots’ overall SOS No. 43 nationally entering Friday, eighth highest among non-BCS schools and tops in the WCC.
• 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 195-108 (.644).
 
HOME SWEET HOME
• Portland has rattled off a 41-14 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.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland’s 2011-12 roster features only three upperclassmen in seniors Nemanja Mitrovic and Eric Waterford, along with junior Derrick Rodgers.
• 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 80 percent of the team’s scoring this 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 (.311, 127-408).
 
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.