Pilots Host Brigham Young on Saturday

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Portland Pilots (6-17, 3-7) vs. Brigham Young Cougars (19-6, 6-3)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Television: BYUtv
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 0-5
At UP: 0-2
At BYU: 0-3
Last: BYU 91, POR 76 (December 13, 2008 at BYU)


COMING UP
• Portland (6-17, 3-7 WCC) looks build on Thursday’s 84-78 win at Santa Clara as the Pilots host the newest member of the West Coast Conference, the Brigham Young Cougars (19-6, 7-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
• The Cougars are coming off of an impressive 83-73 home win over No. 24 Gonzaga on Thursday.
• The game will be televised live on BYUtv with Dave McCann and Steve Cleveland 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 provide the play-by-play and an audio simulcast will also be available on www.PilotsVideo.com.
 
TICKETS
• Tickets are still available for Portland’s three remaining home games, including Saturday’s contest versus BYU.
• Fans can get tickets 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.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots picked up their first road win of the season and snapped a six-game losing streak with an 84-78 victory over the Santa Clara Broncos on Thursday.
• Sophomore F Ryan Nicholas paced the Pilots with 19 points and eight rebounds, while freshman C Thomas van der Mars added 11 points and nine rebounds.
• Portland previously dropped a 62-59 decision at LMU last Saturday as the Lions hit a game-winning three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining. Freshman G Kevin Bailey matched his season high with 22 points in the loss.
• Nicholas leads the Pilots in scoring (11.3) and rebounding (7.5), while collecting four double-doubles this season.
• UP underclassmen are accounting for 77 percent of the minutes played and 79 percent of the team’s scoring thus far.
• 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 strength of schedule entering Friday was No. 19 nationally, the fourth 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 had surgery last week and will be out this week.
• 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
• Portland 84, Santa Clara 78 (Santa Clara, Calif.): The Pilots used a big second half to pull out the win over the Santa Clara Broncos on Thursday night at the Leavey Center. Sophomore forward Ryan Nicholas scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Pilots, who shot 74 percent from field in the second half. Nicholas and freshman center Thomas van der Mars controlled the interior throughout the contest. Nicholas was 8-for-12 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. van der Mars finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, finishing 4-of-5 from the field. Sophomore guard Tim Douglas came off the bench and finished with 16 points, including 11 in the second half while making numerous clutch plays down the stretch. The game featured six ties and 10 lead changes with the Broncos leading by as much as seven points in the second half. A van der Mars free throw tied the game at 63-63 with 5:17 remaining and after a defensive stop, the big man gave the Pilots a two-point lead with a layup. Nicholas and van der Mars each hit two more free throws to push the lead to six. Santa Clara pulled within 75-73 with 1:14 remaining after a Denzel Johnson jumper and two free throws by Yannick Atanga as the Pilots were called for a foul after the shot was released. Out of a timeout, Portland drew up an inbounds play and freshman guard Kevin Bailey threw down a thunderous dunk and was fouled with 49 seconds remaining. He converted the three point play and the Pilots would continue to sink free throws to secure the win. The Pilots (6-17, 3-7 WCC) won for the first time this season on the road and matched their season high in points, which was also set against Santa Clara earlier this season in an 84-74 win at Portland. The team shot 56 percent from the field for the game and outrebounded the Broncos by a 35-25 margin. The Pilots outscored the Broncos by a 51-40 margin after trailing 38-33 at the half. All 10 Pilots that logged minutes scored in the game. Sophomore guard Tanner Riley provided a spark off the bench with nine points. The Broncos (8-14, 0-9) led by as much as 10 points early and the teams had five lead changes in the first period.
 
ABOUT BRIGHAM YOUNG
• The Cougars (19-6, 7-3) picked up a big win at home on Thursday over the No. 24 Gonzaga Bulldogs, 83-73.
• Senior F Noah Hartsock led BYU with 24 points and 14 rebounds against Gonzaga, while freshman G Matt Carlino added 18 points and five assists.
• The Cougars posted impressive non-conference wins over Nevada (76-55), Oregon (79-65) and UC Santa Barbara (89-75). Losses came to Baylor, Wisconsin and Utah State.
• Two of BYU’s three league losses came to Saint Mary’s and the third was at home against Loyola Marymount.
• Hartsock leads four players averaging double figures at 17.8 ppg, while junior F Brandon Davies adds 14.3 ppg and 7.8 rebounds.
• The Cougars lead the WCC in scoring (79.2) and field goal percentage defense (.404).
• BYU, in its first year as a member of the WCC, was picked to finish third in the WCC Preseason Poll.
• Dave Rose is in his seventh season as head coach and posts a 178-51 overall record.
 
LINEUP NOTES
• Senior PG Eric Waterford (knee) is out for Saturday.
• Sophomore C Riley Barker has missed the last 16 games (knee) and is also out for Saturday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno has used eight different starting lineups this year.
• Sophomore Ryan Nicholas is the only Pilot to start all 23 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 17 losses, opponents have shot 50.1 percent from the floor.
• Portland is allowing 64.2 points in wins and 80.4 points in losses.
 
BAILEY BREAKING THROUGH
• Freshman G Kevin Bailey is averaging 10.6 points in WCC games and has scored a season-high 22 points in two of the last five games.
• Bailey has reached double figures in four of the last eight games, while leading the Pilots in scoring a team-high seven times this year.
• The Clovis, Calif. ranks 23rd overall in scoring in WCC games and sixth 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 41 percent of the team’s minutes played, 39 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 (.560, third among all players) and blocked shots (19).
• In WCC games, van der Mars is the top rebounding freshman (6.1).

YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland’s highly-touted four true freshmen have each appeared in all 23 games and are all averaging more than 15 minutes per game.
• Thomas van der Mars (Gouda, Netherlands) has started the last 17 games.
• Kevin Bailey (Clovis, Calif./East Clovis HS) has started the last 15 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 15.3 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 11.3 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 five 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. 19 nationally entering Wednesday, fourth 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 166-93 (.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.
 
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 79 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 (.300, 106-353).
 
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.

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.
 
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 (63) and second on the team in scoring (9.7).
• He has recorded a career-high eight assists in two of the last four games.