Pilots Open WCC Home Slate with No. 8 Gonzaga, Then Defending WCC Champs Saint Mary’s
Live Audio I Live Stats I Complete Release (PDF) I Gonzaga Hoops
Portland Pilots (8-10, 1-2) vs. #8 Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-1, 3-0)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. (PST)
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Television: ROOT Sports
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 65-90
At UP: 34-35
At GU: 22-43
At Neutral: 9-12
Last: GU 74, POR 62 (Jan. 26, 2012 at Portland)
GAME INFORMATION
• Portland opens its West Coast Conference home schedule with four consecutive games at the Chiles Center beginning with No. 8 Gonzaga on Thursday at 7 p.m.
• The Pilots will return to the court on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against defending WCC Champion Saint Mary’s.
GAME COVERAGE
• Both games will be carried live on ROOT Sports Northwest and CSN Bay Area with Tom Glasgow, Bill Krueger and Jen Mueller on the call.
• All Portland basketball games will be broadcast live on True Talk 800 AM with Bill Johnson calling the play-by-play and a 30-minute pregame show.
TICKET INFORMATION
• Thursday’s game is sold out, but tickets still remain for the rest of the WCC home schedule.
• Tickets start at $10 for adults and $5 for kids for most games, while a special $25 reserved seat ticket and food voucher are available for all games.
• Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at Ticketmaster.com or through the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-7525.
COMING UP
• Portland stays at home to face San Francisco on Thursday, Jan. 24 and then BYU on Saturday, Jan. 24.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland (8-10, 1-2 WCC) knocked overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to knock off Loyola Marymount 68-64 on Saturday in Los Angeles.
• The Pilots scored a season-high 47 second half points to pull out the win.
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
• Four Pilots reached double-figures in the win, also a season high.
• Portland outrebounded LMU 43-19 and own a +5.4 rebounding margin on the season.
• Sophomore PG David Carr suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the loss at Pepperdine on Jan. 5 and will be lost for the remainder of the season.
• Senior PG Derrick Rodgers filled in nicely with 10 points, nine assists and three rebounds vs. LMU, while freshman walk-on PG David Ahern played six effective minutes off the bench in his first action of the season.
• Sophomore G Kevin Bailey missed three games with a broken nose, but returned to score all 14 of his points in the second half Saturday at LMU.
• Nicholas, who averaged team highs of 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds last season, is again leading the Pilots in scoring (13.4) and is second in the WCC in rebounding (9.8).
• 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.
• 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 #8 GONZAGA
• The Bulldogs (16-1, 3-0 WCC) are ranked No. 8 nationally in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls this week.
• Gonzaga has posted non-conference wins over West Virginia, Clemson, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, while its lone loss was an 85-74 defeat to Illinois.
• The Bulldogs defeated Saint Mary’s 83-78 on Thursday in Spokane.
• Redshirt junior Kelly Olynyk leads three players averaging double figures at 18.1 points per game. Senior Elias Harris (14.9) and sophomore Kevin Pangos (12.4) also averaged double-digits.
• Harris, Pangos, Gary Bell and Sam Dower were all named to the Preseason All-WCC Team, while Gonzaga was picked to win the league.
• Head coach Mark Few posts a 358-91 overall record in 14 years with Gonzaga. He has led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament every season.
• The Bulldogs have won 18 straight over the Pilots, including nine in a row at the Chiles Center.
CARR INJURY LEAVES PILOTS THIN AT PG
• Sophomore PG David Carr went down with a torn ACL in the second half of the Jan. 5 loss at Pepperdine and will be lost for the season.
• The Portland native from Central Catholic HS averaged 4.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists while starting all 17 games for the Pilots.
• Senior Derrick Rodgers stepped up with 10 points and nine assists in his first start of the season on Saturday at LMU.
• Walk-on freshman David Ahern made his first appearance of the season and played six solid minutes off the bench.
PILOTS VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
• Portland is 6-51 all-time against AP Top 25 ranked opponents with the last win coming versus No. 22 Minnesota at the 2009 Anaheim 76 Classic.
• The Pilots have lost their last eight games against ranked opponents.
• Portland has never beaten a team ranked in the top 10 (0-18).
BAILEY RETURNS IN A BIG WAY
• Sophomore G Kevin Bailey returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing the last two games following surgery on a broken nose suffered against Colorado State on Dec. 22.
• Bailey entered the Colorado State game averaging 22.3 points in his three previous games.
• Those averages took a hit when he suffered a broken nose from an elbow 30 seconds into the game.
• Bailey missed the remainder of the CSU game and sat out the game versus Bradley the following day.
• He returned to the lineup against UTPA on Dec. 29 wearing a protective mask, but struggled to a 3-for-14 shooting day and missed the next two games following surgery.
• After adjusting in the first half at LMU, Bailey erupted for 14 second half points to lead the Pilots to the road win.
FRESHMEN STEPPING UP
• Freshmen guards Bryce Pressley and Oskars Reinfelds have made the most of their opportunities with playing time during the league season.
• Pressley, the son of former NBA player and Villanova NCAA Champion Harold Pressley, scored seven points versus USD and then had four points, four rebounds and three blocked shots against Pepperdine.
• Reinfelds provided a lift off the bench with 10 second half points in the win over Bradley, added seven points against the Toreros, and a season-high 11 points at Pepperdine.
• Reinfelds, a teammate of sophomore C Thomas van der Mars at the Canarias Basketball Academy, was a member of the Latvian Under-18 National Team.
BARKER BREAKS OUT
• Sophomore C Riley Barker scored a career-high 16 points versus North Florida and had double-doubles against Portland Bible College (10 pts, 10 rebs) and Colorado State (11 pts, 10 rebs).
• Barker received a medical redshirt after missing all but seven games last year with a knee injury.
• He leads the team with 20 blocked shots, including three or more in four of the last nine games.
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Pilots are 6-2 at the Chiles Center this season and have rattled off a 47-17 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.
HOME VERSUS ROAD
• Portland is 6-2 at home this season, but 1-7 on the road.
• At the Chiles Center the Pilots are scoring 70.0 points and allowing 60.8, while on the road UP is averaging 52.9 and surrendering 71.8 points.
• The Pilots have a +12.1 rebounding margin at home and -1.5 on the road.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Portland once again has one of the youngest rosters in the nation.
• The Pilots have just one senior and three juniors.
• In addition to Pressley and Reinfelds, freshman F Jake Ehlers is the two-time Oregon 5A State Player of the Year after leading Corvallis HS to consecutive state championships.
• Freshman G David Ahern made his season debut with six minutes at LMU.
NICHOLAS ERUPTS
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas had a career night against then-No. 18 UNLV with 15 points, 19 rebounds and six assists.
• The 19 rebounds are tied for the second most since Rick Raivio grabbed 20 on Jan. 18, 1979 at Air Force.
• He followed that with his third double-double of the year at No. 19 Kentucky with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
• Nicholas has led the Pilots in rebounds in all but three games this year.
• Nicknamed ‘Rhino’, he is averaging team-highs of 13.4 points and 9.8 rebounds, which is second in the WCC and 23rd nationally.
• 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.
THIELEKE TAKES OVER
• Junior G Korey Thieleke has started the last 15 games for the Pilots and established career highs in all statistical categories.
• He had totals of 64 minutes and 12 points in his first two full seasons on The Bluff, but has taken advantage of his opportunity this season.
• 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.
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 also hosted UNLV (NCAA First Round) on Dec. 4 and will play No. 8 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 locker room was renovated this summer 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.
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.
13 of 16 WCC GAMES TELEVISED
• Portland announced its 2013 WCC television schedule and 13 of the 16 games are expected to be televised live in the Portland market.
• ROOT Sports will air seven games, CSN-NW has aired one, ESPNU one, and BYUtv one. Three other games are being contractually finalized.
• The three non-televised game will be produced in broadcast-quality format and available online at WCCSports.com
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.
