Men's Hoops Looks to Continue Strong Start at Oregon State
Complete Release (PDF) I Live Video I Live Audio I Live Stats
Portland Pilots (1-0) at Oregon State Beavers (0-1)
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013
Tip-off: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Corvallis, Ore.
Arena: Gill Coliseum (9,604)
Television: Pac-12 Network
Radio: 910 AM
Overall Series: 16-51
At UP: 13-20
At OSU: 3-29
At Unknown: 0-2
Last: OSU 67, POR 57 (at OSU – Nov. 25, 2007)
TELEVISION
• The game will be televised live nationally on the Pac-12 Networks with Brian Webber and Lamar Hurd calling the action.
RADIO
• Sports 910 AM (KMTT) is the new home of Portland Basketball. All games will be aired live on 910 AM with a 30-minute pregame show and a complete postgame show. Veteran broadcaster Bill Johnson will return to the sidelines once again this season.
• An audio simulcast will also be available on PortlandPilots.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA/LIVE UPDATES
• Get in-game updates live on Twitter @PortlandPilots.
• Oregon State will provide live statistics at www.OSUBeavers.com.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland hit the century mark in a season-opening 100-83 win over UC Davis on Friday at the Chiles Center.
• Junior G Kevin Bailey had a career-high 29 points and senior F Ryan Nicholas added a career-best 27 points in the win.
• It marked the first time UP scored 100 points against a Division I opponent since 1993.
• Portland returns all five starters and nine lettermen from last year's team that finished 11-21 overall.
• Nicholas has led the team in scoring and rebounding each of the last two seasons and was the No. 2 rebounder in the WCC last year (8.7).
• Bailey was second on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game last season.
• Junior C Thomas van der Mars has started 59 games already for the Pilots and will join a deep frontline along with RS-Jr. C Riley Barker, West Virginia transfer F Volodymyr Gerun and senior F John Bailey.
• G Tanner Riley and G Korey Thieleke join Nicholas and John Bailey as Portland's four seniors.
• Head coach Eric Reveno returns for his eighth year on The Bluff. Assistant coaches Eric Jackson and Mike Wolf also return for their eighth year, while Colin Pfaff returns for his second year as an assistant coach after two years as Director of Basketball Operations.
• Portland looks to return to the form it had from 2008-2011, a stretch that included back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history and 60 wins over three seasons.
• The Pilots were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) for three consecutive seasons from 2008-2011.
• The Pilots were picked to finish ninth in the 10-team West Coast Conference in the pre-season coaches poll.
ABOUT OREGON STATE
• The Beavers (0-1) dropped their season-opener at home to Coppin State on Sunday by a 78-73 margin.
• Senior G Roberto Nelson scored a career-high 36 points in the loss.
• OSU was without suspended Devon Collier and Eric Moreland for the Coppin State game. Collier will return against the Pilots, while Moreland will sit the first 14 games.
• Head coach Craig Robinson is in his sixth season with the Beavers and has a 78-90 record.
• The Beavers were picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 Conference Preseason Poll.
PORTLAND-OREGON STATE SERIES NOTES
• The Beavers own a 51-16 advantage in the all-time series.
• OSU is 29-3 all-time against the Pilots in games played in Corvallis.
• The last meeting was a 67-57 OSU victory in Corvallis on Nov. 25, 2007.
• In the last 10 meetings, OSU has a 6-4 edge over the Pilots.
CENTURY CLUB!
• The 100 points scored in Friday's season opener marked the first time the Pilots hit the century mark since defeating Evergreen State College 101-77 on Dec. 31, 2009.
• It is the first time UP reached 100 against a Division I opponent since the opener of the 1993 season versus Hawaii at the Great Alaska Shootout.
CAREER NIGHTS
• Kevin Bailey's 29 points were a career high and the most points scored by a Pilot since Luke Sikma had 29 on Jan. 22, 2011 at Santa Clara. His previous career high was 27 points, scored against North Florida on Dec. 19, 2012.
• Ryan Nicholas bettered his previous career high of 24 points with his 27-point effort on Friday. Nicholas finished 8-for-12 from the field, 3-for-5 from the three-point line and 8-for-9 at the free throw line.
NICE RATIO
• Portland dished out 16 assists and committed just eight turnovers against UC Davis.
• Last season, the Pilots had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in just nine of 32 games. The team averaged 12.1 assists and 15.0 turnovers per game.
PRESSLEY IMPRESSES
• Sophomore G Bryce Pressley started the final seven games of the 2012-13 season and also took over backup point guard duties late in the year.
• Pressley started on the wing Friday and also ran the point finishing with seven points, five rebounds, seven assists and one steal with zero turnovers.
• He was forced into backup PG duty again to start this season after David Carr (concussion) was sidelined.
STRONG START FOR THE WCC
• The West Coast Conference is off to a collective 17-0 start to the season and joins the Big 10 as the only conferences without a loss thus far.
• The WCC has expanded to 10 teams with the addition of Pacific (Calif.) to the league at the start of this season. BYU joined the league prior to the 2011-12 season.
NICHOLAS APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS
• Ryan Nicholas was an All-WCC honorable mention pick after leading the Pilots in scoring (13.0 ppg) and finishing second in the WCC in rebounding (8.7) last year.
• He had many highlights, including 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 a double-double at No. 19 Kentucky with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
• Nicknamed 'Rhino', he sat behind All-WCC forward Luke Sikma and four-year starting center Kramer Knutson as a freshman but followed with a breakout sophomore year (11.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg).
• He has 906 career points and is in line to become the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
RETURNING FIREPOWER
• The Pilots return five players that started 17 or more games last year as well as six of the team's top seven scorers.
• Two-time leading scorer and rebounder Ryan Nicholas is back to anchor the Pilot frontcourt along with two-year starting center Thomas van der Mars.
• Junior G Kevin Bailey is also a two-year starter and was the team's second leading scorer a season ago.
CARR SIDELINED
• Junior PG David Carr (concussion) missed Friday's opener and will not be available for Wednesday's game. There is no timetable set for his return.
• Carr, who suffered a season-ending knee injury with a torn ACL after 17 games last year, battled back and was cleared to play prior to the start of training camp.
• He is expected to compete for the starting PG spot once he is cleared to return to the court.
WINTERING GIVEN THE KEYS
• Carr's injury gives a starting opportunity for promising freshman PG Alec Wintering.
• Wintering scored 15 points in the exhibition win over Concordia-Irvine last month and had nine points, one rebound, one assist, two steals and zero turnovers in 18 minutes against UC Davis. Four fouls limited his playing time.
• Portland secured a commitment from Wintering out of United Faith Christian Academy in North Carolina, where he was coached by former NBA point guard Muggsy Bogues.
• Wintering's ties to Portland go back to when he lived in Arizona and looked up to former Pilot PG T.J. Campbell, a two-time All-WCC selection for the Pilots in 2008-10.
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Pilots have a 49-23 record at the Chiles Center since 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.
SPAIN FOREIGN TOUR
• Portland benefitted from a 10-day Foreign Tour to Spain and the Canary Islands back in August.
• The team was able to integrate all four newcomers and play against some elite competition, while gaining valuable practice time.
• On the court, Portland went down to the final possession against both Angola (No. 15 ranked team in the world) and Venezuela (No. 24) while in Madrid.
• The Pilots then routed three select teams in the Canary Islands to finish the tour 3-2.
• Check out photos, video highlights and other information from the trip at www.PortlandPilots.com/Spain2013.
IT'S ALL ACADEMIC
• Ryan Nicholas (3.47 GPA, Psychology) and Thomas van der Mars (3.94, Operations Technology Management) were named to the 2013 WCC All-Academic Team, while Riley Barker (3.46, Marketing) earned honorable mention honors.
• Nicholas picks up his second award in as many years.
• Coach Reveno has had a total of 13 WCC All-Academic selections in his seven years.
SPORTS 910 AM PORTLAND'S NEW HOME FOR RADIO & COACHES SHOW
• Sports 910 (KMTT) will be the new home for University of Portland men's basketball this season.
• In addition to airing every Pilot game live, the station will host a weekly show with Coach Eric Reveno every Monday night at 7 p.m.
• Game broadcasts will have a 30-minute pregame and 30-minute postgame show.
• Veteran Pilot play-by-play broadcaster Bill Johnson returns to call the action and host the Coaches Show for the Pilots.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
• Portland will once again have a lot of regional and national television exposure as a total of 13 Pilot games will be televised this season.
• UP will host Gonzaga in a nationally televised game on ESPNU on Jan. 9
• ROOT Sports NW will broadcast a total of nine Pilot games, while BYUtv will pick up the game in Provo.
• Other televised games are at Oregon State (Pac-12 Network) and at Michigan State (Big 10 Network).
• All non-televised Portland home games will have a multi-camera live video production with replays and commentary available at www.PilotsVideo.com.
