Pilots Ready for South Point Holiday Hoops Classic
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Portland Pilots (6-4) vs. Bradley Braves (5-5)
Date: Friday, Dec. 20, 2013
Tip-off: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Radio: 910 AM
Live Video: Ustream.tv
Live Audio: PilotsVideo.com
Live Stats: SidearmStats.com
Overall Series: 2-1
At UP: 0-0
At BU: 1-1
At Neutral: 1-0
Last: POR 57, BU 55 (at Las Vegas – Dec. 23, 2012)
Portland Pilots (6-4) vs. Princeton Tigers (8-1)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Radio: 910 AM
Live Video: Ustream.tv
Live Audio: PilotsVideo.com
Live Stats: SidearmStats.com
Overall Series: First Meeting
SOUTH POINT HOLIDAY HOOPS CLASSIC INFORMATION
• Portland is joined by Bradley (5-5), Princeton (8-1), and fellow West Coast Conference member Pacific (8-1) to comprise the 2013 South Point Holiday Hoops Classic field
• The Pilots will play Bradley Friday at 5 p.m. and then Princeton on Saturday at 8 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE
• Free live video streams of both games will be available through www.ustream.tv.
• Sports 910 AM (KMTT) is the new home of University of Portland Basketball. All Pilot games will be aired live on 910 AM with a 30-minute pregame show and a complete postgame show with player and coach interviews.
• Veteran play-by-play broadcaster Bill Johnson will return to the sidelines once again this season. The audio simulcast and live game statistics will also be available on PortlandPilots.com.
• Get in-game updates live on Twitter @PortlandPilots.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots (6-4) had a three-game win streak snapped with a 72-69 loss at home to Montana State on Sunday.
• Junior G Kevin Bailey scored a game-high 26 points in the loss, his fourth 20-point game of the season.
• Senior F Ryan Nicholas had 15 points and 15 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year. He is one of 21 players nationally averaging a double-double.
• Bailey leads the Pilots and ranks sixth in the WCC in scoring (17.6). He has reached double figures in all but one game this year.
• Nicholas is the WCC leader in rebounding (10.1) and is second on the team in scoring (13.2). He recently moved in the Top 10 on Portland's career rebounding list and is also 29 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
• Junior C Thomas van der Mars has had a breakout year averaging 12.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
• Portland returns all five starters and nine lettermen from last year's team that finished 11-21 overall.
• Head coach Eric Reveno returns for his eighth year on The Bluff and recorded his 100th career win on Nov. 27 vs. San Jose State.
• 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 its 2008-11 success, 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.
• Coach Reveno posts a 100 percent graduation rate and the men's basketball program has one of the top APR scores in the nation (995), receiving a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA last spring.
ABOUT BRADLEY
• The Braves (5-5) have lost three straight entering this weekend.
• Senior G Walt Lemon, Jr. averages a team-high 16.9 points, while senior F Tyshawn Picket adds 14.5 points and 7.2 rebounds.
• Head coach Geno Ford is in his third year at Bradley with a 30-47 overall record.
• BU was picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll.
• Portland leads the all-time series by a 2-1 margin. The Pilots won last year by a 57-55 margin at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
ABOUT PRINCETON
• The Tigers (8-1) lone loss was a 70-67 defeat at Butler, while Princeton posts back-to-back road wins at Rutgers (78-73) and Penn State (81-79, OT) entering this weekend.
• All five Princeton starters are listed at 6-5 or taller and average double figures.
• Head coach Mitch Henderson is in his third year with a 45-24 overall record.
• The Tigers were picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll.
• This will be the first meeting between Portland and Princeton.
BAILEY BREAKING OUT
• Junior G Kevin Bailey has had a breakout season leading the team and ranking sixth in the WCC in scoring at 17.6 points per game.
• He has reached double figures in nine of the ten games, scored 20 or more points four times, and logged a career-high 29 points in the season opener over UC Davis.
• Bailey is shooting 47 percent from the field, 39 percent from three-point range and 76 percent at the free throw line.
• A three-year starter, the Clovis, Calif. native averaged 11.4 points last season and 9.5 points per game as a freshman.
NICHOLAS CLIMBING CHARTS
• Senior F Ryan Nicholas is leading the WCC in rebounding (10.1) and recently cracked the top 10 in school rebounding history after his 16-rebound effort against North Texas on Nov. 23.
• Nicholas has 660 career rebounds ranks eighth on the UP career charts.
• The Spokane, Wash. native has 971 career points and is in line to become the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
• Nicholas is a three-year starter and led the Pilots in scoring and rebounding each of the past two seasons.
• 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 averaged 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds last season.
VAN DER MARS GARNERS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
• Junior C Thomas van der Mars has been a beast the last seven games, including a 19-point, 18-rebound effort against Portland State on Dec. 7 that earned him WCC Player of the Week honors.
• He is the first Pilot to win the weekly honor since Jan. 31, 2011.
• Van der Mars had a remarkable second half against the Vikings, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds after the break. Overall, he was 6-for-8 from the field and made 7-of-9 free throw attempts in the victory.
• He is averaging 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds over the last seven games and shooting a team-high 61.8 percent from the field this season, good for third in the WCC.
• The Gouda, Netherlands native scored a career-high 21 points with 12 rebounds against North Texas. He also had 15 points and 12 rebounds against Idaho.
• Van der Mars has started 68 career games and his 59 career blocked shots are ninth in school history.
WINTERING GIVEN THE KEYS
• Freshman PG Alec Wintering dished out a season high 10 assists against Southern Utah on Dec. 1 and also had four steals.
• He is second in the WCC averaging 1.9 steals per game and his 3.9 assists per game rank ninth in the league.
• Wintering has started all ten games for the Pilots and had a season high 14 points versus Idaho on Nov. 21.
• Portland secured a commitment from Wintering out of United Faith Christian Acad. 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.
SCORING PUNCH
• Scoring is up significantly this season for the Pilots as the team is averaging 80.2 points per game, the highest for a UP squad the 1991-92 season when current Miami HEAT head coach Erik Spoelstra was a senior point guard for the Pilots and the team averaged 80.9 points per game.
• Portland ranks fifth in the WCC in team scoring, while Kevin Bailey (6th, 17.6 ppg), Ryan Nicholas (17th, 13.2 ppg) and Thomas van Der Mars (20th, 12.8) are among the league's top individual scorers.
• Last year the Pilots averaged 61.0 points and the team averaged 65.1 points during the 2011-12 season.
IM-PRESSLEY
• Sophomore G Bryce Pressley is third the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1) and is second on the Pilot roster with 37 assists.
• Pressley started the final seven games of the 2012-13 season and also took over backup point guard duties late in the year.
• Pressley, the son of former NBA standout and NCAA Champion Harold Pressley (Villanova, '86), has started the first ten games on the wing and also has been the backup point guard.
• An all-around versatile talent, Pressley has improved his shot this season and has made 6-of-16 (.375) from beyond the arc.
BLOCK PARTY
• Junior C Riley Barker ranks fifth in the WCC in blocked shots (14) and has moved into eighth place on the UP career blocked shots charts with 60.
• Barker is one block ahead of fellow junior Thomas van der Mars all-time.
• Tim Frost (2000-02) owns the all-time Pilots record with 103 blocked shots.
DOMINATING THE BOARDS
• After being outrebounded in the first three games of the season, Portland has been dominant on the boards and had a positive rebounding margin in seven of the last eight outings.
• For the season the Pilots have a +4.2 rebounding margin and rank second in the WCC in defensive rebound percentage (.731).
• During Coach Reveno's eight year tenure, the Pilots have had a positive rebounding margin in all but one season (2011-12, -0.4).
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Pilots have a 53-25 record at the Chiles Center since the 2008-09 season.
• Portland 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.
CENTURY CLUB!
• The 100 points scored in Portland'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.
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.
• Reveno also posts a 100 percent graduation rate (17 players) and the men's basketball program has one of the top APR scores in the nation (995), receiving a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA last spring.
SPAIN FOREIGN TOUR
• Portland benefitted from a 10-day Foreign Tour to Spain and the Canary Islands back in August.
• 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.
SPORTS 910 AM PORTLAND'S NEW HOME FOR RADIO & COACHES SHOW
• Sports 910 (KMTT) is 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 between 7-8 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.
