Pilots Hit the Road to Face San Francisco, BYU
Live Video I Live Audio I Live Stats I Complete Release (PDF) I USF Hoops
Portland Pilots (9-17, 2-9) at San Francisco Dons (11-13, 4-7)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. (PST)
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
Arena: War Memorial Gymnasium
Video: WCCSports.com
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 25-51
At UP: 17-19
At USF: 7-29
At Neutral: 1-3
Last: USF 75, POR 72 (Jan. 24, 2013 at Portland)
GAME INFORMATION
• Portland opens a two-game West Coast Conference road trip at San Francisco on Thursday at 7 p.m.
• The Pilots will then travel to BYU for a Saturday matchup with a 6 p.m. (PT) tip-off.
GAME COVERAGE
• A video broadcast of Thursday’s game will be available at WCCSports.com with George Devine and Jim Harrick providing the commentary.
• Saturday’s game will be televised live on BYUtv.
• All Portland basketball games will be on the radio live on True Talk 800 AM with Bill Johnson calling the play-by-play and a 30-minute pregame show.
COMING UP
• Portland returns to the Chiles Center to host San Diego on Feb. 21 (7 PM) and then Santa Clara on Feb. 23 (2 PM)
• Tickets start at $10 for adults and $5 for kids through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at Ticketmaster.com or through the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-7525.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland (9-17, 2-9 WCC) split a weekend homestand with a win over LMU on Thursday (69-60) before dropping an overtime heartbreaker to Pepperdine (72-68) on Saturday.
• The Pilots completed a season sweep of the Lions as junior F Ryan Nicholas led the way with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 5-of-5 from three-point range.
• Junior G Tanner Riley added 17 points off the bench, while senior PG Derrick Rodgers dished out a career-high 11 assists.
• Nicholas hit a late three-pointer to put the game into overtime on Saturday, but 33 percent shooting from the field doomed the Pilots.
• All five starters scored in double figures for Portland, including career highs from Rodgers (17) and freshman guard Bryce Pressley (10).
• Portland’s defense has allowed the fewest points per game since the 1985-86 season, but has allowed three-of-the-last-six opponents to shoot 50 percent or better.
• Only six teams have shot better than 50 percent against UP this year.
• Nicholas, who averaged team highs of 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds last season, is again leading the Pilots in scoring (13.2), rebounding (9.2) and double-doubles (8).
• Sophomore G Kevin Bailey is the only other Pilot averaging double figures at 11.0 points per game.
• 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.
• Rodgers has moved into the starting role, while freshmen Bryce Pressley and David Ahern have earned minutes at the point in Carr’s absence.
• Head coach Eric Reveno returns for his seventh year on The Bluff.
• 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.
• 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 SAN FRANCISCO
• The Dons (11-13, 4-7 WCC) have won two in a row and four of the last six games following a 99-87 road win at BYU on Saturday.
• Sophomore G De’End Parker led all USF scorers with 23 points against BYU, while sophomore G Chris Adams and freshman G Avry Holmes had 17 each.
• Junior F Cole Dickerson posted his 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
• The Dons are 28-of-47 (59.5) from beyond the arc in their last two games.
• USF posted non-conference wins against St. John’s (81-65) and Montana (78-68).
• Dickerson is nearly averaging a double-double with 14.5 points and 9.9 rebounds.
• Junior PG Cody Doolin averages 12.4 points and is third in the WCC at 5.8 assists per game.
• Head coach Rex Walters is in his fifth season with the Dons and is coming off of a 20-14 overall record and 8-8 mark in the WCC a year ago.
PORTLAND-SAN FRANCISCO SERIES NOTES
• The Dons lead the all-time series by a 51-25 margin and 29-7 edge at San Francisco.
• USF has won six consecutive meetings between the two teams.
• The Dons won at Portland on Jan. 24, 75-72, as Cole Dickerson hit a game-winning three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to cap a 12-point second half comeback.
• USF swept the season series last year with a 104-70 home victory, 72-71 win at Portland and then an 87-66 triumph in the WCC Tournament.
RODGERS FLIRTS WITH TRIPLE-DOUBLE
• Senior PG Derrick Rodgers hadcareer-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds, and also dished out seven assists, in Saturday’s loss to Pepperdine.
• The team’s lone senior has had to log heavy minutes at the point guard position since starter David Carr went down with a season ending knee injury on Jan. 5 at Pepperdine.
• In WCC play, Rodgers ranks seventh in the league in assists per game (4.5).
• He tallied a career-high 11 assists versus LMU last Thursday.
• It marked the first time a Pilot had 10-or-more assists since T.J. Campbell had 10 against Northern Colorado on March 17, 2010.
• Rodgers broke his previous career-high of nine assists, which also came against LMU earlier this season.
VAN DER MARS GETS FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
• Sophomore C Thomas van der Mars picked up his first career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds against Pepperdine.
• The Gouda, Netherlands native, a two-year starter for the Pilots, was one rebound shy of a double-double twice as a freshman.
BAILEY TO UNMASK THIS WEEK
• Sophomore G Kevin Bailey has played the last 10 games with a face mask following a broken nose that was suffered against Colorado State on Dec. 22, but he has been cleared to play without the mask on Thursday
• Bailey averaged 13.2 points and was shooting 46.4 percent from the field without the mask, while those numbers dipped to 9.6 points and 37.4 percent with the mask.
• He 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 the protective mask, but struggled to a 3-for-14 shooting day and missed the next two games following surgery.
RILEY BOUNCES BACK IN A BIG WAY
• Junior G Tanner Riley finished 6-for-10 from the field and drained 4-of-5 three-pointers against LMU on Thursday for 17 points off the bench.
• It was an important bounce back effort for Riley, who missed the previous two games due to a suspension from an on-court incident against BYU on Jan. 26.
• Earlier this season Riley scored a career-best 23 points on a perfect 8-for-8 from the field against Portland State.
NICHOLAS NEARLY PERFECT
• Ryan Nicholas was 6-for-8 from the field, 5-for-5 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the foul line last Thursday vs. LMU for a game-high 21 points.
• It marked the latest impressive performance for the Spokane, Wash. native.
• He had a career night against then-No. 18 UNLV with 15 points, 19 rebounds and six assists on Dec. 4.
• 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 five games this year.
• Nicknamed ‘Rhino’, he is averaging team-highs of 13.2 points and 9.2 rebounds, which is second in the WCC and 38th 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.
FINDING THE RANGE
• The Pilots drilled 11-of-16 three-pointers against LMU last Thursday, tying a season high for makes and setting a season-high for percentage (.688).
• The three-point shot has been a struggle for Portland this season as the team ranks last in the WCC at 31.1 percent.
• The Pilots were previously the top three-point shooting team in the country over a four-year period from 2007-10.
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Pilots have rattled off a 48-22 record at the Chiles Center 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.
D’ING UP
• Portland is allowing opponents just 66.9 points per game this season.
• Only six opponents have shot better than 50 percent in a game this season, although three of those have come in the last six games.
• This year’s points allowed average is the lowest at UP since the 1985-86 season (60.7).
PRESSLEY IMPRESSES
• Freshman guard Bryce Pressley has made the most of his opportunity during the league season.
• Pressley, the son of former NBA player and Villanova NCAA Champion Harold Pressley, scored a season-high 10 points on Saturday vs. Pepperdine.
• He recorded a team season-high of six steals at Santa Clara on Jan. 31 along with eight points and four assists.
• He followed by grabbing a season-high seven rebounds in his first career start on Feb. 2 at Saint Mary’s.
• The Sacramento, Calif. native has also moved into the backup PG role over the last four games. He has 17 assists and 11 turnovers in WCC action.
FRESHMEN ROLES INCREASE
• In addition to Pressley, fellow freshmen Oskars Reinfelds and Jake Ehlers have also seen increased minutes in league play.
• Reinfelds has started the four games after scoring a season-high 12 points against Gonzaga and has reached double figures in three games.
• Reinfelds also scored all 10 of his points in a second half comeback win over Bradley on Dec. 23.
• A teammate of sophomore C Thomas van der Mars at the Canarias Basketball Academy, Reinfelds was a member of the Latvian Under-18 National Team.
• Ehlers has moved into the regular rotation as well, playing 10 or more minutes in three-of-the-last-five outings.
• Ehlers guided Corvallis HS to consecutive state championships and was named Oregon’s 5A Player of the Year as both a junior and senior.
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 Jan. 12 at LMU.
• Walk-on freshman PG David Ahern has played in seven games off the bench.
• Ahern, who was planning on redshirting the season until the injury to Carr, had four points and an assist in six minutes against Gonzaga.
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.
HOME VERSUS ROAD
• Portland is 7-6 at home this season, but 1-9 on the road.
• At the Chiles Center the Pilots are scoring 66.4 points and allowing 64.1, while on the road UP is averaging 53.1 and surrendering 70.2 points.
• The Pilots have a +8.1 rebounding margin at home and -3.4 on the road.
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.
13 of 16 WCC GAMES TELEVISED
• Portland announced its 2013 WCC television schedule and 13 of the 16 games will be televised live in the Portland market.
• ROOT Sports will air seven games, CSN-NW will broadcast four, ESPNU one, and BYUtv one. Three other games will be videostreamed at TV broadcast quality at WCCsports.com.
