Pilots Host Santa Clara for Senior Day and Final Home Game
Live Audio I Live Stats I Complete Release I SCU Hoops
Portland Pilots (11-18, 4-10) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (19-9, 6-6)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Television: ROOT Sports, TWC SportsNet, CSN California
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 30-56
At UP: 20-20
At SCU: 8-32
At Neutral: 2-4
Last: SCU 70, POR 46 (Jan. 31, 2013 at Santa Clara)
GAME INFORMATION
• Portland hosts Santa Clara in the final regular season home game at the Chiles Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. It will also be Senior Day for Portland’s only senior, guard Derrick Rodgers.
• The contest is the featured WCC Game of the Week and will be televised on ROOT Sports, Comcast SportsNet California, and Time Warner Cable SportsNet with a 30-minute pregame show. Ari Wolfe and Brad Holland will provide the commentary.
• 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.
TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
• Saturday is Mascot Day and will feature a Kids Zone and a post-game autograph zone with the team. One lucky fan will take also get a chance to make a halfcourt shot to win $10,000, presented by OregonLive.com, Powered by The Oregonian.
• Derrick Rodgers will be honored before tip-off on Saturday as part of Senior Day.
• 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 (11-18, 4-10 WCC) has won three of its last five games following Thursday’s 70-67 victory over San Diego at the Chiles Center.
• Sophomore G Kevin Bailey led four Pilots in double figures with 18 points and sophomore C Thomas van der Mars added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• The Pilots outrebounded San Diego 38-25 and shot 49 percent from the field.
• Portland is averaging 71.4 points per game over the last five games.
• van der Mars is averaging 13.7 points and 8.2 rebounds over the last six games, including the first two double-doubles of his career.
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas, who averaged team highs of 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds last season, is again leading the Pilots in scoring (13.1), rebounding (8.8) and double-doubles (8).
• Bailey is the only other Pilot averaging double figures at 11.4 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.
• Derrick Rodgers, the team’s lone senior, has moved into the starting role and is sixth in the WCC during league play at 4.6 assists per game.
• Freshman G Bryce Pressley has stepped into a starting role and also taken on backup PG duties. He leads all active Pilots with a 1.4 assists-to-turnover ratio.
• 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.
• 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 SANTA CLARA
• The Broncos (19-9, 7-6 WCC) are currently in fourth-place in the league standings and coming off of an 85-42 defeat at No. 3 Gonzaga on Thursday.
• Sophomore G Brandon Clark scored a game-high 14 points off the bench, but no other Broncos reached double figures.
• Senior G Kevin Foster, the Broncos’ career scoring leader who is averaging 17.9 ppg, was held to four points on 2-of-10 shooting on Thursday.
• Senior F Marc Trasolini averages 15.1 points and is third in the WCC at 7.9 rebounds per game.
• Junior PG Evan Roquemore chips in 12.1 points and is third in the WCC at 5.6 assists per game.
• Head coach Kerry Keating is in his sixth year at SCU and posts a 93-98 career record.
• The Broncos are coming off of an 0-16 WCC record a year ago as Trasolini missed the season with a knee injury and Foster was suspended and missed the final 11 games of the season.
• Santa Clara was picked to finish sixth in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
PORTLAND-SANTA CLARA SERIES NOTES
• The Broncos lead the all-time series by an 56-30 margin.
• The Pilots are 20-20 all-time versus the Broncos in Portland.
• Portland has won the last four of the last five meetings with the Broncos, but Santa Clara took the first meeting earlier this year at the Leavey Center by a 70-46 margin.
• The Broncos opened up a 28-4 lead and cruised as Marc Trasolini scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Broncos
• Ryan Nicholas paced the Pilots with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Bryce Pressley swiped a Portland season high six steals.
SENIOR DAY!
• Portland will recognize two seniors with the program prior to Saturday’s tip-off as part of Senior Day.
• Team manager Will Vitale has been with the program for three seasons and transitioned this season to be the lead manager and travel with the squad.
• Derrick Rodgers is the lone senior on the roster and is finishing his third year on The Bluff after transfering from Citrus College.
• Rodgers has blossomed during his senior season as a team captain and leader.
SEEDING SCENARIOS FOR WCC TOURNAMENT
• With only two games remaining on the regular season schedule, the Pilots are currently alone in eighth place in the WCC standings and striving to climb up the ladder.
• Pepperdine (4-9) is a half game ahead of the Pilots (4-10) and San Francisco is one game ahead (5-9).
• The Waves own the head-to-head tiebreaker, so Portland will need to finish with more wins to move ahead of the Waves.
• The Waves are at San Francisco (5-9) on Saturday and then host Saint Mary’s and close the season at San Diego.
• San Francisco has split the season series with the Pilots, but currently own the tiebreaker by virtue of a win over BYU.
• The WCC Tournament opens with the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seeds on Wednesday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURSTS
• The Pilots have broken out offensively over the last five games, scoring at least 68 points in each outing and averaging 71.4 points during that stretch.
• Portland ranks last in the WCC overall this year at 61.4 points per game and averaged just 53.2 points over the first nine league games.
• After adjusting to the loss of starting PG David Carr to a season-ending knee injury vs. Pepperdine on Jan. 5, the Pilots have now started to get more contributions from the bench and freshmen.
BENCH BOOST FROM THIELEKE
• Junior G Korey Thieleke provided a big boost off the bench in Thursday’s win over San Diego, recording a career-high seven rebounds to go with six points and three steals.
• Thieleke, who played a total of 64 minutes in his first two seasons on The Bluff, has established career highs in all statistical categories 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.
VAN DER MARVELOUS
• Sophomore C Thomas van der Mars has scored in double figures six straight games and is averaging 13.7 points and 8.2 rebounds over that span.
• He picked up his first career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds against Pepperdine on Feb. 9 and added his second with 10 points and 10 boards on Thursday.
• He was one rebound shy of another double-double against USF, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.
• van der Mars tied his career-high with 19 points at BYU on Saturday.
• The Gouda, Netherlands native, a two-year starter for the Pilots, was one rebound shy of a double-double twice as a freshman.
PRESSLEY IMPRESSES
• Freshman G Bryce Pressley, the son of former NBA player and Villanova NCAA Champion Harold Pressley, has started the last six games and is filling up the stat sheet.
• He scored a season-high 10 points on Feb. 9 vs. Pepperdine.
• His six steals at Santa Clara on Jan. 31 are a team season high.
• In his first start he grabbed a season-high seven rebounds Feb. 2 at Saint Mary’s.
• The Sacramento native also dished out a season-high eight assists at BYU on Saturday.
• Most recently, he hit two clutch free throws in the final 10 seconds to secure the win over USD on Thursday.
• Pressley has also moved into the backup PG role over the last seven games and has 30 assists and 17 turnovers in WCC action.
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.
FRESHMEN ROLES INCREASE
• In addition to Pressley, fellow freshmen Oskars Reinfelds and Jake Ehlers have also seen increased minutes in league play.
• Reinfelds missed Thursday’s game for a violation of team rules, but started four games early in the league season and has reached double figures in four games.
• Most recently, he had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists at BYU on Saturday.
• 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 six-of-the-last-eight outings.
• He recorded season highs of eight points, four rebounds and 18 minutes at BYU.
• Ehlers guided Corvallis HS to consecutive state championships and was named Oregon’s 5A Player of the Year as both a junior and senior.
RODGERS ROLLING
• Senior PG Derrick Rodgers is averaging 9.2 points and 6.6 assists over the last five games after scoring 15 points against San Diego.
• Rodgers dished out eight assists with just one turnover on Feb. 14 at USF.
• He recorded career-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds, and also dished out seven assists, in a Feb. 9 loss to Pepperdine, after handing out a career-high 11 assists in a win over LMU on Feb. 7.
• 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.
• 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 sixth in the league in assists per game (4.6).
BAILEY LOSES MASK, BREAKS OUT
• Sophomore G Kevin Bailey played without a protective mask last week for the first time since breaking his nose against Colorado State on Dec. 22.
• He has is averaging 14.0 points and shooting 47 percent from the field in the three games since removing the mask.
• Bailey averaged 13.2 points and was shooting 46.4 percent from the field without the mask before the injury, but those numbers dipped to 9.6 points and 37.4 percent with the mask.
• He entered the CSU 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. He 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.
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 Feb. 7 vs. LMU for a game-high 21 points.
• 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.
• Nicknamed ‘Rhino’, he is averaging team-highs of 13.1 points and 8.8 rebounds, which is second in the WCC and 53rd 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.
PRU PATCH
• The Pilots are wearing a black patch with the word ‘PRU’ on their uniforms in remembrance of longtime supporter, Rev. Chester Prusynski, C.S.C., who passed away on April 22, 2012 at the age of 91.
• Fr. Prusynski, better known as Fr. Pru, served at the University for 46 years. He was part of the board of regents, taught in the school of business, served as a hall director, worked in student accounts, and served as on-site director of the Salzburg program..
• He was perhaps best known as a tireless advocate for the athletics programs, serving for decades as both a team chaplain and ardent fan. He is a member of the UP Hall of Fame, the Fr. Chester Prusynski Award is presented annually to the school’s top student-athletes, and the soccer practice field at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex was named Rev. Chester S. Prusynski Field (affectionately known as “Pru Pitch”) in his honor.
