Pilots Open WCC Championships vs. LMU Wednesday Night

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Portland Pilots (11-20, 4-12) vs. LMU Lions (8-22, 1-15)
Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Tip-off: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Arena: Orleans Arena
Television: BYUtv
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 42-46
At UP: 26-16
At LMU: 14-25
At Neutral: 2-5
Last: POR 69, LMU 60 (Feb. 7, 2013 at Portland)

WCC TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
• Portland faces Loyola Marymount in the first round on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The winner advances to face No. 5 seeded San Francisco on Thursday at 6 p.m.
• Wednesday and Thursday’s games will be televised live on BYUtv, while all Portland games are available on True Talk 800 AM with a 30-minute pregame show.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland (11-20, 4-12 WCC) closed the regular season with an 81-52 loss at No. 2 Gonzaga on Saturday.
• Senior PG Derrick Rodgers scored a team-high 10 points in the loss.
• Junior F Ryan Nicholas leads the Pilots in scoring and rebounding and was named All-WCC honorable mention on Tuesday.
• Nicholas and sophomore C Thomas van der Mars were also named to the WCC All-Academic Team, while sophomore C Riley Barker was honorable mention.
• van der Mars is averaging 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds over the last eight games, including the first two double-doubles of his career.
• Sophomore G Kevin Bailey is the only other Pilot averaging double figures at 11.1 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, 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 1.2 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 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
• The Lions (8-22, 1-15 WCC) have lost 15 straight games which began with Portland’s 68-64 victory at Gersten Pavilion on Jan. 12.
•  LMU dropped a 73-70 decision to BYU on Saturday, despite a game-high 24 points from junior PG Anthony Ireland.
• Ireland is second in the WCC in scoring at 20.6 ppg.
• Senior F Ashley Hamilton averages 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds, while junior G Ayodeji Egbeyemi adds 10.6 per game.
• Max Good is in his fifth season as head coach with the Lions.
• Good and the Lions were picked to finish fourth in the WCC by the league’s head coaches in the preseason poll.

PORTLAND-LMU SERIES NOTES
• The Pilots swept the season series with a 68-64 win at LMU on Jan. 12, followed by a 69-60 win on Feb. 7 in Portland.
• LMU leads the all-time series by a 46-42 margin.
• The Lions are 4-2 all-time in WCC Tournament contests over Portland, including 1-0 since the event moved to Las Vegas.
• LMU defeated the Pilots 72-68 in the 2011 Second Round.
 
PILOTS AT THE WCC TOURNAMENT
• Portland is 10-24 all-time at the WCC  Championships and 3-4 in Las Vegas.
• Head coach Eric Reveno is 4-6, advancing to the semifinals in 2009 and 2010.
• Portland’s lone WCC Tournament Championship came in 1996.

IT’S ALL ACADEMIC
• Ryan Nicholas (3.47 GPA, Psychology) and Thomas van der Mars (3.94, Operations Technology Management) were named to the 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.

NICHOLAS HONORED
• Nicholas was also an All-WCC honorable mention pick after leading the Pilots in scoring (12.9 ppg) and finishing second in the WCC in rebounding (8.7).
• He has had many highlights this season, including 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 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 finished last year with a 19-point, 14-rebound effort in the regular season finale at BYU, followed by a 24-point, 11-rebound performance in a WCC Tournament win over Santa Clara.
 
ON THE OFFENSIVE
• The Pilots have broken out offensively over the last seven games and are averaging 67.4 points during that stretch.
• Portland ranks last in the WCC overall this year at 61.2 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.

VAN DER MARVELOUS
• Sophomore C Thomas van der Mars has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games and is averaging 12.3 points and 7.4 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 versus San Diego last 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 Feb. 16.
• The Gouda, Netherlands native, a two-year starter for the Pilots, averaged 7.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game 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 eight games and is filling up the stat sheet.
• He scored a season-high 10 points on Feb. 9 vs. Pepperdine, while 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 Feb. 16.
• Most recently, he hit two clutch free throws in the final 10 seconds to secure the win over USD on Feb. 21 and added nine points vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 23.
• Pressley has also moved into the backup PG role over the last nine games and has 32 assists and 20 turnovers in WCC action.

BENCH BOOST FROM THIELEKE
• Junior G Korey Thieleke has provided a nice boost off the bench during league play.
• In the Feb. 21 win over San Diego he recorded a career-high seven rebounds to go with six points and three steals.
• He added five points, three rebounds, two assists and three blocked shots in 19 minutes Saturday vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 23.
• 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.

RODGERS ROLLING
• Senior PG Derrick Rodgers is averaging 9.2 points and 6.1 assists over the last seven games.
• 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 at San Francisco on Feb. 14 for the first time since breaking his nose against Colorado State on Dec. 22.
• He is averaging 13.0 points and shooting 44 percent from the field in games without the mask.
• Those numbers dipped to 9.6 points and 37.4 percent with the mask during a 10-game stretch.
• 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.

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.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Pilots have rattled off a 48-23 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.