Pilots Host No. 18 Gonzaga Thursday Night
Complete Release (PDF) I Live Video I Live Audio I Live Stats I Tickets I The Pilot Report (video)
Portland Pilots (9-7, 1-3) vs. #18 Gonzaga Bulldogs (14-2, 4-0)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Television: ESPNU
Radio: 1080 The Fan
Overall Series: 65-92
At UP: 34-36
At GON: 22-44
At Neutral: 9-12
Last: #2 GON 81, POR 52 (at GON – Mar. 2, 2013)
GAME INFORMATION
• Portland concludes its five-game West Coast Conference homestand against No. 18 Gonzaga on Thursday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Jarron Collins providing the commentary.
• Sports 910 AM (KMTT) is the new home of Portland Basketball featuring a 30-minute pregame show and a complete postgame show with player and coach interviews. The Gonzaga game will be aired live on 1080 The Fan (KFXX), but all other games will be on Sports 910.
TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
• Tickets are still available for $25 through all Ticketmaster outlets or at the door 90 minutes before tip-off.
• There will be a pregame Fan Fest open to all fans attending Thursday's game on the North Mezzanine Concourse of the Chiles Center (upstairs). $3 hot dogs and alcoholic beverages will be available, as well as snacks and soft drinks.
• Pregame Pasta Dinner returns to the Chiles Center! Open to all fans and opening at 6:30 p.m., $8 gets all-you-can-eat pasta, salad and a dessert item on the South Mezzanine Concourse (upstairs). Water is complementary, while other beverages will be available for purchase.
• If the Pilots make six or more three-pointers in the game, all fans will get a Buffalo Wild Wings scratch-it with prizes for free food!
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots (9-7, 1-3 WCC) split a pair of home games last weekend defeating Pacific (74-64) on Thursday and then losing to Saint Mary's on Saturday (72-63).
• Three Pilots recorded double-doubles against Pacific led by Thomas van der Mars with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
• Ryan Nicholas (17 pts, 12 rebs) and Bryce Pressley (12 pts, 10 rebs) also had big games.
• Four Pilots scored in double figures led by Nicholas' 12 points on Saturday, but it marked a season-low in scoring for Portland.
• This is the fifth consecutive home game to open WCC play for the Pilots.
• Nicholas joined Portland's 1,000-point club in the second half against Princeton on Dec. 21. He is the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
• Bailey leads the Pilots and ranks fifth in the WCC in scoring (17.1). He has reached double figures in all but two games this year and scored 20-plus six times.
• Nicholas is the WCC leader in rebounding (9.3) and is second on the team in scoring (13.0). He also recently moved in the Top 10 on Portland's career rebounding list.
• Van der Mars has had a breakout year averaging 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. His 19-point, 18-rebound effort vs. Portland State earned him league player of the week honors on Dec. 9.
• 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.
• 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 GONZAGA
• The Bulldogs (14-2, 4-0) are ranked No. 18 in the Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the AP Poll this week after sweeping Saint Mary's (73-51) and Pacific (86-54) last week.
• Gonzaga has held its last six opponents to 62 points or fewer and is shooting a WCC-best 52 percent from the field as a team.
• Junior PG Kevin Pangos leads the team in scoring at 17.4 points per game.
• The Bulldogs will be without starting G Gary Bell (broken hand) on Thursday.
• Mark Few is in his 15th year as head coach of Gonzaga and has led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament every season. His overall record is 388-95.
PORTLAND VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
• After the loss at then-No. 1 Michigan State on Nov. 18, Portland is now 6-54 all-time against AP Top 25 ranked opponents with the last win coming versus No. 22 Minnesota at the 2009 Anaheim 76 Classic.
• The Pilots have lost their last 11 games against ranked opponents.
AMONG THE WCC LEADERS...
• Portland ranks second in the WCC in blocked shots (4.7) and assists (15.6). The team ranks third in assist-turnover ratio (1.4) and fourth in scoring (78.3).
• Ryan Nicholas leads the league in rebounding (9.3) and Bryce Pressley is second in assist-turnover ratio (2.9).
• Alec Wintering is sixth in steals (1.4) and FT percentage (.846), seven in assist-turnover ratio (2.2) and eighth in assists (4.2).
• Thomas van der Mars is seventh in FG percentage (.591).
• Kevin Bailey and Riley Barker are tied for seventh in blocked shots (0.9), while Bailey is the only guard among the top 15 in the league.
BAILEY BREAKING OUT
• Junior G Kevin Bailey has had a breakout season leading the team and ranking fifth in the WCC in scoring at 17.1 points per game.
• He has reached double figures in 14 of the 16 games, scored 20 or more points six times, and logged a career-high 29 points in the season opener over UC Davis.
• Bailey is shooting 45 percent from the field, 39 percent from three-point range and 72 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 SCORES 1,000TH POINT
• Senior F Ryan Nicholas scored his 1,000th career point in the second half against Princeton on Dec. 21 to become the 35th player in school history to reach the mark.
• The Spokane, Wash. native is leading the WCC in rebounding (9.3) and cracked the top 10 in school rebounding history after his 16-rebound effort against North Texas.
• Nicholas has 708 career rebounds which ranks eighth on the UP career charts.
• 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 HONORS
• Junior C Thomas van der Mars has also stepped his game this season, including a 19-point, 18-rebound effort against Portland State on Dec. 7 that earned him WCC Player of the Week honors.
• He became 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.
• The Gouda, Netherlands native scored 21 points with 12 rebounds against North Texas. He also had 15 points and 12 rebounds against Idaho.
• His 23 points against Santa Clara on Dec. 30 established a career-high.
• Van der Mars has started 74 career games and his 62 career blocked shots are eighth in school history.
IM-PRESSLEY
• Sophomore G Bryce Pressley earned WCC Player of the Week honors on Dec. 23, joining Thomas van der Mars as the second Pilot in three weeks to be recognized.
• He was named the MVP of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic after scoring a career-high 25 points in the win over Princeton. He was 8-for-10 from the field, 5-for-5 from three-point range and 4-for-4 at the foul line. His previous career high was 10.
• The Sacramento native picked up his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Pacific on Jan. 2.
• Pressley started the final seven games of the 2012-13 season and also took over backup point guard duties late in the year.
• The son of former NBA standout and NCAA Champion Harold Pressley (Villanova, '86), he has started every game on the wing this year and is also the backup point guard.
• An all-around versatile talent, Pressley has improved his shot is leading the Pilots in three-point percentage (.417).
BLOCK PARTY
• Portland is second in the WCC in blocked shots per game (4.7).
• Junior C Riley Barker has moved into ninth place on the UP career blocked shots charts with 61.
• Barker is one block behind junior Thomas van der Mars all-time, while junior G Kevin Bailey (48) is eight shy of cracking the school's Top 10 list.
• Tim Frost (2000-02) owns the all-time Pilots record with 103 blocked shots.
WINTERING GIVEN THE KEYS
• Freshman PG Alec Wintering dished out a season-high 13 assists with just one turnover against San Francisco on Dec. 28. It was the most assists by a Pilot against a Division I school in program history, and one shy of the school record set by Dionn Holton (14 vs. Southern Oregon — Dec. 9, 1995).
• He has a 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio in the last 10 games and ranks seventh in the WCC this season in the category (2.2).
• The Concord, N.C. native has started all 16 games for the Pilots and recorded a season high 15 points versus Princeton on Dec. 21 including a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. He is shooting a team-best 85 percent from the free throw line this year.
• 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 78.3 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 fourth in the WCC in team scoring, while Kevin Bailey (5th, 17.1 ppg), Ryan Nicholas (16th, 13.0 ppg) and Thomas van Der Mars (18th, 12.9) 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.
DOMINATING THE BOARDS
• After being outrebounded in the first three games of the season, Portland has had a positive rebounding margin in 10 of the last 14 outings.
• For the season the Pilots have a +3.2 rebounding margin.
• 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 54-28 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 nearly 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.
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.
