Pilots Look for Home Sweep in Blackout Night Game Versus Saint Mary'sComplete Release (PDF) I
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StatsPortland Pilots (12-8, 3-5) vs. Saint Mary's Gaels (15-4, 7-1)Date: Jan. 24, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Portland, Ore.
Venue: Chiles Center (4,852)
Video: TheW.tv
Radio: Sports 910 (KMTT)
THIS WEEK• After Thursday's buzzer-beating win against the Pacific Tigers, Portland looks for a home sweep when the Saint Mary's Gaels visit as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week.
• Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with video coverage provided by TheW.tv with Tom Glasgow and Bill Krueger on the call.
• All Portland basketball games will be aired live on Sports 910 (KMTT) with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes prior to tip-off. Bill Johnson will call the play-by-play all season long.
• Live stats, audio and video links are available at PortlandPilots.com.
• Fans are encouraged to wear black as part of Blackout Night at the Chiles Center. Black rally towels will be handed out at the main entrance.
ABOUT THE PILOTS• Portland (12-8, 3-5 WCC) snapped a three-game losing streak in dramatic fashion on Thursday. Sophomore PG Alec Wintering beat the buzzer with a fall-away three-pointer to give the Pilots a 72-69 win over Pacific.
• It is Wintering's second winner at the buzzer this season as he opened WCC play at San Diego with another triple as time expired for a three-point win.
• Senior G Kevin Bailey scored a game-high 21 points, while senior C Thomas van der Mars added 17 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.
• Bailey missed eight games with a foot injury suffered against Portland State on Dec. 3 before returning to the court versus Santa Clara on Jan. 8.
• Senior C Riley Barker suffered a season-ending knee injury vs. Santa Clara.
• Junior G Bryce Pressley (concussion) missed the Jan. 8 and Jan. 10 games with a concussion, but returned to the lineup last week.
• Wintering ranks top five in the WCC in assists, steals, three-point percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio. He is the WCC leader in three-point percentage (.511).
• Portland is 5-2 this season in games decided by five points or less after finishing 1-7 last season.
• The Pilots rank 34th nationally in assists per game (15.5), 37th in rebounding margin (+5.6), 46th in three-point percentage (.381), and 53rd in free throw percentage (.728).
• Portland returns four starters and seven of the top eight scorers from last year's team that finished 15-16 overall.
• Bailey, a four-year starter, averaged 16.5 points per game a year ago before missing the final seven games with a leg injury. He ranks 16th in career points and ninth all-time in blocked shots at Portland.
• Van der Mars is also a four-year starter and he's the 37th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. He was a Preseason All-WCC selection by the league's head coaches and an Academic All-American last year.
• Portland added five newcomers to the roster this season with four freshmen and a junior college transfer. Four of the newcomers have Pacific Northwest ties, while the fifth is 7-footer Philipp Hartwich (Cologne, Germany).
• Freshmen Jason Todd, D'Marques Tyson and Gabe Taylor have grown into key rotation players early in the WCC season with Todd and Taylor each earning their first career start Saturday at Pepperdine.
• Head Coach Eric Reveno added experience to his staff in the offseason with the addition of veteran NBA head coach Herb Brown and former Portland Trail Blazers video coordinator Tim Grass.
• The Pilots have signed three high school seniors to NLI's already: Jazz Johnson (Lake Oswego, Ore/Lake Oswego HS), Colin Russell (Folsom, Calif./Folsom HS) and Chiir Maker (Sydney, Australia/Newington College). Johnson broke the Les Schwab Invitational scoring record by averaging 35.0 points per game against elite national competition earlier this year... Russell is a McDonald's All-America nominee... Maker recently scored 49 points in a loss to Rainier Beach (Wash.) as part of a Pacific Northwest Tour with Newington College.
ABOUT SAINT MARY'S• The Gaels suffered their first WCC loss with a 68-47 defeat at No. 3 Gonzaga on Thursday.
• Saint Mary's other losses have come to St. John's, Boise State and Northern Arizona, with a notable win at Creighton.
• Senior C Brad Waldow is averaging 20.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, while Kerry Carter (12.5) and Aaron Bright (11.0) are also posting double-digits in scoring.
• Head coach Randy Bennett is in his 14th season and has led the Gaels to eight postseason appearances and five NCAA Tournaments in the last ten seasons.
• Saint Mary's swept the season series last year with a 72-63 win in Portland and 70-61 in Moraga.
