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Portland Pilots (8-10, 2-3) vs San Diego Toreros (5-10, 0-4)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
TV: ROOT Sports, CSN Bay Area
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com

Portland vs. San Diego Series
Overall: 30-48
At POR: 16-22
At USD: 12-24
Neutral: 2-2
Last 1: USD 78, POR 66 (Feb. 28, 2015 at Portland)

COMING UP
• Portland returns to the Chiles Center and continues West Coast Conference play by hosting San Diego on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then BYU on Saturday at 3 p.m.
• Members of the 1995-96 UP men's basketball team will be at Saturday's game as part of a 20-year anniversary celebration of the Pilots last NCAA Tournament appearance. The group will be recognized in the first half of the game and a video tribute will be played at halftime.

TICKET INFORMATION
• Tickets can be purchased through all Ticketmaster outlets or at the door.
• Mini packs and group packs are still available for the 2015-16 season. Click here for ticket package options and pricing.
 
PROMOTIONS
• A post-game autograph zone with the Pilot players will be available after Saturday's game.
• Portland's all-you-can-eat Pregame Pasta Feed will be open one before tip-off both games on Chiles Center mezzanine. Admission is $8 and includes pasta, salad, desserts and beverages.
• The Pilot Club space on the south mezzanine will remain open during the game through the 12-minute mark of the second half. Pilot Club members will have open access to the space and will receive one free beverage of choice per game. A Pilot Club Gameday Pass is available for $5 for non-Pilot Club members. The pass will include one free drink token that can be used for beer or soda on that date. The space will be open to all ages and have beverage service start-to-finish. Re-entry will be allowed throughout the game and snacks will be provided after tip-off.
• For a complete list of promotional events for the upcoming season, click here.

GAME COVERAGE
• Both games this week will be televised live on ROOT Sports Northwest with Tom Glasgow and Francis Williams providing the commentary.
• The games will be streamed live on TheW.tv for out of region viewers.
• All Pilot games are on the radio on the home of the Pilots, 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT) with a 30-minute pregame show and Jason Swygard calling the action.
• Online audio and live stats will be linked at PortlandPilots.com.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots (8-10, 2-3 WCC) has dropped three straight conference road games with Saturday's 85-74 loss at Gonzaga. Previously, the Pilots were swept in a pair of close games at San Francisco and Santa Clara. Portland defeated LMU and Pepperdine to open WCC play at home.
• Portland led 19-18 late in the first half at Gonzaga, but went cold as the Bulldogs took a 35-23 lead into the break and never recovered. Junior PG Alec Wintering scored a team-high 27 points in the loss.
• Wintering earlier became the first player in Portland history with consecutive 30-point games. He finished with 31 points at San Francisco, including 15-of-15 at the foul line. He was previously named the WCC Player of the Week after dropping a career-high 34 against Pepperdine on Dec. 23.
• Wintering, a three-year starter and Preseason All-WCC selection, is averaging a team-best 17.6 points and is second in the WCC in steals (1.7) and ranks fourth in assists (5.8). His 23.2 points per game in WCC play ranks second to Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer.
• Portland ranks 22nd nationally in three-pointers made per game (9.7) and 57th in three-point percentage (.376). The Pilots lead the WCC steals (7.7) and rank second in three-pointers made, blocked shots (4.1) and turnover margin (+2.0)
• Portland is attempting 25.8 three-pointers per game, including 40 against Colorado State. That broke the previous Pilot single-game record of 34 attempts.
• Portland has played up-tempo with a lot of new faces on the roster. The team attempted 80 field goals against UC Davis, the most since the team hoisted 84 on Nov. 25, 2001 against Duke.
• Coach Eric Reveno has a deep bench with 10 players averaging 10 or more minutes.
• Pressley, also a three-year starter, is averaging a 13.9 points per game, including 30 in the season opener versus Oregon Tech. Pressley is fourth in the WCC in three-pointers made per game (2.6) and sixth in three-point percentage (.439).
• Reveno returns seven lettermen from a 2014-15 squad that finished 17-16 overall and earned an invitation to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. 
• The Pilots were picked fifth in the West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO
• After starting the season 0-5, the Toreros (5-10, 0-4 WCC) won five of six games entering league play, including a 53-48 win over crosstown rival San Diego State. San Diego is winless in conference play after being swept at home by San Francisco and Santa Clara last week. USD opened league play with road losses to Pacific and Saint Mary's.
• Duda Sanadze is the only Torero averaging double figures at 11.9 points per game.
• San Diego ranks last in the WCC in scoring (60.0), but are second in points allowed (66.7).
• Head coach Lamont Smith is in his first year at his alma mater after recently serving as associate head coach at New Mexico.
• Portland and San Diego split last year's season series with each team winning on the road. The Pilots won by a 61-58 margin at San Diego, while the Toreros posted a 78-66 victory at the Chiles Center.

WINTERING IS COMING
• Earlier in WCC play Alec Wintering became the first Pilot with back-to-back 30-point games in school history.
• The Concord, N.C. native scored a career-high 34 points against Pepperdine on Dec. 23 to earn WCC Player of the Week honors. That was followed by erupting for 31 points, four rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers against San Francisco on Dec. 31.
• Wintering was a perfect 15-of-15 from the free throw line against USF, falling one short of the school record for free throws without a miss in a single game (Rick Raivio, 16-16, Jan. 5, 1980 vs. San Francisco).
• He is averaging 27.0 points over the last four games and has scored 20 or more points six times this season.

FREE THROW STRUGGLES SUBSIDE
• Portland entered its Dec. 31 game at San Francisco shooting just 64.3 percent from the free throw line as a team.
• The Pilots made their first 17 attempts of the game and finished 25-of-28 overall. UP followed by making 22-of-28 against Santa Clara and then 18-of-21 at Gonzaga.
• Alec Wintering, who was shooting a career-low 67 percent entering the game, made all 24-of-25 last week, 7-of-8 at Gonzaga and is now at 74.0 percent.

A HIGH-SCORING AFFAIR
• Portland's 62 first half points score against San Francisco is the highest scoring half against a Division I opponent in school history, matching the school record set against Southern Oregon on Dec. 9, 1995.
• The 107 points allowed against San Francisco are the most for Portland since giving up 110 in a 114-110 win over BYU in triple overtime on Jan. 13, 2014.
• It is the first 100-point game allowed in regulation since San Francisco beat the Pilots 104-70 on Jan. 12, 2012 and the most allowed in regulation since a 109-88 defeat by Pepperdine on Jan. 19, 2002.

JOHNSON BREAKS OUT
• Freshman PG Jazz Johnson scored a season high 22 points against San Francisco, eclipsing his previous high of 14 scored against Oregon Tech in the season opener.
• He was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 at the foul line for 14 first half points.
• Johnson was a high-scoring prep player out of Lake Oswego High School in Lake Oswego, Ore. He broke the prestigious Les Schwab Invitational tournament scoring record by averaging 35.0 points per game over four games.

TYSON PROVIDES INSTANT OFFENSE
• Sophomore G D'Marques Tyson has provided instant offense coming off the bench all season long. That continued when Tyson drilled all four of his first half three-point attempts at San Francisco and finished with 12 points.
• He also finished with 12 points, including 3-of-5 from downtown, at Santa Clara.
• Tyson scored 12 first half points against UC Davis and then drilled four first-half three-pointers for 12 more two days later at Colorado.
• He buried four more first half threes in a route of Alcorn State at home as well.
• Tyson's 21.8 points per 40 minutes are second on the Pilot roster to Wintering (23.4).

LATE GAME STRUGGLES
• Portland has lost a few games this season with late-game struggles with its Bay Area road losses two weeks ago adding to the tally. Portland led by 15 late at San Francisco, but went scoreless over the final 3:40 as the Dons were able to pull away.
• Portland led 61-60 with 8:06 left at Santa Clara, but went just 2-for-14 from the field the rest of the game in the loss.
• The Pilots had two shots to win before the buzzer in an 80-79 loss to Southern Illinois at the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic, but both missed.
• Idaho State got a tip-in in the closing seconds for a 66-65 win over the Pilots, while Weber State hit contested three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, which they would go on to win by a 92-82 margin.
• Portland also was tied with Boise State with 5:15 remaining, but suffered a nearly four-minute scoring drought in the 81-71 loss.

PRESSLEY IMPRESSES
• Senior G Bryce Pressley finished each of the last two seasons among the top five in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage and he ranks sixth this year.
• Pressley opened the season with a career-high 30 points and eight three-pointers against Oregon Tech.
• He scorched LMU with seven three-pointers and 25 points and followed with 15 points and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc against Pepperdine.
• The son of former NCAA Champion at Villanova and NBA guard Harold Pressley, Bryce is closing in on 1,000 career points. He currently has 885 career points, but his value has been in his versatility.
• Pressley ranks fourth in UP history for three-point percentage (.420), tied for seventh in three-pointers made (139), tied for 12th in assists (277), 17th in career steals (99) and 19th in blocked shots (42).

LMU VICTORY LARGEST MARGIN SINCE 2010
• Portland's 87-60 win over LMU Monday night was the largest margin of victory for the Pilots against a WCC opponent since a 79-39 defeat of LMU on Jan. 21, 2010.
• The Pilots trailed 19-11 early, but used a 23-0 run to take the lead and held the Lions without a field goal for 9:02 late in the first half.

FAMILIAR FACES ON THE BENCH
• Head Coach Eric Reveno picked up a pair of his former players to join the coaching staff this offseason. Mitch Johnson, a former Stanford point guard, comes on as an assistant coach, while former Pilot center Kramer Knutson also joined the staff as director of basketball operations.
 
CLIMBING THE UP CHARTS
• Alec Wintering has moved into fifth place on UP's all-time assists chart (413), while his career average of 5.3 per game tops in school history. He trails Dionn Holton (1995-99, 462) in fourth place, while Darwin Cook (1977-81, 573) is the all-time leader.
• Wintering also cracked the top 10 in steals (123) earlier this season.
• Four current Pilots rank among the school's top 10 in career three-point percentage: Bryce Pressley (4th, .420), Alec Wintering (t5th, .414), Jason Todd (7th, .409) and D'Marques Tyson (10th, .392).

PILOTS REMEMBER LONGTIME RADIO ANNOUNCER, BILL JOHNSON
• Bill Johnson, the radio play-by-play voice of the University of Portland's men's basketball program for 23 years, died of heart failure on Sunday, Nov. 29 at the age of 71.
• A memorial service in Bill's honor took place on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at the Chapel of Christ the Teacher on the UP campus. The entire Pilots team, coaching staff, school administrators, family and friends paid their respects.
• His distinguished broadcasting career spanned six decades and included various radio and TV positions in the Portland market. He served as the basketball play-by-play voice at various times throughout his career with the Oregon, Linfield, Lewis & Clark and Sonoma State. He also was with the Portland Trail Blazers from 1974-76. Johnson's football play-by-play experience included time with Oregon, Portland State and Lewis & Clark College and most recently with Linfield College.
• Johnson had three stints with the Pilots, first with the 1977-78 team and then a 16-year run from 1986-01 which included Portland's run to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. He re-joined the Pilots for the last six seasons.

PILOTS SIGN LOCAL CENTER TO NLI
• Portland announced that 6-10 center Joseph Smoyer (Portland, Ore./Franklin HS) signed a National Letter of Intent and will join the Pilots next season.
• Smoyer has started for the Quakers each of the last three seasons earning All-Portland Interscholastic League First Team honors last season. He was honorable mention all-league in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.
• Smoyer joins previous signee Alec Monson to comprise the Class of 2016. Monson signed in 2014 and will return from a two-year church mission next season.
• An elite student, Smoyer is currently the senior class President and a has been admitted to the University of Portland Shiley School of Engineering.

PILOTS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP WITH COMCAST SPORTSNET
• Portland and Comcast SportsNet announced a partnership that will televise eight upcoming Pilot events, including the Jan. 28 men's basketball game versus San Francisco.
• Three women's basketball games and four baseball games will also be aired.
• This is in addition to the monthly 30-minute show, 'Portside with the Pilots' which showcases student-athlete profiles, alumni spotlights, top plays, and behind-the-scenes access to Pilot Athletics.
• All episodes are archived at YouTube.com/PortlandPilots.

PILOTS INK MULTI-YEAR DEAL WITH 910 ESPN-PORTLAND
• Portland and Entercom Portland, LLC will continue their men's basketball partnership for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT). In addition to live coverage of all exhibition, regular season, and postseason games, a weekly one-hour Portland Pilots Basketball Show featuring head coach Eric Reveno will be produced every Monday night at 7 p.m. throughout the basketball season.