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Portland Pilots (9-12, 3-5) at Saint Mary's Gaels (16-2, 7-1)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Moraga, Calif.
Arena: McKeon Pavilion (3,500)
TV: ROOT Sports, CSN Bay Area
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. SMC Series
Overall: 30-60
At POR: 21-23
At SMC: 7-34
Neutral: 2-3
Last 1: POR 69, SMC 52 (March 7, 2015 at WCC Tourney)

COMING UP
• Portland will look for a road split when it visits WCC-leading Saint Mary's on Saturday at 8 p.m.
• The Pilots dropped a 70-61 decision at Pacific on Thursday, while Gaels moved into sole possession of first place in the league standings with a comeback 70-67 win over Gonzaga.

GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday's game is being televised live on ROOT Sports Northwest, ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. Glen Kuiper and Dan Belluomini will provide the commentary. Saturday's contest will also 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 available at PortlandPilots.com.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots (9-12, 3-5 WCC) suffered a close loss on the road Thursday at Pacific. The game was tied four times in the closing minutes and Portland had nine chances to take the lead in the second half, but came up empty each time as the Tigers pulled away late for a 70-61 victory.
• Junior PG Alec Wintering led the Pilots with 15 points, while sophomore G D'Marques Tyson added 14 points off the bench.
• Portland is now 1-8 away from the Chiles Center with the lone win at crosstown rival Portland State.
• The Pilots previously snapped a four-game losing streak with an 84-81 upset of the BYU Cougars before a sold out Chiles Center crowd on Jan. 17.
• Three Portland guards combined for 64 points in the win: Wintering (22 points), Tyson (21 points) and senior G Bryce Pressley (21 points).
• Wintering, who is 10 points shy of joining the 1,000-point club, 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 18.0 points and is second in the WCC in steals (1.7) and ranks fifth in assists (5.4). His 22.0 points per game in WCC play ranks second to Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer.
• Portland is 24th nationally in three-pointers made per game (9.3). The Pilots lead the WCC steals (7.5) and rank second in three-pointers made and turnover margin (+2.2).
• Portland is attempting 25.3 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 basketball and 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 11 players averaging nine or more minutes.
• Pressley, also a three-year starter, is averaging a career-best 14.2 points per game, including 30 in the season opener versus Oregon Tech.
• 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 SAINT MARY'S
• The Gaels (16-2, 7-1 WCC) trailed by 15 points in the second half, but were able to pull out a 70-67 victory over Gonzaga Thursday before a sold-out home crowd.
• Saint Mary's now is alone in first place in the league standings with its only loss on the road at Pepperdine. The Gaels lone non-conference loss came at California.
• Notable non-conference wins have come against Stanford, UC Davis and UC Irvine.
• Six Gaels are averaging nine or more points per game as Saint Mary's is one of the most efficient offensive teams in the nation. The Gaels rank in the top three nationally in scoring defense, scoring margin, assist-to-turnover ratio, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage.
• Head coach Randy Bennett is in his 15th year at the helm and has led the Gaels to five NCAA and four NIT appearances in the last decade.
• Saint Mary's swept the regular season series last year, but Portland came away with a 69-52 win in the WCC Tournament quarterfinals.

HOME/ROAD SPLITS
• Portland is 8-4 at home and 1-6 in true road games this season. The Pilots are also 0-2 in neutral site games.
• In home games the Pilots average 81.2 points, allow 73.1 points, shoot 45 percent overall and opponents shoot 41 percent.
• In road games the script has flipped with the Pilots averaging 73.4 and allowing 83.1. Portland shoots just 39 percent, while opponents shoot 46 percent.

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, 18-of-21 at Gonzaga, 19-of-25 versus San Diego and 18-of-22 against BYU.
• Alec Wintering, who was shooting a career-low 67 percent entering the USF game has now made all 51-of-his-last-54 attempts and now sits at 77.0 percent.

BACKCOURT ERUPTS AGAINST BYU
• Three Pilot guards combined to score 64 points in the win over BYU on Saturday.
• Alec Wintering and Bryce Pressley have led UP all season, but sophomore G D'Marques Tyson is also Portland's third leading scorer at 9.0 points per game.
• Each member of the trio eclipsed the 20-point mark Saturday and all made big plays throughout. Trailing by five midway through the second half, each hit a three-pointer in succession to give Portland the lead that they would not relinquish.

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 24.0 points over the last seven games and has scored 20 or more points eight times this season.
• Wintering's 22.0 points per game in WCC play is second to only Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer.
• He is now just 10 points shy of 1,000 for his career and will become the 35th player in school history to accomplish the feat.
• Wintering is No. 2 all-time for UP in assists per game (5.2), No. 5 in three-point percentage (.413), No. 5 in total assists (423) and No. 8 in steals (128).

TYSON PROVIDES INSTANT OFFENSE
• Sophomore G D'Marques Tyson has provided instant offense coming off the bench all season long. That continued when Tyson erupted for a season-high 21 points versus BYU on Saturday and followed with 14 against Pacific on Thursday.
• He previously drilled all four of his first half three-point attempts at San Francisco and finished with 12 points.
• He 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 21.1 points per 40 minutes are second on the Pilot roster to Wintering (23.7).

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.
 
LATE GAME STRUGGLES
• Portland has had late-game struggles all season and Thursday was another example. The Pilots tied the game at Pacific four times, but came up empty on nine possessions late that would have given them the lead.
• Portland led by 15 late at San Francisco, but went scoreless over the final 3:40 as the Dons were able to pull away.
• The Pilots 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 fifth in three-pointers made and 12th in percentage this season.
• Pressley opened the year with a career-high 30 points and eight three-pointers against Oregon Tech. He also 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 Villanova NCAA Champion and NBA guard Harold Pressley, Bryce is closing in on 1,000 career points. He currently has 942 career points, but his value has been in his versatility.
• Pressley ranks sixth in UP history for three-point percentage (.409), seventh in three-pointers made (142), 12th in assists (285), t-15th in career steals (105) and 19th in blocked shots (42).

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.

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.