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Portland Pilots (8-9, 2-2) at Gonzaga Bulldogs (12-3, 4-0)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016
Tip-off: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Spokane, Wash.
Arena: McCarthey Athletic Center
TV: ROOT NW, TWC SportsNet
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)

Portland vs. Gonzaga Series
Overall: 66-95
At POR: 35-38
At GON: 22-45
Neutral/Unknown: 9-12
Last 1: GON 64, POR 46 (Jan. 29, 2015 at Gonzaga)

COMING UP
• Portland continues West Coast Conference action with a road game at No. 22 Gonzaga on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
• The Pilots will then return home to host San Diego and BYU next week at the Chiles Center.

GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday's game will be televised live on ROOT Sports and Time Warner Cable SportsNet with Greg Heister, Dan Dickau and Richard Fox on the call.
• The game will be streamed 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. Jason Swygard and Jason Brough will call the action.
• Online audio and live stats will be linked at PortlandPilots.com.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots (8-9, 2-2 WCC) dropped a pair of close road games last week in the Bay Area to San Francisco and Santa Clara.
• Portland set a school record with 62 first half points at USF last Thursday and led by 15 with 12:59 left in regulation, but the Dons would come back for a 107-95 victory.
• Santa Clara then held on for an 84-77 victory in a game that featured 16 ties and 17 lead changes on Saturday afternoon. Senior G Bryce Pressley paced the Pilots with 23 points, while sophomore F Gabe Taylor added 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
• Junior PG Alec Wintering became the first player in Portland history with consecutive 30-point games. Wintering finished with 31 points at USF, 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.
• Freshman G Jazz Johnson scored a season-high 22 points off the bench at USF.
• The Pilots previously swept LMU (87-60) and Pepperdine (87-79) to open WCC play.
• Wintering, a three-year starter and Preseason All-WCC selection, is averaging a team-best 17.1 points and is second in the WCC in steals (1.8) and ranks fourth in assists (5.8). Wintering earned All-WCC second team honors last year after averaging 12.3 points and 5.7 assists per game.
• Portland ranks 15th nationally in three-pointers made per game (10.1) and 40th in three-point percentage (.384). The Pilots lead the WCC steals (7.8) and rank second in three-pointers made, blocked shots (4.2) and turnover margin (+2.1). Portland's 86.5 points per game in league play is second to Gonzaga (91.2).
• Portland is attempting 26.2 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 (2.7) and seventh in three-point percentage (.447).
• 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 GONZAGA
• The Bulldogs (12-3, 4-0 WCC), ranked No. 23 in the Coaches Poll, escaped with two wins in the Bay Area last week. Gonzaga held on for a 79-77 win at Santa Clara and then overcame a 16-point second half deficit to beat San Francisco 102-94 in overtime.
• Gonzaga has played a tough schedule with wins over Washington, UConn, Tennessee and Washington State. The Bulldogs have losses to Arizona, Texas A&M and UCLA.
• The frontcourt tandem of Kyle Wiltjer (20.8 points, 7.7 rebounds) and Domantis Sabonis (18.3 points, 10.6 rebounds) has been a force.
• Gonzaga announced last week that senior C Przemek Karnowski had season-ending back surgery.
• Head coach Mark Few is in his 17th season at the helm of the Bulldogs and has led Gonzaga to the NCAA playoffs each year along with 15 WCC Championships.
• Gonzaga swept the series last season, including a 64-46 win in Spokane. Portland's last win against the Bulldogs on the road came during the 2002-03 season.

WINTERING IS COMING
• Alec Wintering followed his first WCC Player of the Week honor on Dec. 28 by erupting for 31 points, four rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers against San Francisco.
• Wintering was a perfect 15-of-15 from the free throw line, 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).
• The Concord, N.C. native scored a career-high 34 points against Pepperdine on Dec. 23 and is the first Pilot with back-to-back 30-point games in school history.
• He became the first Pilot to win the weekly WCC honor since Bryce Pressley on Dec. 23, 2013.

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.

FREE THROW STRUGGLES SUBSIDE
• Portland entered Thursday's game at USF 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. Portland followed by making 22-of-28 against Santa Clara.
• Alec Wintering, who was shooting a career-low 67 percent entering the game, made all 24-of-25 last week and is now at 73.1 percent.

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 on Thursday and finished with 12 points at San Francisco.
• 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 22.4 points per 40 minutes are second on the Pilot roster to Wintering (22.8).

LATE GAME STRUGGLES
• Portland has lost a few games this season with late-game struggles with last weekend's sweep 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 Saturday 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 seventh 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 870 career points, but his value has been in his versatility.
• Pressley ranks fourth in UP history for three-point percentage (.422), eighth in three-pointers made (138), 13th in assists (274), tied for 17th in career steals (97) 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 (407), 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 (122) earlier this season.
• Four current Pilots rank among the school's top 10 in career three-point percentage: Bryce Pressley (4th, .422), Jason Todd (5th, .418), Alec Wintering (7th, .409) and D'Marques Tyson (9th, .401).

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR 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 took place on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 4 p.m. at the Chapel of Christ the Teacher on the UP campus. • 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.