PORTLAND PILOTS (7-12, 0-4 WCC) vs. #5 GONZAGA BULLDOGS (17-2, 4-0 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019
Time: 7:00 p.m. (PT)
City: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
TV: ROOT Sports NW
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland
Live Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: Sold Out
Overall Series: GON leads 102-66 (H: 35-41, A: 22-48, N: 9-13)
Last Meeting: Gonzaga 95, Portland 79 (1/25/18 at POR)

GAME INFORMATION
Portland concludes its three-game homestand on Saturday when the No. 5 Gonzaga Bulldogs visit the Chiles Center. The game, scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off, is sold out. The Pilots enter the matchup on a four-game losing streak, while Gonzaga has won eight in a row. It will be Mascot Night with a variety of local and national mascots on hand for the game.

GAME COVERAGE
The game will be televised live on ROOT Sports Northwest with Tom Glasgow and Francis Williams on the call. Radio coverage of all Pilot games is on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard providing the play-by-play. The pre-game show begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off. Visit PortlandPilots.com for all live coverage links.

PORTLAND NOTES
• Sophomore G Marcus Shaver Jr. has recorded back-to-back 20 points games. He finished with a career-high 25 points against Pacific last Saturday, and then had 21 Thursday against San Diego.
• Shaver Jr. was named to the Rainbow Classic All-Tournament Team earlier this year. Last season, he became the first Pilot to earn All-WCC Freshman Team honors since Taishi Ito in 2007 and first UP freshman to garner honorable mention status since Donald Wilson in 2003.
• RS-Junior G Crisshawn Clark has returned to the lineup for the last three games after having not played in an official game since the end of his freshman season at Cañada College in 2015 due to various injuries. He scored five points at BYU and grabbed five rebounds off the bench against Pacific.
• Sophomore G JoJo Walker has scored 20 or more points four times this year. He leads the team and ranks ninth in the WCC in assists per game (3.5).
• Josh McSwiggan leads the WCC in free throw percentage (.902) and is 21st in scoring (11.6).
• Freshman C Theo Akwuba has started 14 games, ranks second in the WCC in blocked shots (1.7) and is averaging a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game.
• The Pilots return four starters and six of the team's seven leading scorers from a year ago. Portland also adds four redshirts to the lineup this season in Pittsburgh transfer G Crisshawn Clark, freshmen Hugh Hogland and Takiula Fahrensohn, and junior Xavier Hallinan.
• Six other newcomers join the roster highlighted by sophomore F Jacob Tryon. The freshmen newcomers include Akwuba, F Josh Phillips, G Miles Turner, and F Wyatt Watson, while sophomore F Dillon Scarboro joined the roster in December.
• Former Portland State head coach Tyler Geving has joined the Pilots as an interim assistant coach. Geving, who brings 20-plus years of coaching experience including eight at the helm of the Vikings, will fill in for Kramer Knutson who is on family leave.
• Portland signed two players to NLI's in November. 6-2 G Donyae McCaskill (St. Louis, Mo./Vashon HS) and 7-1 F/C Cody Collinsworth (Lindale, Texas/Lindale HS).
• Hugh Hogland has dual citizenship in Japan and went to training camp with the Japanese National Team last year.
• A total of 12 former Pilots are currently playing professionally overseas, while alum Erik Spoelstra ('92) is the head coach of the Miami HEAT.
• Former NBA All-Star Terry Porter is in his third year as the head coach of the Pilots.
 
ABOUT GONZAGA
• The Bulldogs are ranked No. 5 nationally in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls this week, and No. 6 in the NCAA's NET ratings.
• Gonzaga posted notable non-conference wins against Duke, Arizona and Washington, with losses coming against Tennessee and North Carolina.
• The Bulldogs are outscoring opponents by 26.3 points per game through four WCC contests.
• Gonzaga has won 17 of the last 18 WCC titles, reached the NCAA Tournament 20 straight seasons including four consecutive Sweet 16's, and was the NCAA runner up at the 2017 Final Four.

SHAVER JR. SHOWING OUT
Freshman G Marcus Shaver Jr. has gotten off to a hot start in WCC play. He has recorded back-to-back 20-point games, including a career-high 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting last Saturday against Pacific. He followed that with an efficient 21 points against San Diego on Thursday. In WCC games, Shaver Jr. is shooting a league-best 59 percent from three-point range, ranks seventh in scoring (17.7) and ninth in FG percentage (.533). He ranks 15th in the WCC in scoring (15.2) overall. Shaver became the first Pilot since Taishi Ito in 2007 to be named to the WCC All-Freshman Team last year and was the first UP freshman to earn All-WCC honorable mention honors since Donald Wilson in 2003. Shaver's 394 points last season were the third most by a freshman in Portland history. He has recorded double figures in 16 games this year, is 12th in the WCC in steals (1.4), and was named to the Rainbow Classic All-Tournament Team.
 
WALKER STARTS WCC PLAY STRONG
Sophomore G JoJo Walker recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season in the WCC opener at LMU. He finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, while going a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. He recorded back-to-back career highs in scoring with 22 points versus North Texas (11/10) and 23 points against CSUN (11/17). The Carolina, Puerto Rico native went 9-for-11 from the field against the Mean Green in Hawai'i. He then ignited Portland's comeback win against CSUN with 23 points, seven assists and zero turnovers in 40 minutes. Walker scored 15 second half points and made 6-of-8 from three-point range in the win. He made 5-of-7 triples and scored 22 points to lead the Pilots over Sacramento State on Dec. 8. Walker ranks ninth in the WCC in assists (3.5).

CLARK MAKES HIS LONG AWAITED DEBUT
Redshirt junior G Crisshawn Clark made his Portland debut off the bench and scored five points with three rebounds in 12 minutes at BYU on Jan. 10. Clark has had a circuitous route to Portland that has been plagued by injuries. He last competed in an official game during the 2014-15 season at Cañada College in San Mateo, Calif. He was at Pittsburgh for the 2015-16 season, but has had a total of three ACL surgeries in the last three years that he kept him sidelined. He was ready to return to the court this year, but suffered a foot injury in preseason training that kept him out of action.

McSWIGGAN MONEY AT THE LINE
Josh McSwiggan is a 37-of-41 from the free throw line this season. The Loughborough, England native made his first 20 free throw attempts and leads the WCC in FT percentage (.902). He also recorded his first double-double with career highs of 37 points and 11 rebounds in the season opener against Multnomah. McSwiggan buried five three-pointers at Colorado and ranks sixth in Portland history for career three-point percentage (.406).

AKWUBA WITH THE BLOCK PARTY
Freshman C Theo Akwuba ranks second in the WCC in blocked shots per game (1.7). He has 30 blocked shots in 18 games played which is the second highest per game average in Portland history. The single-season record of 73 blocked shots was set last year by Philipp Hartwich. Akwuba has blocked three or more shots in six games, including a season-high five blocks on Dec. 8 against Sacramento State. He also leads the team in rebounding this season (5.2). The Montgomery, Ala. native averaged a triple double as a high school senior at 11.7 points, 14.1 rebounds and 10.4 blocked shots per game and ranked No. 2 nationally in blocks. Akwuba is pursuing a computer science degree from the Shiley School of Engineering at Portland.

TRYON FINDS HIS STROKE
Sophomore F Jacob Tryon came off the bench to record back-to-back 11 point games against Cal State Fullerton and LMU. Tryon went 4-of-6 from the field against Fullerton and then was 5-for-8 from the floor at LMU and added five rebounds. Tryon was in the starting lineup to open the season, but missed 10 games with a foot injury. A stretch-four, he is one of Portland's top offensive threats.

HOGLAND PRODUCING IN THE PAINT
Redshirt freshman C Hugh Hogland has been Portland's best back-to-the-basket scorer this season. Hogland had a career game Dec. 8 against Sacramento State. He went 6-for-9 from the field and scored a season-high 13 points to go with five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. He followed with 11 points against Grambling State and is shooting 57.1 percent from the field. The Hawai'i native holds dual citizenship with Japan and has trained with the Japanese National Team.

WCC FINISHES NON-CONFERENCE STRONG
Nine of ten WCC programs had .500 or better non-conference records, while the league as a whole finished non-conference play with a 100-49 (.671) mark. For comparison, that is better than the Pac-12 (99-58, .631), Mountain West (76-64, .543) and Atlantic 10 (100-83, .546).

HALLINAN RETURNS
Redshirt junior G Xavier Hallinan became eligible following fall semester. The Portland native contributed three points and an assist off the bench in his season debut on Dec. 17 against Seattle U. Hallinan provided a spark as a walk-on during the 2016-17 season, when he averaged 10.7 points while starting the final six games and led the Pilots to a WCC Tournament win over San Diego by playing all 40 minutes. He returned to The Bluff last spring after a brief stint at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

BUILDING WITH REDSHIRTS
The Pilots have seven players on the active roster this season that have utilized redshirt seasons. Head coach Terry Porter wanted to emphasize player development in his vision of building the program and Portland is one of 10 schools in the nation that has seven or more active redshirt players this year.

WCC SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENTS
The WCC announced changes to the league schedule and conference tournament this season. Moving from an 18-game to a 16-game league schedule is the result of changes adopted as part of the Men's Basketball Enhancement Plan. Portland will not play at Gonzaga and Saint Mary's will not visit the Chiles Center this year. The top two seeds at the WCC Championships will also receive byes into the semifinals.

PILOTS ADD MORE EXPERIENCE TO COACHING STAFF
Former Portland State head coach Tyler Geving joined the Pilots as an interim assistant coach last month as Kramer Knutson is on family leave. Geving brings 20-plus years of Pacific Northwest coaching experience, including eight seasons as head coach at Portland State from 2009-17 where he won 112 games and led the Vikings to the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. He also spent four years as the Associate Head Coach of the Vikings from 2005-09, which included a pair of Big Sky Conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.

PILOTS IN THE PROS
A total of 12 former Pilots are currently playing professionally overseas, while Miami HEAT head coach Erik Spoelstra played four years with the Pilots (1989-92) and was the WCC Freshman of the Year in 1989. Ben Sullivan is also an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks. Here are former Pilots still with active playing careers: Philipp Hartwich (Huesca, Spain), D'Marques Tyson (Vitoria SC, Portugal), Alec Wintering (Windmills, Holland), Ray Barreno (Soles, Mexico), Thomas van der Mars (Aalstar, Belgium), Volodymyr Gerun (Breogan, Spain), Bryce Pressley (Bondi Ferrara, Italy), Nik Raivio (Bayreuth, Germany), TJ Campbell (Turk Telekom, Turkey), Luke Sikma (ALBA Berlin, German), Taishi Ito (Shiga L-Stars, Japan) and Pooh Jeter (Fujian S., China).

DIVERSE ROSTER WITH INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
Portland has a diverse roster featuring players from 12 different states or countries. There are three native Oregonians and three Californians, but no other state or territory has more than one player on the roster. Internationally, Portland has players from Mali, New Zealand and England. States represented include Hawaii, Alabama, Arizona, California, Ohio, Idaho, Washington and the US territory of Puerto Rico. Sophomore F Tahirou Diabate is from Mali, but has lived in France, the Canary Islands, and Japan and speaks five languages: Bambara (native), English, French, Spanish and Japanese.

PILOTS SIGN TWO EARLY
Portland signed G Donyae McCaskill (St. Louis, Mo./Vashon HS) and F/C Cody Collinsworth (Lindale, Texas, Lindale HS) to National Letters of Intent on the first day of the early signing period on Nov. 14. McCaskill (6-3, 185) averaged 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists as a junior for Vashon HS. He helped the Wolverines to a 21-6 overall record, District 4 title, and a trip to the Missouri 4A State Basketball Championships. He had offers from Creighton, UMKC, Southern Illinois, Missouri State and Southeast Missouri State before committing to Portland. Collinsworth (7-1, 225) averaged 18.3 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots per game last season for Pilot Point HS. He earned District 9-3A Co-Offensive Player of the Year honors and was named to the All-Texomaland Second Team by the Herald Democrat. The Denton-Record Chronicle selected him as the Area's Defensive Player of the Year. Collinsworth had offers from TCU, Minnesota, Wright State, Northern Colorado and Northwestern State.