Portland Pilots (8-4) vs. Houston Cougars (7-3)
Date: Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019
Time: 12:00 p.m. (PT)
City: Honolulu, Hawaii
Arena: Stan Sheriff Center (10,000)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland closes out the non-league schedule at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, hosted at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii on Dec. 22-25.
• The Pilots open against the Houston Cougars (7-3) on Sunday at 12 p.m. (PST) on ESPNU and then will face either Georgia Tech or Boise State on Monday.
• The tournament concludes on Christmas day and the other side of the bracket features Washington, UTEP, Ball State and host Hawaii.
• All Pilot men's basketball games are on the radio on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard providing the play-by-play. The pre-game show begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
• Links for tickets, live video, audio and stats for all Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PilotHoops on Twitter for in-game updates.

LAST GAME
• Portland dropped a 73-63 decision to the Jackson State Tigers Thursday night at the Chiles Center.
• The Pilots committed a season-high 22 turnovers and forced just 12 as the Tigers gained a 23-10 edge in points off of turnovers.
• Freshman PG Chase Adams recorded season-highs of 15 points and six rebounds while playing all 40 minutes for the shorthanded Pilots. Portland was without starting G Malcolm Porter and reserve PG Quincy Ferebee due to injury.
• Sophomore Takiula Fahrensohn tallied his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but no other Pilot reached double figures.
• Jackson State led for a majority of the game after an early 13-0 run gave the Tigers a 26-16 lead. Jacob Tryon converted a three-point play to pull Portland within two late in the half, but JSU took a 37-32 halftime lead that would grow to as much as 16 points in the second half.

PORTLAND NOTES
• Portland's eight wins have already eclipsed last season's total of seven.
• The Pilots lead the WCC in FG percentage defense (.386), three-point defense (.282) and blocked shots (4.4) while also ranking third in points allowed per game (63.0).
• UP ranks 17th nationally in three-point percentage (.398).
• The team returns two starters, nine lettermen and adds five newcomers along with a returning redshirt to the 2019-20 roster.
• Newcomers Isaiah White (grad transfer) and Chase Adams (freshman) have been impact contributors. White ranks ninth in the WCC in scoring (14.8) and was named the league's Player of the Week on Nov. 25, while Adams ranks third in the conference in both assists (4.6) and steals (1.6).
• Junior G JoJo Walker entered the 2019-20 season as the Pilots' active leader in points, minutes played, steals, free throws made and three-pointers made after starting his first two years on The Bluff. He is second on the team in scoring (12.7).
• Sophomore C Hugh Hogland (concussion) missed the team's first three games. Hogland spent time with the Japanese National Team this year.
• The Pilots return their entire frontcourt from last year. Jacob Tryon, Hugh Hogland, Theo Akwuba, Tahirou Diabate, and Josh Phillips combined to average 16.7 points and 12.2 rebounds per game and the five big men also were the top five players in field goal percentage last season.
• Lavar Harewood (South Carolina State) joins White as a grad transfer adding experience as Portland has no true seniors on the roster.
• Portland will return to Hawai'i for a non-conference tournament for the second straight season. The Pilots will take part in the 2019 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Dec. 22-25 after playing last season in the Rainbow Classic.
• The roster features players 12 different states, countries or territories including four from California and one each from Alabama, Hawai'i, Illinois, Mali, Maryland, New Zealand, Oregon, Puerto Rico, New York, Texas and Washington.
• The Pilots were picked to finish 10th in the WCC Preseason Head Coaches Poll.
• A total of 13 former Pilots are currently playing professionally overseas, while alum Erik Spoelstra ('92) is the head coach of the Miami HEAT and Ben Sullivan ('07) is on the Milwaukee Bucks coaching staff.
• Former NBA All-Star Terry Porter is in his fourth year as the head coach of the Pilots and is one of 11 Division I coaches in the nation to coach his son this season.
• The Pilots signed 6-5 G Zac Triplett (Melbourne, Australia) to a NLI on Nov. 13.

ABOUT HOUSTON
• The Cougars (7-3) were preseason co-favorites with Memphis to win the American Athletic Conference and are coming off of a NCAA Sweet 16 appearance a year ago.
• Houston defeated UTEP by a 77-57 margin on Thursday as Caleb Mills and Nate Hinton and 17 points each.
• UH losses this year have come against BYU, Oregon and Oklahoma State.
• Quentin Grimes is averaging a team-best 13.9 points per game, while Hinton adds 13.7 points and 9.3 rebounds.
• The Cougars have a plus-11.6 rebounding margin per game and average 77.7 points.
• Head coach Kelvin Sampson is in his sixth year at Houston after previous gigs at Indiana, Oklahoma and Washington State. Sampson has guided teams to 15 NCAA Tournaments, two Sweet 16's, an Elite Eight and the 2002 NCAA Final Four.

LINEUP ADJUSTMENTS CONTINUE
• Head Coach Terry Porter has had to juggle his lineup and rotation all season for a variety of reasons.
• Hugh Hogland and Takiula Fahrensohn each missed three games to injury, while JoJo Walker has missed three games and Quincy Ferebee and Malcolm Porter two each.
• Theo Akwuba missed the first nine games of the year before becoming academically eligible.
• Portland has featured five different starting lineups with Tahirou Diabate the lone Pilot to start all 12 games.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• The Pilots lead the league in field goal percentage defense (.386), three-point defense (.282) and blocked shots (4.4).
• Portland ranks third in points allowed per game (63.0).
• Opponents have been held below 45 percent from the field in all eight wins.

TAKI TAKES ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITY
• Redshirt sophomore G Takiula (Taki) Fahrensohn has missed three games due to injury, but returned to the lineup Monday and finished with career highs of 15 points and seven rebounds in a win against Florida A&M.
• He followed with his first career double-double against Jackson State with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• Fahrensohn has blossomed in his first chance getting extended playing time while on The Bluff. He has recorded double figures five times in nine games this year.
• He had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench at USC on Nov. 8. He added two steals and a blocked shot in 26 minutes, while often battling defensively against bigger players in the post.
• He followed with six points, five rebounds and four assists in 21 effective minutes off the bench in the win over San Jose State, and then played major minutes down the stretch as the Pilots pulled away from Maine.
• The New Zealand native redshirted his freshman year after having knee surgery and played a total of just 81 minutes last season.

ADAMS NAVIGATING
• Chase Adams has been a difference maker at point guard out of the gates and ranks third in the WCC in both assists (4.6) and steals (1.6).
• He has recorded season highs in scoring each of the last three games. Adams had 11 points Evergreen State, 14 against Florida A&M and 15 versus Jackson State.
• Adams earned the start in the team's opener against Willamette and took over the game in the first five minutes. Adams sparked a 23-3 run with disruptive on-ball defense, collecting four steals and getting three other defections. He also scored four points and dished out three assists during the spurt.
• He followed with six points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals at USC and then earned his first start against as D-I opponent in the team's win at San Jose State.
• The 5-foot-7 speedster was a heralded youth basketball star out of Chicago and spent one year at Link Prep (Branson, Mo.) before signing with the Pilots.
• Adams is prominent on social media with 125,000 Instagram followers.

WHITE MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT
• Isaiah White was named the WCC Player of the Week on Nov. 25 after averaged 22.0 points and 5.5 assists in leading the Pilots to wins against Portland State and UC Davis.
• White is the first Pilot to earn men's hoops weekly honor since Alec Wintering took the award on Jan. 2, 2017.
• A grad transfer from Maine, White has scored the most points at the Division I level (849) on the Portland roster after filling the stat in his two seasons with the Black Bears.
• He scored a career-high 23 points in the win over UC Davis and has recorded three 20-point games already this season.
• He finished with 22 points at USC and added 21 points and eight assists in the team's win at Portland State.
• White ranks second in the WCC in blocked shots per game (1.3), sixth in steals (1.5) and ninth in scoring (14.8).

TRYON WITH THE BLOCK PARTY
• Jacob Tryon blocked a career-high five shots in Portland's win against Florida A&M on Monday. He added 10 points and eight rebounds in a solid all-around performance.
• He recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds against Evergreen State on Dec. 13.
• Tryon tallied his first career double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the win against UC Davis on Nov. 23. He then just missed another one with 10 points and nine rebounds at Seattle.
• He came up big with 12 points off the bench in the second half of Portland's win at Portland State. He was a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line and made both of his field goal attempts.

EFFECTIVE OFFENSE
• The Pilots rank 17th nationally in three-point percentage (.398), but is just the fourth best among WCC institutions this season.
• Portland is also averaging 16.0 assists per game after tallying just 11.5 per game last season.
• The Pilots have shot above 45 percent from the field in all eight wins, including 55 percent versus Maine and 53 percent at Portland State.

PORTER PRODUCES
• Malcolm Porter has had a breakout season averaging 10.2 points per game.
• He recorded a career-high 15 points in the win over Incarnate Word.
• Porter was clutch down the stretch in the Nov. 16 win against Maine. He buried a 30-footer to beat the shot clock and scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
• He followed with an efficient 13 points and four rebounds at Portland State, finishing 5-for-8 from the field. Porter had 12 points, a career-high seven rebounds and four assists in the win against UC Davis.
• The youngest son of head coach Terry Porter, Malcolm played primarily a reserve combo guard role the previous two years.
• Porter missed the last two games due to injury and is questionable on Sunday.
 
TRANSFERS BRING EXPERIENCE AND LEADERSHIP
• Portland's two graduate transfers are the only 'seniors' on the 2019-20 roster and embraced the leadership opportunity throughout summer and fall workouts.
• Lavar Harewood (South Carolina State) joins White as a previous D-I starter, averaging 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and shot 39 percent from three-point range last year.
• Both players have had circuitous routes to Portland that touched in Maine. White is from Ellicott City, Md. and spent one season at UNC-Asheville, then a year at junior college before landing in Maine. Harewood, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native, began his college career at Maine and spent one season at a junior college and the last two at SCSU.
 
HOGLAND HONES SKILLS IN JAPAN
• Redshirt sophomore C Hugh Hogland has spent time with the Japanese National Team over the past year, just missing out on making the final roster for the Olympics.
• Hogland was born and raised in Hawai'i, but has dual citizenship as his mother, Sanae Watanabe, is Japanese.
• Hogland was also a standout prep volleyball player and member of various USA Volleyball Youth and Junior National Teams before choosing to play college basketball.

DIVERSE ROSTER WITH INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
• Portland's roster features players from a variety of geographic locations as four players are from the state of California, but all other 11 Pilots hail from different states, countries or territories.
• Other Pilots came to The Bluff from Alabama, Hawai'i, Illinois, Mali, Maryland, New Zealand, Oregon, Puerto Rico, New York, Texas and Washington.
• 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.

AUSSIE SHARPSHOOTER SIGNS WITH PILOTS
• Zac Triplett, a shooting guard from Melbourne, Australia, signed a National Letter of Intent with Portland on Nov. 13. He will join the Pilots as a freshman in 2020.
• The 6-foot-5, 165-pound sharp-shooter has represented Victoria on state teams at the Under-18 and Under-20 Australian National Championships.
• He helped Victoria win the Gold Medal at the 2019 School Sport Australia (SSA) National Championships in the U-18 division. The previous year, he earned All-Australian Team honors at the SSA National Championships.
• Triplett also led Maribyrnong to a Bronze Medal at the 2018 Australia School Championships for the Under-20, Division I level.