Portland Pilots (9-17, 1-10 WCC) at Pacific Tigers (19-8, 7-4 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020
Time: 7:00 p.m. (PT)
City: Stockton, Calif.
Arena: Spanos Center
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland continues West Coast Conference play with just one game this week. The Pilots will visit the Pacific Tigers on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Spanos Center.
• The upstart Tigers (19-8, 7-4 WCC) are tied for third in the WCC standings, while the Pilots are looking to snap a nine-game losing streak. Pacific defeated Portland by a 65-55 margin on Jan. 16 in the Rose City.
• Thursday's game will be aired live on the WCC Network. 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 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 fell to San Diego 88-81 in double overtime on the road last Saturday. The game featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes as Portland had the lead late in both regulation and first overtime period, but the Toreros made plays to pull out the win.
• JoJo Walker led the Pilots with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists. Tahirou Diabate finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, but was limited to 16 minutes and fouled out in the first overtime.
• Isaiah White had 15 points, Chase Adams finished with 11 and Theo Akwuba added 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
• UP erupted for 46 second half points after trailing 30-22 at the half, but gave up a late three-pointer at the end of regulation to force OT. White had a chance to win it with a runner to close out the first OT, but came up short.

PORTLAND NOTES
• Portland's nine wins have eclipsed last season's total of seven, while the 76-65 victory over San Francisco on Jan. 4 snapped a 23-game WCC regular season losing streak.
• The Pilots rank fourth in the WCC in field goal defense (.432) and third in blocked shots (3.8).
• Newcomers Isaiah White (grad transfer) and Chase Adams (freshman) have been impact contributors. White ranks 15th in the WCC in scoring (12.3) and was named the league's Player of the Week on Nov. 25, while Adams ranks second in the WCC in steals (1.8) and seventh in assists (3.9). White is nine points shy of scoring 1,000 for his career at the Division I level, while Adams is 27 assists short of tying the UP freshman record.
• 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 (11.2).
• Due to injuries/absences, UP has used nine different starting lineups and no Pilots have started all 26 games. Malcolm Porter (knee) has missed the last four games.
• Lavar Harewood (South Carolina State) joins White as a grad transfer adding experience as Portland has no true seniors on the roster.
• The current roster features players 10 different states, countries or territories including four from California and one each from Alabama, Illinois, Mali, Maryland, New Zealand, Oregon, Puerto Rico, New York 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 PACIFIC
• The Tigers (19-8, 7-4 WCC) are tied with Saint Mary's for third place in the league standings and enter Thursday's game having won four straight.
• Notable non-conference wins include Long Beach State, CSUN, Florida A&M and UNLV, while the Tigers lost to Hawaii, Boise State (3ot), South Dakota and UC Irvine.
• Senior Jahlil Tripp is the lone player averaging double figures at 15.2 points and 8.8 rebounds. A total of 12 players average 11 or more minutes per game.
• Portland native and former Trail Blazer Damon Stoudamire is in his fourth year as head coach of the Tigers.
• Pacific beat UP 65-55 in Portland on Jan. 16 and have won six straight in the series.

DIABATE CONTINUES TO SURGE
• Tahirou Diabate is averaging 15.0 points and 6.2 rebounds over his last six games.
• He missed the Jan. 23 at LMU due to an allergic reaction, but returned to the lineup and had a career game at Pepperdine on Jan. 25 with 25 points and seven rebounds. That bested his previous career-high of 19 points and he was an efficient 9-for-12 shooting from the field, 6-of-7 at the foul line and he drilled his only three-point attempt.
• He followed that with 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots at Saint Mary's on Thursday, going 7-for-8 from the field.
• Diabate finished with 14 points and eight rebounds vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 1 and 16 points and seven boards at San Diego on Feb. 8.
• He has also moved into the ninth place in UP history for career blocked shots (68).

INJURY BUG CONTINUES TO BITE
• Head Coach Terry Porter has had to juggle his lineup and rotation all season for a variety of reasons and the injury bug bit has bit hard recently.
• Sophomore G Takiula Fahrensohn returned to the rotation after missing the previous three games at LMU on Jan. 23, but junior C Tahirou Diabate, who was the only Pilot to start the previous 20 games, was a late scratch due to an allergic reaction.
• Backup PG Quincy Ferebee missed both the LMU and Pepperdine games, while junior G Malcolm Porter played just 49 seconds at LMU before getting injured and has not returned since.
• Ferebee returned to the lineup at Saint Mary's on Jan. 30, but the Pilots lost Lavar Harewood (back) for two games.
• A total of eight rotation players have missed at least one game due to injury or illness this season, while C Theo Akwuba, who was Portland's starting center last season, missed the first nine games of the year before becoming academically eligible.
• UP has featured nine different starting lineups with zero players starting every game.

TRYON FILLS THE STAT SHEET
• Jacob Tryon matched his career-high with 15 points at Pepperdine on Jan. 25. He also added nine rebounds and four assists.
• Tryon also had a remarkable all-around game at BYU on Jan. 11 with 12 points, six rebounds and a career-high eight assists. His previous high for assists was three.
• The Temecula, Calif. native has had a number of big games this year including a 10-point, eight-rebound, five-blocked shots effort in a Dec. 16 win against Florida A&M.
• 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 recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds against Evergreen State on Dec. 13.
• Tryon 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.
• The 7-footer is 16-for-42 from three-point range and ranks sixth in the WCC in blocks (0.8).

OFFENSIVE UPTICK
• The Pilots have had a much more efficient offense this year compared to last season. Portland is shooting 43.6 percent overall, up from 41.4 percent last year. The team is also at 34.5 from three-point range this year versus 32.5 last season.
• The team is also logging 13.8 assists per game this year compared to 11.5 a year ago.
• UP has shot above 45 percent from the field in all nine wins this season.

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 became the first Pilot to earn the 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 (991) 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 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 seventh in the WCC in blocked shots per game (0.8), 13th in steals (1.2) and 15th in scoring (12.3).

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 Pilots hail from different states, countries or territories.
• Other Pilots came to The Bluff from Alabama, 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.
 
WALKER LEADS THE WAY
• Junior G JoJo Walker opened WCC play strong with back-to-back quality outings.
• Against No. 1 Gonzaga, Walker finished a team-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting. He added five assists and zero turnovers.
• Walker followed with 19 points, six assists and five rebounds in Portland's win against San Francisco.
• He is second on the team in scoring (11.2) and has reached double figures 15 times.
• The Puerto Rico native posted a season-high 22 points at San Jose State while shooting 8-for-12 overall and 5-of-7 from three-point range.
• Walker is the team's leading returning scorer after averaging 11.5 per game last season and entered the season as the Pilots' active leader in points, minutes played, steals, free throws made and three-pointers made. He led the team in assists each of the last two seasons and ranked eighth in the WCC with 3.3 assists per game a year ago.

ADAMS NAVIGATING
• Chase Adams has been a difference maker at point guard out of the gates and ranks second in the WCC in steals (1.8) and seventh in assists (3.9).
• His 101 assists put him on pace to challenge the UP freshman single-season record of 128 held by Darwin Cook (1977).
• He tallied a career-high 19 points against Boise State in Hawaii.
• Adams had 11 points vs. Evergreen State, 14 against Florida A&M and 15 versus Jackson State before the team's trip to Hawaii.
• 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.

PORTER PRODUCES
• Malcolm Porter has had a breakout season averaging 9.8 points per game.
• He recorded back-to-back career highs with 16 points at BYU on Jan. 11 and then 17 points against Pacific on Jan. 16.
• He came up big with 13 points, three rebounds and three steals in the team's win against San Francisco on Jan. 4.
• Porter previously set a personal best with 15 points in the win over Incarnate Word.
• He 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.
• Porter followed with an efficient 13 points and four rebounds at Portland State, finishing 5-for-8 from the field and 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.

AKWUBA SEEING DOUBLE
• Sophomore C Theo Akwuba recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds at San Diego. He previously finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots in 18 minutes  at BYU on Jan. 11.
• The Montgomery, Ala. native started 26 games as a true freshman last year, but missed the first nine games this year due to academics.
• He averaged a triple-double with blocked shots as a senior in high school and then ranked second in the WCC in blocked shots per game last year (1.5).
• Akwuba already ranks 11th in school history with 61 career blocked shots and is three shy of cracking the top 10.

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.