Portland Pilots (9-18, 1-11 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (13-12, 6-5 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020
Time: 6:00 p.m. (PT)
City: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: ROOT Sports NW
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland will host its final West Coast Conference home games this week as Pepperdine and LMU visit the Chiles Center.
• The Pilots and Waves meet on Thursday at 6 p.m. live on ROOT Sports Northwest with Ann Schatz and Ben Braun on the call. Portland and LMU meet on Saturday at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Northwest.
• Saturday will feature pre-game recognition of graduate transfers Isaiah White and Lavar Harewood, as well as redshirt junior Malcolm Porter as part of Senior Day. The annual Halftime Mile will also happen at halftime as members of UP's men's track & field team will attempt to run a 4-minute mile on the Chiles Center track.
• All Pilot men's basketball games are on the radio on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard and Donald Wilson providing the commentary. The pre-game show begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
• All live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

LAST GAME
• Pacific used suffocating defense in a 75-55 victory over Portland Thursday night at the Spanos Center. Jahlil Tripp finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers, while JoJo Walker scored a game-high 20 points for the Pilots.
• Portland grad transfer Isaiah White passed the 1,000-point mark for his NCAA career late in the first half. He finished with 12 points for the game.
• The Pilots shot 41 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers with just three assists. The Tigers finished at 50 percent overall and gained a 37-21 rebounding edge.
• Pacific led 34-24 at the half and then Tripp opened the second half with a personal 7-0 run. Walker responded with five in a row and Tahirou Diabate converted a three-point play to make it 43-34. Another Walker jumper made it a seven-point deficit, but Pacific answered with back-to-back three-pointers and pushed the margin to as much as 26 points late in regulation.

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.
• 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 (3.8). White eclipsed the 1,000-points mark for his career at the Division I level on Thursday, while Adams is 26 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 (11.6).
• Due to injuries/absences, UP has used nine different starting lineups and no Pilots have started all 27 games. Malcolm Porter (knee) has missed the last five 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 PEPPERDINE
• The Waves (14-13, 7-6 WCC) sit alone in fifth place in the WCC standing.
• All six WCC losses have come against teams at the top of the league standings: Gonzaga (2), BYU (1), Saint Mary's (1) and Pacific (2).
• Notable non-conference wins came against UC Irvine, CSUN and Portland State. The Waves also had close losses to Arizona, USC and Providence.
• Junior G Colbey Ross is the WCC leader in assists (7.3) and ranks second in scoring (19.9), while senior F Kameron Edwards is fourth in the league in scoring (17.4).
• Head coach Lorenzo Romar is in his second season back at the helm of Pepperdine after previously serving as head coach in Malibu for three seasons (1997-99).

WHITE RECORDS 1,000TH POINT
• Isaiah White scored his 1,000th career point at the Division I level late in the first half at Pacific on Thursday. White scored 683 total points in two years at Maine before transferring to the Pilots as a grad student this year.
• 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. He became the first Pilot to earn the weekly honor since Alec Wintering on Jan. 2, 2017.
• 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.
• He ranks eighth in the WCC in blocks per game (0.8) and 15th in scoring (12.3).

SENIOR DAY RECOGNITION
• Portland will recognize three players on Saturday as part of the Senior Day pre-game recognition.
• Graduate transfers Isaiah White and Lavar Harewood will be completing their eligibility, while redshirt junior Malcolm Porter is scheduled to graduate in May. All three will be joined by friends and family as part of the pre-game celebration.

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.

WALKER LEADS THE WAY
• Junior G JoJo Walker has been on a tear of late with 20 points at Pacific and 19 points at San Diego. He has reached double figures in seven of the last eight games and 16 times overall this year.
• The Carolina, Puerto Rico native 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.
• Walker 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.

DIABATE CONTINUES TO SURGE
• Tahirou Diabate is averaging 14.1 points and 5.6 rebounds over his last seven 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).

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.
 
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-43 from three-point range, ranks seventh in the WCC in blocks (0.8) and is leading the team in rebounding (5.1).

OFFENSIVE UPTICK
• The Pilots have had a much more efficient offense this year compared to last season. Portland is shooting 43.5 percent overall, up from 41.4 percent last year. The team is also at 34.4 from three-point range this year versus 32.5 last season.
• The team is also logging 13.4 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.

ADAMS NAVIGATING
• Chase Adams has been a difference maker at point guard and ranks second in the WCC in steals (1.8) and seventh in assists (3.8).
• His 102 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 has missed five straight games with a knee injury, but hopes to return before the end of the regular season.
• 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.

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.