Portland Pilots (6-7, 0-4 WCC) at BYU Cougars (11-3, 2-1 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021
Time: 6:00 p.m. (PT)
City: Provo, Utah
Arena: Marriott Center
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Audio I Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland continues West Coast Conference play with a tough road game against the BYU Cougars on Thursday at 6 p.m. (PT). The Pilots (6-7, 0-4 WCC) are 0-11 all-time against the Cougars (11-3, 2-1) at the Marriott Center.
• The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network with Carter Blackburn and Avery Johnson on the call.
• Portland has lost five straight following an 80-65 road loss at Pepperdine on Saturday.
• BYU moved up to No. 34 in the NCAA NET rankings after an impressive road win at Saint Mary's last week.
• All Pilot men's basketball games are on the radio on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard calling the action. The pre-game show begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PilotHoops on Twitter for in-game updates.

LAST GAME: PEPPERDINE 80, PILOTS 65 (JAN. 16 AT PEP)
• Five Portland players - including leading scorer Ahmed Ali - did not make the trip because of travel destination concerns related to COVID 19.
• Eddie Davis paced the Pilots with 19 points and eight rebounds and Latrell Jones added 15 points and six rebounds. Michael Henn added 14 points and Chase Adams made his first start of the season and finished with 10 points, seven assists and five steals.
• The Waves led by nine at the half and 17 early in the second half, but Portland used an 11-0 run highlighted by a pair of Davis threes to cut the deficit to six. Pepperdine quickly went back up double digits and maintained separation down the stretch.
• Portland held Colbey Ross in check early as Pepperdine's all-time leading scorer was scoreless until he hit a runner in the lane with less than five seconds left in the half to give the Waves a 40-31 halftime edge.
• Ross was held to a career-low four points, but dished out 10 assists. His previous low was five points against the Pilots as a true freshman on Feb. 24, 2018.
• Pepperdine shot 49 percent from the field and gained a 44-31 rebounding advantage, while the Pilots finished at 41 percent overall and just 7-of-26 from three-point range.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are expected to have all active players available against BYU.
• Portland's 88 points against Gonzaga on Jan. 7 was a season-high against a Division I opponent for the Pilots and matched Iowa for the second highest total scored against the Bulldogs this season (Kansas scored 90).
• The Pilots are shooting 78.2 percent from the free throw line as a team, which ranks 14th nationally and second to only Pepperdine (80.3) in the WCC. The program's single-season record is 74.8 percent (1990-91).
• Ahmed Ali garnered WCC Player of the Week honors as well as mid-major National Player of the Week on Dec. 14 after erupting for 26 points, six rebounds and four assists in an overtime win at Oregon State. His 17.8 points per game ranks third in the WCC.
• Portland's five-game win streak before falling to Oregon on Dec. 19 matched the program's best since winning six straight during the 2008-09 season.
• UP lost its season-opener to Seattle U. The game was scheduled on less than 24 hours' notice for the Pilots, replacing Idaho who was unable to play due to COVID.
• Portland got a later start than most as a result of complications from COVID-19. The Pilots were waiting for an exemption from the State of Oregon and Oregon Health Authority before being allowed full contact practice. UP was given the exemption on Sunday, Nov. 22, three days before the season officially started.
• The Pilot roster features nine newcomers to The Bluff this season, while returning just five lettermen. Only four of those returners are on the active roster, as senior F Tahirou Diabate has opted out of the season for personal reasons.
• The Pilots return just 25 percent of the scoring from last year to the active roster.
• Portland got much-needed experience with the addition of Division I transfers Ahmed Ali (Washington State/Hawaii) and Michael Henn (UC Davis/Cal Baptist). The Pilots also hit the JUCO recruiting circuit in the spring and signed five players from those ranks to join incoming freshmen Hayden Curtiss and Zac Triplett.
• Curtiss has been a force defensively and ranks fourth in the WCC in blocked shots (1.2) despite playing just 10 minutes per game. His six blocked shots against Montana State Dec. 22 was one shy of the school record (Bart Koenitzer, 1/14/89 vs. San Diego).
• Sophomore PG Chase Adams is coming off of an impressive season where he racked up the second most assists by a Pilot freshman in program history (117), trailing only Hall of Famer and former NBA standout, Darwin Cook (128). Adams also led the WCC in steals per game (1.8) and was eighth in assists per game (3.7). He collected five steals in his first start of the season on Saturday at Pepperdine.
• The current roster features players from 11 different states, countries or territories including three from Washington, two from California and Canada, and one each from Australia, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Mali, New Zealand, New Jersey and North Carolina.
• The Pilots were picked to finish 10th in the WCC Preseason Head Coaches Poll.
• A total of 14 former Pilots have played professionally overseas in the last year, 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 fifth year as the head coach of the Pilots.
• The Pilots signed PG Deng Dut (6-4, 190) from Melbourne, Australia and the College of Southern Idaho to a NLI in November.
 
FREE THROW EFFICIENCY
• Portland is shooting 78.2 percent as a team at the free throw line and has been above 70 percent in all but two games this season. The program record for a season is 74.8 percent (1990-91).
• The team was 25-for-26 from the stripe against Montana State on Dec. 22 and converted all 17 second-half attempts to overcome a double-digit first half deficit.
• Ahmed Ali made 15-of-18 attempts against Portland State to become the first Pilot since Alec Wintering on Nov. 25, 2016 to make 15-or-more in a game. Ali also leads the WCC in free throws made (69) and attempted (80).

ADAMS STEALS AND DISHES
• Sophomore PG Chase Adams got the start at Pepperdine on Saturday and finished with 10 points, seven assists and five steals.
• The Chicago, Ill. native led the WCC in steals as a true freshman last season with 1.8 per game.

FRESHMAN BLOCK PARTY
• Freshman F Hayden Curtiss ranks fourth in the WCC in blocked shots per game (1.3).
• Curtiss was one off the school record when he collected six blocked shots against Montana State Dec. 22. He came back with four more blocks at Seattle U Dec. 30.
• The North Bend, Wash. native won the Washington State title as a senior at Mount Si High School.

TRIPLET SHOWS THE STROKE
• Freshman G Zac Triplett made the most of his minutes against Gonzaga on Jan. 9 and finished with a season-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Triplett did his damage in just 12 minutes, all in the second half.

IMPACT D-I TRANSFERS
• Division I transfers Ahmed Ali and Michael Henn have been impact contributors and provided much needed experience to the roster.
• Ali, a JC All-American at Eastern Florida State College, started for Washington State during the 2018-19 season before transferring to Hawaii and sitting out last year due to injury. He has led the team in scoring eight times, including a career-high 28 points against Portland State and 26 points at Oregon State. He ranks third in the WCC in scoring (17.8) and was named the WCC Player of the Week on Dec. 14.
• Henn helped UC Davis reach the NCAA Tournament as a freshman in 2017 before transferring to Cal Baptist. He sat one year and then started 24 games during the 2018-19 season before being sidelined last year with an injury. Henn scored a career-high 21 points vs. College of Idaho on Dec. 15 and is averaging 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds.

JUCO TRANSFERS PROVIDE BIG BOOST
• Portland signed five JUCO transfers in the spring and they have had a major impact.
• Junior F Eddie Davis helped Colby JC in Kansas reach the JUCO Nationals and earned league MVP honors. Davis is second on the roster at 12.1 points per game and also leads the team in rebounds (5.2).
• Junior G Isiah Dasher had two standout years at State College of Florida. Dasher is averaging 8.5 points and his 1.6 steals per game ranks fourth in the WCC.
• Junior G Latrell Jones became the first Pilot this season to record a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Portland State. Jones played two years at College of Central Florida and adds 9.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
• Junior G Clythus Griffith, Jr. has been a sharpshooter off the bench who averaged more than 20 points per game last year at SW Tennessee Community College. Griffith Jr. has made 25-of-26 free throw attempts and has 13 steals.
• Junior F Hunter Seymour is a developing big man that played at Cabrillo College the last two years and averaged a double-double of 11.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots per game a year ago. He logged season highs of four points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots vs. College of Idaho.
 
ABOUT BYU
• The Cougars (11-3, 2-1 WCC) picked up a big road sweep at Saint Mary's (62-52) and San Francisco (72-63) last week after opening WCC play with a loss at No. 1 Gonzaga.
• BYU posted notable non-conference wins against Utah, Utah State and San Diego State, with losses to Boise State and USC.
• Alex Barcello leds three Cougars in double figures at 16.3 points per game and is shooting 56 percent from the field and three-point range. Purdue grad transfer Matt Haarms adds 11.2 points and leads the WCC in blocked shots (22).
• Head Coach Mark Pope is in his second year at the helm of the Cougars after a successful four-year stint at Utah Valley.