Portland Pilots (6-8, 0-5 WCC) vs. San Diego Toreros (1-6, 0-3 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021
Time: 2:00 p.m.
City: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: NBC Sports NW
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland and San Diego will meet each looking for their first West Coast Conference victory on Saturday at the Chiles Center. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. and the game will be televised on NBC Sports Northwest with Ann Schatz and Jennifer Mountain on the call.
• The Pilots (6-8, 0-5 WCC) dropped a road game to BYU on Thursday (95-67), while the Toreros (1-6, 0-3) fell in overtime at LMU (72-69).
• San Diego swept the series with the Pilots last season, including an 88-81 double overtime win at USD. The Toreros have won five straight in the series.
• 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: BYU 95, PILOTS 67 (JAN. 21 AT UP)
• BYU shot 57 percent from the field and pulled away in the second half Thursday at the Marriott Center. Matt Haarms scored a season-high 23 points and the Cougars dished out 28 assists, while Latrell Jones paced the Pilots with a season-high 21 points including 15 in the first half.
• Portland was without guards Isiah Dasher and Chase Adams, due to injury, but it looked promising early after a 13-0 run gave the Pilots a 16-9 lead. Jones scored 11 points during the surge before the Cougars locked in on defense and took a 37-31 lead into the half.
• BYU caught fire after the break and drilled 9-of-17 second half three-pointers and shot 66 percent from the field.
• BYU's size was tough to overcome, especially with C Michael Henn limited to just 18 minutes before fouling out. The Cougars gained a 44-27 rebounding margin and 42-22 edge in paint points.
• Ahmed Ali returned to the lineup for the Pilots and finished with 12 points and four assists. Freshman big Hayden Curtiss had a good all-around game off the bench with six points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Junior G Isiah Dasher (ankle) and sophomore PG Chase Adams (knee) are both questionable for Saturday.
• 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 15th 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 17.4 points per game ranks fourth 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.
• UP went with the same starting five for the first 11 games of the season, but has mixed it up the last three games with a combination of starters unavailable for various reasons.
• 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 Triplett.
• Curtiss has been a force defensively and ranks third in the WCC in blocked shots (18) 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 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 started and played all 40 minutes at Pepperdine last Saturday and finished with 10 points, seven assists and five steals.
• 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 (70) and is second in FT's attempted (81).

JONESING FOR MORE
• Junior G Latrell Jones recorded a season-high 21 points at BYU on Saturday. The Avondale, La. Native had 15 in the first half as the Pilots kept it close early.
• Jones has had numerous standout performances this season, including a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Portland State.
• He also just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds in a win over Montana State.
• Jones is second on the roster in rebounding at 4.7 per game.

FRESHMAN BLOCK PARTY
• Freshman F Hayden Curtiss ranks third in the WCC in blocked shots (18).
• 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.
• He had a solid all-around game at BYU Thursday finishing with six points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals against a tough and experienced front court.
• 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 fourth in WCC in scoring (17.4) 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 7.9 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 11.7 points per game and leads the team in rebounds (5.1).
• 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 10.4 points and 4.7 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 SAN DIEGO
• The Toreros (1-6, 0-3 WCC) dropped a 72-69 overtime decision at LMU on Thursday. USD also has league losses to San Francisco and Santa Clara.
• San Diego was limited due to COVID-related issues during non-league play. The Toreros defeated Cal Poly and had D-I losses to UCLA, Nevada and UC Irvine.
• Joey Calcaterra leads USD in scoring at 15.2 per game, but has missed the last two contests. Josh Parrish is also contributing double figures at 10.7 per game.
• Head Coach Sam Scholl is in his third as head coach of the Toreros. USD finished last season 9-23 overall and 2-14 in league play.