Portland Pilots (6-4, 0-1 WCC) vs. #1 Gonzaga Bulldogs (11-0, 2-0 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021
Time: 5 p.m.
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: ROOT Sports
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video | Audio | Stats

Portland vs. Gonzaga Series
Overall: GU leads 104-66
Streak: GU W12
At Portland: GU leads 43-35
At Gonzaga: GU leads 48-22
Neutral: GU leads 13-9
Last Game: #1 Gonzaga 85, Pilots 72 (1/2/20 – at Portland)

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland hosts top-ranked Gonzaga in a West Coast Conference meeting Saturday at the Chiles Center. The game tips off at 5 p.m. and will be televised live on ROOT Sports with Ann Schatz and Francis Williams on the call.
• This marks the second time the Pilots will host a No. 1-ranked team. The other was last season in an 85-72 loss to Gonzaga on Jan. 2. UP led by seven at the half, but would fall to 0-8 all-time against top-ranked teams in the Associated Press poll.
• The Pilots (6-4, 0-1 WCC) are coming off an 88-64 loss at San Francisco on Thursday, while the Bulldogs (11-0, 2-0) were 86-69 winners over BYU.
• 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: SAN FRANCISCO 88, PILOTS 64 (JAN. 7 AT USF)
• Portland led by two at halftime, but the San Francisco Dons erupted in the second half for an 88-64 victory Thursday night at the Sobrato Center.
• Isiah Dasher led the Pilots with 17 points and Ahmed Ali added 13 points.
• Khalil Shabazz and Jamaree Bouyea combined for 21 second half points including the first 10 points as San Francisco used a 10-0 run out of the halftime break.
• The Dons knocked down 10-of-26 second half three-pointers and shot 51 percent from the floor as they outscored the Pilots 47-21 after intermission. Portland was held to 28 percent shooting after halftime and was 0-for-8 from three-point range.
• Portland closed the first half with a 13-2 run, holding the Dons scoreless for the final 2:41 of the period to take a 43-41 lead into the break. Ali and Dasher sparked the surge and finished with 11 and 10 points in the first half, respectively.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• 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.
• The Pilots are shooting 76.9 percent from the free throw line as a team, which ranks 27th nationally. 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 18.4 points per game ranks third in the WCC.
• 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's starting lineup in each of the first ten games has consisted of all newcomers.
• 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 Zac Triplett and Hayden Curtiss.
• Curtiss has been a force defensively and ranks fourth in the WCC in blocked shots (1.5) despite playing less than 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).
• 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 13 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.
 
PILOTS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
• This will be the second time in as many years - and second time overall - that Portland has hosted the No. 1 ranked team at the Chiles Center, which opened in 1984.
• The Pilots are 0-8 all-time against top-ranked teams after falling 85-72 to the Zags last year. Portland led by seven at the half in that game before Gonzaga pulled away late.
• Portland is 7-71 all-time against ranked opponents and has never beaten a team in
the Associated Press Top 10. UP has lost 16 straight games against ranked teams.
• The last win against ranked competition for the Pilots was an 82-73 victory against No. 18 Gonzaga on Jan. 9, 2014 at the Chiles Center.

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 seven times, including a career-high 28 points against Portland State and 26 points at Oregon State. He ranks third in WCC in scoring (18.4) 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 7.8 points and 4.6 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 11.2 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 9.8 points and his 1.8 steals per game ranks second 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 8.9 points and 5.0 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 15-of-16 free throw attempts and has 11 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.
 
FREE THROW EFFICIENCY
• Portland is shooting 76.9 percent as a team at the free throw line and has been above 70 percent in nine of the first ten games. 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.

FRESHMAN BLOCK PARTY
• Freshman F Hayden Curtiss ranks fourth in the WCC in blocked shots per game (1.5).
• 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.

ABOUT #1 GONZAGA
• The Bulldogs (11-0, 2-0 WCC) are ranked No. 1 nationally in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls, as well as the latest NCAA NET Rankings.
• Gonzaga is first in the nation in scoring offense (94.3), second in field goal percentage (54.8), and third in assists (20.5).
• Corey Kispert leads the WCC in scoring (21.7) and is one of five Zags averaging double figures.
• Head Coach Mark Few has led GU to the NCAA Tournament in all 21 seasons at the helm, including five straight Sweet 16's and the 2017 NCAA title game.