Portland Pilots (7-3, 0-0 WCC) vs. Cal Poly Mustangs (3-6, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Dec. 13, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. (PT)
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets
Series: Pilots lead 8-1

THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots begin a stretch of four games in six days by hosting the Cal Poly Mustangs on Monday at 7 p.m. The game will be aired live on the WCC Network with Ann Schatz and Jennifer Mountain on the call.
• The Pilots will visit Oregon on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network and then return to host the San Jose State Spartans on Friday at 6 p.m. on Portland's CW (KRCW-TV). Portland will then close out the non-conference season with road games at Montana State (Dec. 19) and UC Davis (Dec. 22) before opening West Coast Conference play versus BYU on Jan. 1 at the Chiles Center.
• Tickets for all Pilot home games are available by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.
• Pilot men's basketball games are on the radio on 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard and Xavier Hallinan calling the action. The program begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off and the concludes with a full post-game show.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PortlandMBB on Twitter for in-game updates.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland will close out the non-conference season with a stretch of five games in nine days beginning Monday against Cal Poly. The Pilots are coming off a 10-day layoff through finals week.
• Portland was last in action on Dec. 3 and dropped a 90-82 decision to VMI at the Chiles Center. The Pilots trailed by as much as 21 points early in the second half before rallying with chances to take the lead late but fell short.
• Chris Austin scored a career-high 26 points against VMI, while Moses Wood added 20 to lead the way. Tyler Robertson picked up his second double-double of the year with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
• The Pilots broke the program record for three-pointers made in a game by knocking down 18-of-46 against VMI. The previous record of 16 was set against Idaho on Dec. 22, 2009.
• Robertson, Wood and Austin comprise the highest scoring trio from one team in the WCC at 47.3 points per game.
• Robertson is the only player in the WCC to rank in the top six in scoring (6th), rebounds (3rd) and assists (5th).
• Mike Meadows recorded the first triple-double in program history with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against Willamette on Nov. 11. Meadows is one of six D-I players this season with triple doubles. The Pilots also set a new single game scoring record in the 122-78 victory, eclipsing the 115 scored against St. Martin's in 1978.
• Portland leads the WCC and ranks Top 10 nationally in both free throws made (179) and FT percentage (.803).
• The Pilots rank second in the WCC and 27th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.3). Portland also ranks third in the league in defensive FG percentage (.394).
• Head coach Shantay Legans was hired last March after he led Eastern Washington to the NCAA Tournament. In his four years as head coach at EWU, Legans compiled the best overall (.605) and conference (.726) winning percentages in school history.
• Portland returns three players from last year's roster and adds seven transfers and seven true freshmen. The 14 newcomers are tied with UT-Martin for the most in Division I this season.
• The seven incoming transfers are fourth most in the nation, while Portland's 8.5 percent returner scoring production is second lowest nationally.
• Portland, Saint Mary's and Arizona have the most international players (8) among all NCAA Division I schools.
• The Pilots signed NBA Academy and Australian U-19 National Teamer Bol Dengdit to a National Letter of Intent and he will join the program for the 2021-22 season.
• A total of 14 Pilot graduates are currently playing professionally, while alum Erik Spoelstra ('92) has won two NBA Championships as head coach of the Miami HEAT. Ben Sullivan ('07) also won a title last spring as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks coaching staff and is now an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.
• Portland has partnered with Portland's CW (KRCW-TV) to televise several home events this season while a minimum of 13 Pilot games will be aired on either Portland's CW, ROOT Sports Northwest or Stadium.


ABOUT CAL POLY
• The Mustangs are in the midst of a nine-game road trip that includes wins over Idaho (67-63) and Portland State (61-58). Four of the team's losses have come by three points or less.
• Cal Poly was picked ninth in the Big West Conference Preseason Poll.
• The Mustangs are holding teams to below 40 percent shooting and forcing 14.3 turnovers per game.
• John Smith is in his third year at the helm of Cal Poly and has a 14-47 overall record.
• Portland owns an 8-1 all-time series record over Cal Poly with the most recent meeting a 72-67 home win for the Pilots on Nov. 23, 2018.

GAMES IN BUNCHES
• Portland played nine games in the first 19 days of the season which began on Nov. 9 at Arizona State.
• The Pilots then took a 10-day break after hosting VMI on Dec. 3 for Finals Week on campus.
• After the team's run of five games in nine days ending at UC Davis on Dec. 22, the team will take a nine-day hiatus before opening West Coast Conference play by hosting BYU on Jan. 1.

EXPERIENCED 'YOUTH'
• Portland's roster features just two upperclassmen in terms of eligibility remaining: graduate transfer Jack Perry and COVID junior Clythus Griffith Jr.
• Portland's six other transfers all have three years of eligibility remaining including UNLV graduate transfer Moses Wood. The 6-8 forward began his career at Tulane and transferred to the Runnin' Rebels after a coaching change. He redshirted one of his two years at UNLV, which also had a coaching change this offseason, so Wood joins the Pilots with three years left to play.
• Chris Austin, Mike Meadows and Kristian Sjolund also spent three years at their previous schools, but each utilized redshirt seasons and got an extra year due to COVID.

COACHING CONTINUITY
• In addition to the three Eastern Washington players that transferred to Portland with Coach Legans, three staff members also made the move. Assistant coaches Bobby Suarez and T.J. Lipold, as well as video coordinator Thomas Moore remained with Legans during his transition to the Rose City.
• Legans' staff is one of the youngest in the nation as all three assistant coaches are 33 or younger.

WCC OFF TO HOT START
• The West Coast Conference has gotten off to a strong start to the 2021-22 season as four teams are ranked in the Top 40 of the latest NCAA Net Rankings: No. 7 Gonzaga, No. 27 San Francisco, No. 29 BYU and No. 40 Saint Mary's.
• The WCC is also the No. 8-ranked league acording to KenPom.com.
• Here are some notable wins through the first few weeks of the regular season:
Nov. 12: @BYU def. San Diego State, 66-60
Nov. 12: @Santa Clara def. Stanford, 88-72
Nov. 13: @#1 Gonzaga def. #5 Texas, 86-74
Nov. 16: BYU def. @#12 Oregon, 81-49
Nov. 22: Saint Mary's def. Notre Dame, 62-59
Nov. 22: Santa Clara def. TCU, 85-66
Nov. 23: #1 Gonzaga def. #2 UCLA, 83-63
Nov. 23: Saint Mary's def. Oregon, 62-50
Nov. 26: San Francisco def. UAB, 63-61
Nov. 27: #12 BYU def. @Utah, 75-64
Dec. 2: Saint Mary's def. @Utah State, 60-58

TICKET, VACCINATION & TESTING INFORMATION FOR HOME GAMES
We are thrilled to welcome fans back to the Chiles Center for Portland Pilots basketball games. Season tickets, flex packs and single-game offerings are available now by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or calling the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-GOUP. All guests ages 12 and up must provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or provide proof of either a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the event or a negative lab-based rapid test taken within 48 hours of the event. At-home tests will not be accepted. Kids under age 12 can come to events without proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test. Masks are required for all guests attending Portland Athletics events.