Portland Pilots (8-3, 0-0 WCC) at Oregon Ducks (5-5, 0-2 Pac-12)
Date: Dec. 15, 2021
Time: 6 p.m. (PT)
Place: Eugene, Ore.
Arena: Matthew Knight Arena
TV: Pac-12 Network
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Series: Oregon leads 50-10

THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots visit in-state rival Oregon on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. tip-off on the Pac-12 Network. Portland then returns to the Chiles Center to host the San Jose State Spartans on Friday at 6 p.m. on Portland's CW (KRCW-TV). The Pilots close out the non-conference season with road games at Montana State (Dec. 19) and UC Davis (Dec. 22).
• 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 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 knocked off Cal Poly in a 78-77 thriller on Monday night to begin a stretch of five games in ten days to close out the non-conference season. Kristian Sjolund scored a career-high 20 points and Mike Meadows made a pair of clutch free throws with 8.7 seconds left to secure the win.
• Tyler Robertson finished with 16 points and seven assists against the Mustangs, while Meadows and Chris Austin added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
• For the second straight game the Pilots found the touch from three-point range. The team was 11-for-25 against Cal Poly from beyond the arc. Previously against VMI, the Pilots broke the program record for three-pointers made in a game by knocking down 18-of-46. 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 46.1 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 No. 3 nationally in free throws made (196) and fifth in free throw percentage (.810).
• The Pilots rank second in the WCC in turnovers forced per game (14.3).
• 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 OREGON
• The Ducks (5-5, 0-2 Pac-12) lost a pair of close Pac-12 games last week to Arizona State (69-67, ot) and at Stanford (72-69). Oregon has posted wins against Texas Southern, SMU, Montana and UC Riverside with non-league losses to BYU, Saint Mary's and Houston.
• The Ducks were picked second in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll and were nationally-ranked early in the season.
• Oregon is holding opponents to just 65.2 points per game and forcing 13.7 turnovers per outing.
• Will Richardson (11.4) and Eric Williams Jr. (10.6) lead a balanced scoring attack as eight players average 14 or more minutes per game.
• Head coach Dana Altman has accumulated a 695-358 career record, including a 285-115 (.713) record with the Ducks.
 
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 ten 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. 6 Gonzaga, No. 26 San Francisco, No. 29 BYU and No. 40 Saint Mary's.
• The WCC is also the No. 8-ranked league according 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.