Portland Pilots (9-6, 0-0 WCC) vs. BYU Cougars (11-3, 0-0 WCC)
Date: Jan. 1, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. (PT)
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
TV: Stadium
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets
Series: BYU leads 23-2

THIS WEEK 
• The Portland Pilots return to the Chiles Center and open West Coast Conference play against the BYU Cougars on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on Stadium with Noah Coslov and Tim Scarborough on the call.
• Tickets for all Pilot home games are available by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets and fans can take advantage of a Flex Plans or WCC Mini Packs offered now. Fans must show proof of vaccination or negative, lab-based COVID tests for admittance.
• 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 closed out non-league action with a road split before Christmas. The Pilots led for all but 10 seconds before dropping a heartbreaker at the buzzer to Montana State (61-59) on Dec. 19 and then overcame a 12-point second half deficit for a 65-60 win at UC Davis on Dec. 22.
• The Pilots fell to Montana State on Amin Adamu's jumper with 0.8 seconds left and Portland's halfcourt shot at the buzzer missed short. Chris Austin finished with his first career double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds and Tyler Robertson added 16 points for the Pilots. Portland held the Bobcats to 28 percent shooting overall and just 16 first half points, which matched the lowest points allowed in a half to a Division I opponent in program history, but were unable to hold the lead late.
• The Pilots bounced back for an important road win at UC Davis behind a team-high 18 points from Moses Wood and four second half three-pointers by Mike Meadows. Wood scored 16 of his points in the first half and hit two late free throws to ice the game, while Meadows added a game-high six assists. Robertson chipped in 13 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer and two important free throws down the stretch.
• Portland's nine non-league wins are the most since the 2010-11 team went 13-3 out of conference.
• Robertson, Austin and Wood comprise the second highest scoring trio from one team in the WCC at 44.0 points per game (Santa Clara's Williams/Justice/Pipes at 44.2).
• Robertson ranks among the WCC's top 10 in scoring (5th), rebounds (9th) and assists (7th). Eli Scott (LMU) is the only other player in the league to rank top 10 in all three categories.
• Mike Meadows recorded the first triple-double in program history with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against Willamette on Nov. 11. 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 nation in both free throws made (240) and free throw percentage (.814).
• Meadows leads the country in total minutes played (539). Robertson is second nationally in minutes per game (35.6) and Meadows is third (35.6).
• The Pilots broke the program's single game three-pointers made record with 18 against VMI on Dec. 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 BYU
• The Cougars (11-3, 0-0 WCC) will host Westminster on Wednesday before visiting the Pilots.
• BYU is ranked No. 30 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings after posting notable non-league wins against Oregon, Utah, Utah State, San Diego State and Cleveland State. The team's losses came against Creighton, Utah Valley and versus Vanderbilt at the Diamond Head Classic.
• Senior G Alex Barcello was a Preseason All-WCC Team selection and averages a team-best 17.9 points per game, while transfer G Te'Hon Lucas adds 10.0 points and a WCC-leading 5.2 assists per game
• The Cougars are holding opponents to below 40 percent shooting and 64.6 points per game.
• Head coach Mark Pope is in his third year with BYU and is on pace for his third 20-win season with the program. A former BYU assistant coach, Pope was the Utah Valley head coach four seasons before returning to the Cougars.
• BYU owns an 23-2 all-time series record over the Pilots including nine consecutive wins.
 
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 is on a nine-day hiatus before 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 50 of the latest NCAA Net Rankings: No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 30 BYU, No. 32 San Francisco and No. 48 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.