Portland Pilots (6-13, 0-10 WCC) vs. Pacific Tigers (6-6, 3-5 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021
Time: 1:00 p.m. (PT)
City: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: NBC Sports Northwest
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• The Pilots and Tigers will meet again nine days after Pacific took an 84-57 victory over the shorthanded Pilots in Stockton, Calif. The teams meet at the Chiles Center on Saturday with a 1 p.m. tip-off. The game will be televised live on NBC Sports Northwest with Ann Schatz and Jennifer Mountain calling the action.
• Portland has not played since the Feb. 11 meeting, while Pacific dropped an 80-76 decision at LMU on Feb. 13. The Tigers host BYU on Thursday before treking north. Pacific has won eight straight in the series against the Portland.
• Interim Head Coach Ben Johnson will run the show for his third game at the helm of the Pilots. Johnson was promoted on Feb. 5 after the departure of Terry Porter.
• 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.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are shooting 77.5 percent from the free throw line as a team, which ranks 19th nationally and second to only Pepperdine (78.3) in the WCC. The program's single-season record is 74.8 percent (1990-91).
• 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).
• 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 18.0 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. With the Pepperdine game moving, Portland has had six WCC games changed as a result of opponent COVID-related issues.
• 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 since with players unavailable due to injury.
• 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 (1.3) despite playing just 11 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). Against Pepperdine on Jan. 16 he 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.
• 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.
• The Pilots signed PG Deng Dut (6-4, 190) from Melbourne, Australia and the College of Southern Idaho to a NLI in November.
• Portland announced a coaching change on Feb. 5. Fifth-year head coach Terry Porter's era ended and assistant coach Ben Johnson was promoted to interim head coach.

SCHEDULE UPDATE
• The WCC announced changes to the final week of the regular season schedule on Thursday. Portland will still play at San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m., but instead of visiting Loyola Marymount on Saturday, the Pilots will head to Santa Clara. Tip-off for Saturday's game at the Leavey Center will be 7 p.m.

FREE THROW EFFICIENCY
• Portland is shooting 77.5 percent as a team at the free throw line and has been above 70 percent in all but four 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 is second in the WCC in free throws made (80) and third in percentage (.870).
 
JONESING FOR MORE
• Junior G Latrell Jones recorded a season-high 21 points at BYU on Jan. 21. 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 4.2 per game.
 
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 nine times, including a career-high 28 points against Portland State and 26 points at Oregon State. He ranks third in WCC in scoring (18.0) 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 7.7 points and 3.4 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 11.8 points per game and leads the team in rebounds (4.5).
• Junior G Isiah Dasher had two standout years at State College of Florida. Dasher is averaging 7.5 points and his 1.4 steals per game ranks sixth in the WCC.
• Junior G Latrell Jones played two years at College of Central Florida and adds 10.8 points and 4.2 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 29-of-30 free throw attempts and has 14 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 PACIFIC
• The Tigers (6-6, 3-5) have had a tough WCC schedule, losing twice to Gonzaga, as well as road games to Pepperdine, BYU and LMU. Pacific hosts BYU Thursday before playing the Pilots.
• Pacific posted notable non-conference wins against UC Riverside (66-60) and Montana State (74-70) in overtime with the only loss on the road at Nevada (70-58).
• Daniss Jenkins leads a balanced scoring attack with 12.9 points per game. Jeremiah Bailey (12.3) and Broc Finstuen (10.4) also average double figures.
• Head Coach Damon Stoudamire is in his fifth year at the helm of the Tigers and is the reigning WCC Coach of the Year.

LAST GAME: PACIFIC 84, PILOTS 57 (FEB. 11 AT PACIFIC)
• The Pilots were without leading scorer Ahmed Ali and fellow point guard Chase Adams, due to injury, and the Tigers took advantage.
• Michael Henn led the Pilots with 13 points, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Isiah Dasher moved into the starting PG role for the night and finished with 10 points.
• Interim head coach Ben Johnson played all 12 active players at least eight minutes and sophomore walk-on Miles Turner scored his first points of the season. Fellow walk-on Wyatt Watson buried a pair of three-pointers late for a season-high six points.
• Jeremiah Bailey led four Pacific players in double figures with 21 points, while Jordan Bell added 18 points and nine rebounds.
• Pacific shot 52 percent from the field and held the Pilots to 37 percent. The Tigers also racked up a 38-24 rebounding margin for the game and scored 40 points in the paint.
• Henn buried a 3-pointer on the first offensive possession to give UP a brief lead, but Pacific quickly raced to a double digit advantage. The margin grew to 21 points late in the period before an Eddie Davis three and two Henn FT's made it 45-28 at the half.
• The Tigers created more separation early in the second half and would lead by as much as 32 points late in regulation.