Portland Pilots (6-14, 0-11 WCC) at San Diego Toreros (3-8, 2-5 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021
Time: 6 p.m.
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Arena: Jenny Craig Pavilion
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video | Audio | Stats

Portland vs. San Diego Series
Overall: USD leads 59-31
Streak: USD W6
At Portland: USD leads 28-16
At San Diego: USD leads 28-12
Neutral: Tied 3-3
Last Game: San Diego 78, Pilots 70 (1/23/21 – at Portland)

GAME INFORMATION
• The Portland Pilots and San Diego Toreros will meet on Thursday with a 6 p.m. tip-off at Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game will be aired on the WCC Network. Portland will then conclude the regular season at Santa Clara on Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Portland enters the contest on a 12-game losing streak, including a 78-70 loss at home to San Diego on Jan. 23. The Toreros have since lost twice to top-ranked Gonzaga and beat Santa Clara 71-60 on the road.
• Portland Interim Head Coach Ben Johnson is at the helm for the fourth game after the the Pilots and Terry Porter parted ways on Feb. 5.
• 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: PACIFIC 80, PILOTS 58 (FEB. 20 AT PORTLAND)
• Portland was without leading scorer Ahmed Ali (foot) and Pacific came out on fire with a 12-0 lead to open the game. The Tigers led by as much as 24 late in the first half before a 7-0 Pilot run to cut the deficit to 47-30 at the break.
• The Pilots pulled within 16 midway through the second half after three free throws by Zac Triplett, but the Tigers stretched the lead with a 7-0 run and cruised down the stretch.
• Triplett finished with a team high 12 points, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, off the bench. Isiah Dasher added 11 points, four blocked shots and two steals. Michael Henn was also in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds.
• Pacific shot 54 percent from the field and gained a 39-20 rebounding edge in the game. The Pilots were held to 35 percent overall and were outscored 44-16 in the paint.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are shooting 77.7 percent from the free throw line as a team, which ranks 18th nationally and first 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 multiple 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 Zac 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. 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 77.7 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 throw percentage (.870) and third in free throws made (80).
 
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 4.0 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 7.9 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 11.5 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 7.7 points and his 1.4 steals per game ranks fifth in the WCC.
• Junior G Latrell Jones played two years at College of Central Florida and adds 10.6 points and 4.0 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 30-of-32 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 SAN DIEGO
• The Toreros (3-8, 2-5 WCC) have played just three games since defeating the Pilots 78-70 at the Chiles Center on Jan. 23.
• San Diego lost twice to top-ranked Gonzaga, but picked up a big road win at Santa Clara (71-60) on Feb. 18.
• San Diego has been lon pause due to COVID-related issues multiple times this year. The Toreros played just four non-league games, defeating Cal Poly and losing to UCLA, Nevada and UC Irvine.
• Joey Calcaterra leads USD in scoring at 13.7 per game and Josh Parrish is also contributing double figures at 10.7 per game.
• Head Coach Sam Scholl is in his third as head coach of the Toreros. USD finished last season 9-23 overall and 2-14 in league play.