Portland Pilots (6-10, 0-7 WCC) vs. BYU Cougars (14-4, 5-2 WCC)
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2021
Time: 4:00 p.m. (PT)
City: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: Stadium
Radio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland hosts the BYU Cougars in a West Coast Conference game on Thursday at the Chiles Center. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. and the game will be aired on Stadium with Ann Schatz and Francis Williams on the call.
• The WCC announced on Wednesday that the Pilots will also host Pepperdine on Saturday at 4 p.m., moving up a previously scheduled Feb. 18 contest between the teams.
• The Pilots (6-10, 0-7 WCC) have lost eight straight after a 75-50 home defeat to LMU on Jan. 25. The Cougars (14-4, 5-2) beat Pacific in double OT on Jan. 30 (95-87) and have won nine of their last eleven games.
• BYU has won eight straight against UP, including a 95-67 win in Provo on Jan. 21.
• 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: LMU 75, PILOTS 50 (JAN. 25 AT UP)
• Mattias Markusson finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Lions to victory. Latrell Jones led three Pilots in double figures with 13 points. Eddie Davis and Michael Henn added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
• Portland was without its leading scorer and third best scorer in the WCC as Ahmed Ali was unavailable due to injury.
• LMU racked up 30 points in the paint and a 39-15 rebounding margin, while knocking down 13-of-25 three-point attempts.
• The Lions used 20-2 run to jump out to a 30-11 advantage early and closed the half with a 39-28 lead. Jones drilled a three-pointer to make it 41-33, but LMU responded with an 11-2 run and the margin would grow to as much as 26 points down the stretch.
• The Lions shot 55 percent overall, while the Pilots shot 41 percent and 7-for-21 from three-point range. The Pilots also entered the game making nearly 18 free throws per contest, but were just 1-for-2 from the line in the loss.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Leading scorer Ahmed Ali (ankle) will be a game-time decision on Thursday.
• The Pilots are shooting 77.8 percent from the free throw line as a team, which ranks 15th nationally and second to only Pepperdine (80.3) 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 18.4 points per game ranks third in the WCC.
• Portland's five-game win streak before falling to Oregon on Dec. 19 matched the program's best since winning six straight during the 2008-09 season.
• 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 the last four games with players unavailable for various reasons.
• 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 (1.4) 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.
• Former NBA All-Star Terry Porter is in his fifth year as the head coach of the Pilots.
• The Pilots signed PG Deng Dut (6-4, 190) from Melbourne, Australia and the College of Southern Idaho to a NLI in November.
 
FREE THROW EFFICIENCY
• Portland is shooting 77.8 percent as a team at the free throw line and has been above 70 percent in all but three 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 also leads the WCC in free throws made (76).
 
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 4.5 per game.
 
FRESHMAN BLOCK PARTY
• Freshman F Hayden Curtiss earned his first career start vs. LMU on Jan. 25 and ranks third in the WCC in blocked shots (1.4).
• Curtiss was one off the school record when he collected six blocked shots against Montana State Dec. 22. He came back with four more blocks at Seattle U Dec. 30.
• He had a solid all-around game at BYU Thursday finishing with six points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals against a tough and experienced front court.
• The North Bend, Wash. native won the Washington State title as a senior at Mount Si High School.
 
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 (18.4) 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 7.8 points and 3.80 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 11.4 points per game and leads the team in rebounds (4.8).
• Junior G Isiah Dasher had two standout years at State College of Florida. Dasher is averaging 8.0 points and his 1.6 steals per game ranks fifth in the WCC.
• Junior G Latrell Jones played two years at College of Central Florida and adds 10.8 points and 4.5 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 25-of-26 free throw attempts and has 13 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 BYU
• The Cougars (14-4, 5-2) held off Pacific in double overtime on Jan. 30 after dropping a 76-73 road game at Pepperdine three days earlier. BYU opened WCC play with a loss at No. 1 Gonzaga, but is in contention for a NCAA bid with a NCAA NET Ranking of 37.
• BYU posted notable non-conference wins against Utah, Utah State and San Diego
State, with losses to Boise State and USC.
• Alex Barcello leds three Cougars in double figures at 15.4 points per game and is shooting 52 percent from the field. Purdue grad transfer Matt Haarms adds 11.3 points and leads the WCC in blocked shots per game (1.8).
• Head Coach Mark Pope is in his second year at the helm of the Cougars after a successful four-year stint at Utah Valley.