SAN MATEO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference announced on Wednesday the conference schedule for all WCC programs, including the Portland Pilots. The Pilots will play 16 WCC games this season, with three of their opponents partaking in postseason play this past season, including the NCAA March Madness runners-up, the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The Pilots will get things started with a matchup against a perennial conference powerhouse in the BYU Cougars. Portland will play host to the Cougars – who made their first NCAA Tournament since 2015 this past season – on New Year's Day. BYU has finished at least third in the WCC every year since joining the conference in 2011.

Portland will then head to Los Angeles for their first road contest against the Loyola Marymount Lions on Jan. 6 before returning home on Jan. 8 to finish the weekend with a game against the Santa Clara Broncos in the Chiles Center.

After that, the Pilots will be back on the road, headed to Southern California for a pair of games against the San Diego Toreros (Jan. 13) and the Pepperdine Waves (Jan. 15). The Waves finished third in the conference this past season and won the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) with a dominant 84-61 win over Coastal Carolina. It was their first championship since being crowned the WCC regular season champs in 2002 and their first postseason championship since winning the WCC Tournament in 1994.

Portland will have one game at home and another on the road the following weekend, starting with a Chiles Center clash with the San Francisco Dons on Jan. 20. The Dons finished only eighth in the conference, but put together several impressive wins, including a 61-60 upset over Virginia, who was ranked fourth in the nation at the time. The Pilots will then head to Provo on Jan. 22 for their final contest against BYU of the season.

Portland will play a home game against the Pacific Tigers on Jan. 27 before heading to Spokane, Wash. for a matchup against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Zags are one of the top programs in the nation and went undefeated in the regular season last year before falling in the national championship to the Baylor Bears 86-70. It will be the Pilots' first game in Spokane since 2018.

Portland will play host the following weekend to the Saint Mary's Gaels on Feb. 3 – a doubleheader with the women's team – before heading to San Francisco on Feb. 5 for a rematch against the Dons. The Gaels have also historically been one of the best teams in the conference, with five NCAA Tournament appearances since 2010, three WCC Tournament championships since 2010 and three WCC regular season championships since 2011.

The longest conference homestand of the season follows, with three games against California opponents. It starts with a matchup against the Loyola Marymount Lions on Feb. 12 before Portland's final two home games against San Diego (Feb. 17) and Pepperdine (Feb. 19). They'll finish the regular season off on the road, with rematches against Pacific (Feb. 24) and Santa Clara (Feb. 26).

The 2022 UCU WCC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will take place March 3-8 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The Pilots are led by new head coach Shantay Legans, who has brought in an almost entirely new roster for the 2021-22 season. Legans has welcomed seven transfers, with three joining him from Eastern Washington – Mike Meadows, Tyler Robertson and Jack Perry. Matheus Silveira, Moses Wood, Chris Austin and Kristian Sjolund have also all transferred in from other Division I programs. Legans has also brought in five freshmen in Yaru Harvey, Skylar Wilson, Nikola Milosevic, Matija Svetozarevic and Vasilije Vucinic.

Portland men's basketball season tickets, group packages and youth team experiences are available now. For more ticket information, visit PortlandPilots.com or call Dave Taylor at (503) 943-8619 to sign up for season tickets or reserve a group experience today.

2021-22 PORTLAND MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Jan. 1 vs. BYU
Jan. 6 at LMU
Jan. 8 vs. Santa Clara
Jan. 13 at San Diego
Jan. 15 at Pepperdine
Jan. 20 vs. San Francisco
Jan. 22 at BYU
Jan. 27 vs. Pacific
Jan. 29 at Gonzaga
Feb. 3 vs. Saint Mary's
Feb. 5 at San Francisco
Feb. 12 vs. LMU
Feb. 17 vs. San Diego
Feb. 19 vs. Pepperdine
Feb. 24 at Pacific
Feb. 26 at Santa Clara
Mar. 3-8 UCU WCC Championships (Las Vegas)

*Home games in BOLD