Portland Pilots (9-6, 0-0 WCC) at San Diego Toreros (8-7, 1-1 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. (PT)
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Arena: Jenny Craig Pavilion
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

Portland Pilots (9-6, 0-0 WCC) at Pepperdine Waves (6-11, 0-2 WCC
Date: Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022
Time: 5 p.m. (PT)
Place: Malibu, Calif.
Arena: Firestone Fieldhouse
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

THIS WEEK
• The Portland men's basketball team will be back in action this week with a three-game road trip to open the West Coast Conference season. The Pilots (9-6) open at San Diego on Thursday at 7 p.m. before visiting Pepperdine on Saturday at 5 p.m. and LMU on Monday at 4 p.m.
• All three games will be available on the WCC Network.
• Pilot men's basketball games are on the radio on 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard 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 (6th) 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 ranks second nationally in free throw percentage (.814) 15th in free throws made (240). The Pilots lead the WCC in each of those categories, as well as total free throw attempts (295).
• Robertson leads the WCC in minutes per game (35.6) and Meadows is second in the league (35.6). They both rank Top 25 nationally for minutes per game.
• 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 two 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 returners accounted for less than one percent of the scoring production last season, which is second lowest nationally.
• Portland has a total of seven international players on the roster.
• 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 SAN DIEGO
• The Toreros (8-7, 1-1 WCC) opened league play with an 88-73 loss at San Francisco, but bounced back for a 72-62 road victory against Pepperdine on Monday.
• San Diego posted notable non-conference wins against Nevada, UC Riverside and Cal Poly.
• St. John's transfer Marcellus Earlington leads a balanced attack at13.5 points per game, while Denver transfer Jace Townsend adds 11.7 per game.
• Pitt transfer Terrell Brown-Soares ranks second in the WCC in blocks (2.8) and fourth in rebounds (8.1).
• Head coach Sam Scholl is in his fourth year at the helm. In his first full season, Scholl led USD to 21 wins and an NIT berth, but finished just 3-11 a season ago.
 
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 has been off due to the Holiday Break and the first three games of the league season being postponed due to COVID issues.
 
EXPERIENCED 'YOUTH'
• Portland's roster features just one upperclassman in terms of eligibility remaining: graduate transfer Jack Perry, who suffered a season ending injury vs. Portland State on Nov. 23.
• 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 PROJECTED TO GET FOUR NCAA BIDS
• The West Coast Conference has gotten off to a strong start to the 2021-22 season and has four teams ranked in the Top 50 of the latest NCAA Net Rankings: No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 29 BYU, No. 34 San Francisco and No. 42 Saint Mary's.
• KenPom.com has those four teams all in the top 50, while ESPN's Joe Lunardi projects the WCC to have four NCAA Tournament representatives, which would be a league record.
• 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.