Portland Pilots (8-8, 0-1 WCC) at BYU Cougars (11-5, 1-0 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022
Time: 6 p.m. (PT)
Place: Provo, Utah
Arena: Marriott Center
TV: BYUtv
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots opened West Coast Conference play with a 92-72 loss to Loyola Marymount on Thursday at the Chiles Center.
• Portland will now visit the BYU Cougars on Saturday, Dec. 31 with a 6 p.m. (PT) tip-off at the Marriott Center.
 
GAME COVERAGE
• The game will be televised live on BYUtv.
• All Pilot games will have radio coverage on 910 ESPN Portland with Jason Swygard and Joel Sobotka providing the commentary.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PortlandMBB on Twitter and Instagram for the latest team content.
• Pilot fans are encouraged to gather to watch all road games at Chill n Fill on North Lombard Street near campus.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The injury-riddled Pilots dropped their WCC opener to LMU on Thursday by a 92-72 margin. Mike Meadows returned to the lineup after missing nine of the last ten games due to injury and erupted for a career high 29 points. But Portland was without starting F Moses Wood (foot) and lost leading scorer Tyler Robertson (ankle) midway through the first half. LMU knocked down 15 three-pointers, while the Pilots struggled with a 6-fo-19 three-point performance.
• Meadows became the sixth different Pilot to score 20 or more points in a game this season.
• Portland ranks 24th nationally in three-pointers per game (9.8) and 32nd in assists per contest (16.5).
• The Pilots lead the WCC in assists per game as well as free throws made (16.3) and attempted per game (22.7).
• Robertson is fifth in the nation in total assists (91), 19th in assists per game (5.7), third in free throws made (77) and one of 16 players with a triple-double this year.
• Robertson broke the Pilot record for both free throws made and attempted in a game on Nov. 11 against Portland State. He made 22-of-24 overall to break the previous marks held by Jim Winters (20-of-23) which dated back to a matchup with Seattle U on Feb. 12, 1956.
• The team matched a school record with 18 three-pointers made in a 100-61 victory over New Orleans on Dec. 10. Robertson eclipsed the 1,000-career points mark in the same game and also broke the Pilot single-game record for assists with 15.
• Head coach Shantay Legans was hired last March after he led Eastern Washington to the 2021 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. He recorded his 100th career win on Nov. 30 vs. Multnomah.
• The Pilots finished last season 19-15 overall and sixth in the WCC, recording their highest win total since 2010 and their fourth-highest win total since joining Division I in 1958. The 7-7 record in WCC play was also their best since 2015 and the team recorded its first ever postseason victory at the Division I level (def. New Orleans in The Basketball Classic).
• The Pilots set a single game scoring record a year ago in a 122-78 victory over Willamette, eclipsing the 115 scored against St. Martin's in 1978. Portland also broke the program's single game three-pointers made record with 18 against VMI on Dec. 3, 2021, while the team's 264 three-pointers made marked the second most in single-season school history (289 in 2015-16).
• The Pilots finished last season ranked seventh in the nation in free throw percentage (.791) to establish a new UP single-season record. The team also finished 12th in free throws made (544) nationally last year.
• Portland returns all five starters and the top seven scorers from last year's team. The Pilots return 91.1 percent of the scoring production from last year, second nationally to Virginia (91.4).
• The Pilots signed G Vince Delano and F Cyprian Hyde to National Letters of Intent in November. Delano (6-2, 170) currently attends Arizona Compass Prep, one of the top basketball prep schools in the country. Hyde (6-10, 220) finished last season averaging 16.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
• A total of 13 former Pilots 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 2021 title as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks coaching staff and is now an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.
• A total of 17 Pilot games are currently scheduled for television, including a minimum of seven on national TV between the ESPN family of networks and CBS Sports Network.
 
INJURY BUG & ROSTER NOTES
• Meadows had missed 9-of-10 games due to a groin injury in non-league play before returning to the lineup against LMU on Thursday. Joey St. Pierre also returned in limited action after missing the previous game (ankle).
• Moses Wood (foot) missed the LMU game and Tyler Robertson went down with an ankle injury in the first half and did not return. Both are questionable for Saturday.
• Chris Austin started all 34 games last year and was second on the team in scoring (14.4), but broke his leg in the season finale at Southern Utah and will redshirt this season. Freshman F Bol Dengdit is also  redshirting, while Maine transfer G Vukasin Masic had an NCAA immediate eligibility waiver denied and will sit out the 2022-23 season.

BALANCED ATTACK
• Seven Pilots are averaging 6.8 or more points this season, while six different players have scored 20 or more in a game.
• Alden Applewhite scored a career-high 20 points in his first career start in Portland's 76-65 road loss to UC Riverside on Dec. 22. Other 20-point scorers include Robertson (2), Wood (2), Meadows, Vasilije Vucinic and Wyatt Lowell.
• This year's team has much more depth than Legans' squad a season ago as the Pilots were playing a primarily seven-man rotation by season's end.
• The Pilots have scored 417 bench points, accounting for 35 percent of the team's total scoring this season. The team scored a program-best 71 bench points versus Multnomah.

SHARING THE BALL
• The Pilots are averaging 16.5 assists per game, which is best since the 1991-92 Portland team averaged 18.3. The program record is 19.2 per game during the 1977-78 season.
• The 28 assists against Multnomah matched last year's 28 against New Orleans for the most since the Pilots recorded 30 against Texas Southern on Dec. 29, 1995. The team record is 34 versus LMU on March 5, 1988.

RECORD-BREAKING ROBERTSON
• Tyler Robertson broke the UP record for assists in a game with 15 against New Orleans on Dec. 10. The previous mark was 14 by Dionn Holton on Dec. 9, 1995 vs. Southern Oregon.
• The Melbourne, Australia native also scored his 1,000th career point in the same contest.
• Against Portland State on Nov. 11, Robertson set the Pilot record for both free throws made and attempted in a game. He converted 22-of-24 overall to break the previous marks held by Jim Winters (20-of-23) which dated back to a matchup with Seattle U on Feb. 12, 1956.
• He ranks third among Portland's career leader in free throw percentage (.852) and ranked second in the WCC and 22nd in the nation in free throw percentage (.883) last year including a streak of 34 consecutive free throws made.
• Last season, he posted a remarkable 31-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist triple-double in a Feb. 12 win over LMU to join teammate Mike Meadows as the only players in program history to record a triple-double – Meadows did so against Willamette. Only 26 players in the nation last season had triple-doubles with UP and Western Kentucky the only teams with more than one player on the list.
• Robertson became the only NCAA Division I player in the last 25 years to log a 30-point triple-double, make 5-plus threes without a miss (5-for-5) and drill 10-plus free throws without a miss (10-for-10) in his remarkable performance against LMU. No other player has achieved all three of those marks throughout an entire career, but Robertson accomplished it a single game.
 
THE NEWCOMERS
• Coach Legans brought in a talented recruiting class including four transfers and five freshmen. The additions of 6-foot-10 grad transfer Joey St. Pierre (Milwaukee), 6-foot-9 former WAC Freshman of the Year Wyatt Lowell (Utah Valley/BYU/Snow JC) gives the Pilots more size this season.
• Mississippi State transfer Alden Applewhite is good sized wing with a versatile skill set, while Maine transfer Vukasin Masic provides scoring and distributing ability as a combo guard.
• Freshman guard Juanse Gorosito is an elite shooter, while freshman Bol Dengdit has good size and skill for a wing at 6-11.

PILOTS VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
• The Pilots dropped to 7-75 all-time against opponents ranked in the AP Poll and 0-10 against team's ranked No. 1 after narrow losses to North Carolina and Michigan State at PKI.
• Portland has lost 19 consecutive games to ranked opposition with the last win an 82-73 defeat of No. 18 Gonzaga on Jan. 9, 2014 at the Chiles Center.
 
PRESEASON RECOGNITION
• Portland was picked fifth in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll, trailing only Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, San Francisco and BYU.
• Tyler Robertson was also named to the 10-player WCC Preseason Team.
• Andy Katz recognized Shantay Legans as on his Top 10 Rising Coaches nationally and the Pilots as one of the Top 11 most improved teams in college basketball.
• Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated also named Legans as one of his 10 Coaches on the Rise, nationally.
• ESPN.com identified Portland as the surprise 'sleeper team' of the West Coast Conference.
 
THE SCHEDULE
• The team concluded a challenging non-league schedule that included games against North Carolina, Villanova and Michigan State at the Phil Knight Invitational, as well as road games against Kent State and Oregon.
• Portland will not host BYU or visit Santa Clara as part of the WCC's unbalanced league schedule.
• The Pilots are the only team nationally that played Gonzaga and North Carolina, the preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country.
 
PILOTS SIGN TWO DURING EARLY NLI PERIOD
• Portland announced the signings of G Vince Delano and F Cyprian Hyde to National Letters of Intent this week.
• Delano (6-2, 170) currently attends Arizona Compass Prep, one of the top basketball prep schools in the country. Last season he competed for Phoenix Prep in the elite prep basketball circuit, The Grind Session. He broke the circuit record for most three-pointers in a game (10) and helped lead Phoenix Prep to the Grind Session Final Four.
• Hyde (6-10, 220) provides versatility from the post position with his size and athleticism. An elite shot blocker with three-point shooting range, Hyde was named the Vista High School Defensive Player of the Year last season. He finished the season averaging 16.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
 
HEAD COACH SHANTAY LEGANS
• Legans was hired in March of 2021 after he led Eastern Washington to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. In his four years as head coach at EWU, Legans compiled the school's best overall (.605) and conference (.726) win percentages.
• Legans finished third or better in the Big Sky Conference all four seasons, led the Eagles to the 2020 regular season crown and 2021 tournament title.
• His teams improve each year as the season progresses best illustrated by his 47-18 (.723) record in games played after Feb. 1 in five years as a head coach.
• All three assistant coaches are back this year for the Pilots. Bobby Suarez and T.J. Lipold came with Legans from Eastern Washington, while Jeremy Pope came on board after coaching most recently at Arizona Compass Prep.
• His staff is among the nation's youngest as all three assistants are under 35.

ABOUT BYU
• BYU extended its win streak to six games following its 69-49 win over Pacific in its West Coast Conference opener on Thursday evening.
• Jaxson Robison scored a career-high 17 points in Thursday's win and Spencer Johnson returned to the lineup after missing the previous nine games.
• The Cougars rank 14th in the nation in rebounds per game, 16th in rebound margin, 23rd in defensive rebounds per game and 52nd in offensive rebounds per game.
• Head coach Mark Pope is in his fourth season at BYU.
 
PORTLAND-BYU SERIES HISTORY
Overall: BYU Leads 25-2
H / A / N: 0-14 / 2-10 / 0-1
Streak: BYU W12
Last 10 / 5: 10-0 / 5-0
Last Meeting: BYU 78-65 (Jan. 22, 2022 at BYU)
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