Portland Pilots (9-11, 1-4 WCC) vs. San Diego Toreros (9-11, 2-4 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023
Time: 6 p.m.
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
Video: WCC Network
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets

Portland Pilots (9-11, 1-4 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (7-12, 0-5 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023
Time: 3 p.m.
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: ROOT Sports NW
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets

THIS WEEK
• Portland opens a three-game homestand on Thursday against the San Diego Toreros. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Chiles Center.
• The Pilots then welcome the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off. It will be Mascot Night on Saturday with a variety of local mascots on hand to interact with fans and perform at halftime.
 
GAME COVERAGE
• Thursday's contest will be aired on the WCC Network with Bryan Sleik and Jennifer Mountain on the call.
• Saturday's game will be aired live on ROOT Sports Northwest with Ann Schatz and Jennifer Mountain calling the action.
• All Portland games are on the radio on 910 ESPN Portland with Jason Swygard and Joel Sobotka providing the commentary with the pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PortlandMBB on Twitter and Instagram for the latest team content.
 
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland split a pair of WCC games last week with a thrilling 92-87 win over San Francisco at home before dropping a 115-75 decision at No. 8 Gonzaga on Saturday.
• Kristian Sjolund recorded back-to-back double-doubles to lead the Pilots. He finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds vs. USF and followed with 17 points and 12 boards against the Bulldogs.
• Moses Wood (foot) returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games and finished with 20 and 19 points, respectively. Mike Meadows missed both contests due to injury.
• Prior to conference play, the Pilots ranked top 30 nationally in three-pointers made, three-point field goal percentage and assists per game, but have struggled to find consistency offensively during league play.
• Portland leads the WCC and ranks 16th nationally in free throws made (17.2) and 17th in the country in free throws attempted (23.9) per game.
• Tyler Robertson is 14th in the nation in total assists (101) and 23rd in both assists per game (5.4) and free throws made (88) . He also leads the WCC in each of those categories and is one of 18 players nationally with a triple-double.
• 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.
• Wood enters Thursday's game with 992 career points and is eight shy of joining Robertson in the 1,000-point club.
• Head coach Shantay Legans was hired last March after he led Eastern Washington to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. In four years as head coach, Legans compiled EWU's 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.
 
INJURY BUG & ROSTER NOTES
• Mike Meadows (groin) and Wyatt Lowell (knee) missed the last two games.
• Moses Wood (foot) missed the first three WCC games and Tyler Robertson went down with an ankle injury in the first half of the league opener vs. LMU and missed the next game at BYU, but both returned last week.
• 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.

BEFORE AND AFTER
• With the lineup in limbo due to injuries, Portland's offensive numbers changed dramatically to open WCC play.
• The Pilots were one of the top offensive teams in the country during non-league play averaging 79.3 points, making 10.0 three-pointers per game at a 39 percent rate and dishing out 17.1 assists per game... all top 30 nationally.
• Through the first five WCC games UP was averaging just 68.0 points, making 7.4 threes at 30 percent from beyond the arc and recording 10.4 assists per game.

BALANCED ATTACK
• Four Pilots are averaging double figures while seven players are averaging 6.4 or more points this season.
• Six different players have scored 20 or more points in a game. Portland and Missouri are the only teams in the country with six different 20-point scorers. In the win over USF, Robertson, Wood and Sjolund all had 20-plus points.
• This year's team has much more depth (when healthy) than Legans' squad a season ago as the Pilots were playing a primarily seven-man rotation by season's end.
• 11 players are averaging more than eight minutes per game.

SHARING THE BALL
• The Pilots are averaging 15.4 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.
• UP has recorded 20-plus assists in six different games this year.

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 (.843) 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.
 
PILOTS VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
• The Pilots dropped to 7-76 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, as well as the Jan. 14 loss at Gonzaga.
• Portland has lost 20 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.
 
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 SIGN TWO DURING EARLY NLI PERIOD
• Portland has announced the signings of G Vince Delano and F Cyprian Hyde to National Letters of Intent.
• 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.
 
PILOTS SHOW OUT AT PKI
• 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.
• The Pilots put the country on notice by pushing then-No. 1 UNC and Michigan State to the wire in close games and knocking off Villanova at the event.
• 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.
 
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 SAN DIEGO
• The Toreros (9-11, 2-4 WCC) are No. 226 in the latest NCAA Net Rankings and No. 206 on KenPom.com
• USD has notable wins over Florida Gulf Coast, UC Riverside, San Francisco and Pepperdine.
• Four Toreros average double figures led by Jase Townsend (15.9).
• Head coach Steve Lavin is in his first year at the helm.
 
PORTLAND-SAN DIEGO SERIES HISTORY
Overall: USD leads 60-33
H / A / N: 17-27 / 12-30 / 4-3
Streak: UP W2
Last 10 / 5: 3-7 / 2-3
Last Meeting: Pilots 73, San Diego 55 (March 4, 2022 at WCC Tournament)
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE
• The Waves (7-12, 0-5 WCC) are No. 162 in the latest NCAA Net Rankings and No. 148 on KenPom.com
• Pepperdine has notable wins against Rice, UC Irvine and George Washington.
• Maxwell Lewis (19.6) leads four Waves averaging double figures.
• Head coach Lorenzo Romar is in the fifth year of his second stint at PU.
 
PORTLAND-PEPPERDINE SERIES HISTORY
Overall: PEP leads 66-41
H / A / N: 24-28 / 15-33 / 2-5
Streak: UP W2
Last 10 / 5: 3-7 / 2-3
Last Meeting: Pilots 77, Pepperdine 74 (Feb. 19, 2022 at UP)
 
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