Portland Pilots (3-1, 0-0 WCC) at Nevada Wolf Pack (3-0, 0-0 Mountain West)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Reno, Nev.
Arena: Lawlor Events Center
TV: Portland's CW (KRCW)
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots face their first road test of the 2023-24 season on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Nevada Wolf Pack at the Lawlor Events Center.

GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday's game will be aired locally on Portland's CW.
• Radio for all Portland men's basketball games is on 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard and Joel Sobotka on the call. Pre-game coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off and ends with a 30-minute post-game show.
featuring stats, highlights and interviews.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PortlandMBB on Twitter and Instagram for the latest team content.
 
LAST GAME: TENNESSEE STATE 75, PILOTS 65 (Nov. 15 at Chiles Center)
• The Pilots struggled from the field and committed 18 turnovers in a 75-65 home loss to Tennessee State on Wednesday. Tyler Robertson finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Pilots, while Vukasin Masic added 15 points and Tyler Harris chipped in 11.
• Portland came out cold from the field and trailed 10-3 early and struggled to find the shooting touch throughout the first half and trailed 42-28 lead at the break.
• The Pilots made a late rally as Masic spurred a 12-4 run with a pair of threes and runner in the lane to make it 73-63 with 1:53 remaining, but that would be as close as the Pilots would get.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Tyler Harris red-hot start to the season earned him the first WCC Freshman of the Week award. The Hayward, Calif. native became the first freshman in UP history to debut with a double-double, finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds in a win against Long Beach State. He followed with 20 points and nine rebounds against Lewis & Clark before capping the weekend with a 22-point, 12-rebound effort against UC Riverside. He shot 67 percent from the field, 60 percent from three-point range and 93 percent at the foul line for the week.
• Harris enters Friday leading the nation among freshman in total rebounds (38) and third in rebounds per game (9.5). His is seventh in the nation for freshman scoring (17.5), and ranks second in the WCC in rebounding and sixth in scoring.
• Tyler Robertson leads the WCC in assists per game (5.0), minutes per game (35.2) and is seventh in scoring (17.3).
• Head Coach Shantay Legans and the Pilots bring back several key players from last year's team that finished 14-19 overall, including Robertson, a two-time All-West Coast Conference guard. Robertson led the team in scoring (15.6), assists (5.3) and was second in rebounds (5.5) last year. He and Jalen Pickett (Penn State) were the only Division I players to average at least 15 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Robertson also led the WCC in assists, assists per game and free throws made (163). He entered the 2023-24 season ranked on the UP career charts in assists per game (4.9, 5th), scoring (15.4, 11th), free throw percentage (.823, 11th), assists (312, 13th) and free throws made (284, t-15th). He also scored his 1,000th career point as a Pilot in Monday's opener versus Long Beach State.
• 2023 All-WCC Freshman Team guard Juanse Gorosito is back after setting the UP freshman record for three-pointers made (63).
• Junior F Vasilijie Vucinic has started 17 games over the last two seasons for the Pilots and averaged 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds last year.
• The Pilots will also welcome back Chris Austin, who averaged 14.4 points for the Pilots two seasons ago Austin took a medical redshirt this past year after breaking his leg in the final game of the 2021-22 season.
• Portland will also integrate 2022-23 redshirts Vukasin Masic (Maine transfer) and freshmen Bol Dengdit, Drew Stack and Andrew Younan to the active roster. Masic averaged 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during the 2021-22 season. Dengdit competed at the NBA Academy in Australia and has been a member of the Australian National Team system.
• An intriguing group of newcomers includes transfers Alimamy Koroma (Cal Poly), Thomas Oosterbroek (Miami), Noah Jordan (West Virginia State) and Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams (Lamar).
• Alimamy Koroma started 75 games in his four years with the Mustangs and averaged 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds throughout this career. He joins a short list of 17 players entering the 2023-24 season with career totals of at least 1,100 points, 500 rebounds and 90 blocked shots. Koroma scored 1,157 total points and grabbed 501 rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from the field and 71 percent at the free throw line. He twice garnered All-Big West honorable mention recognition.
• Thomas Oosterbroek went to the Elite Eight and the Final Four with Miami in his first two years of college hoops. He redshirted last season and has three years of eligibility remaining.
• Noah Jordan is a grad transfer that helped Division II WVSU win 44 total games and advance to the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. He averaged 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 52 percent overall and 40 percent from three-point range.
• Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams was an impact player as a true freshman for Lamar last season. He made 24 starts and averaged 6.9 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game. Yamanouchi-Williams was second on the roster with 22 blocked shots, shot 41 percent from the field, 75 percent at the free throw line and recorded six double-doubles.
• Portland also welcomes four freshmen to the 2023-24 roster. G Tyler Harris (Hayward, Calif.) led Granada HS to the 2023 CIF NorCal Division I championship and a runner-up finish at the State Division I Boys Championship with a 17-point and 10-rebound effort in the title game loss to Notre Dame. G Vincent Delano (Phoenix, Ariz.) played for nationally recognized Arizona Compass Prep as a senior. F Cyprian Hyde (Oceanside, Calif.) Earned All-North County Coastal First Team honors as a senior after leading the team to the second round of the 2023 CIF San Diego Section Division II Championships. G Jude Harris (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) was a First Team All-Camino Real League in 2023 after averaging 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game.
• The Pilots are represented by eight different countries, tied for the most in the nation with Arizona and Hawaii. Portland players hail from the United States (10), Australia (2), Argentina (1), Japan (1), Montenegro (1), Netherlands (1), Serbia (1) and Sierra Leone (1).
 
RECORD DEBUTS FOR MASIC, HARRIS
• Vukasin Masic's 25 points Monday versus Long Beach State were the most ever scored by a Portland player in their debut. Masic, who was denied an immediate eligibility waiver last year by the NCAA after transferring from Maine, made the most of his return by scoring 22 second half points to lift Portland to the win.
• Tyler Harris' double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes of action against LBSU made him the first freshman in UP history to debut with a double-double. He also is the first true freshman to start a season-opener for Shantay Legans in his seven seasons as a head coach.

FREE THROW EFFICIENCY
• The Pilots rank No. 15 nationally in free throw percentage (.816).
• Free throw efficiency has been a staple under Legans. His first UP team set a new school single-season record (.791) and last year's squad is No. 4 all-time (.745).

AUSTIN BACK IN ACTION
• Chris Austin made his much-anticipated return to action nearly 19 months after suffering a broken leg in Portland's College Basketball Classic loss to Southern Utah on March 26, 2022. He played 24 minutes against Long Beach and followed with 12 points in 32 minutes against Lewis & Clark, and an efficient eight points in 28 minutes versus UC Riverside.

SETTING PROGRAM RECORDS
• In his first two seasons leading the Pilots, head coach Shantay Legans already began rewriting the program record books.
• The Pilots have scored the most single-season points in school history each of the last two years. Portland scored 2,524 points in his inaugural 2021-22 season and then broke that record with 2,566 total points last year.
• The 2021-22 team set a new free throw percentage record (.791), while last year's 317 three-pointers made shattered the previous record of 289 (2016-17).
• The Pilots set a single game scoring record in a 122-78 victory over Willamette on Nov. 11, 2021, 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.
• Individually, Robertson broke the school record for free throws made when he converted 22-of-24 against Portland State on Nov. 11, 2022, eclipsing a record held by Jim Winters (20-of-23) which dated back to a matchup with Seattle U on Feb. 12, 1956. He also set the program single-game assists record with 15 against New Orleans on Dec. 10, 2022.
• Mike Meadows and Robertson also became the first Pilots to ever record triple-doubles. Meadows had one against Willamette, while Robertson posted a 31-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist triple-double in a win over LMU. He added another triple-double last year with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists against Multnomah.
 
ABOUT NEVADA
• The Wolf Pack (3-0) have opened the season with home wins against Sacramento State (77-63) and Pacific (88-41), as well as a road victory at Washington (83-76). Nevada is No. 43 in the latest KenPom ratings.
• Kenan Blackshear leads three players averaging double figures at 19.0 points per game.
• The Wolf Pack was picked fourth in the Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll and received one first place vote.
• Head Coach Steve Alford is in his fifth season at Nevada.

PORTLAND-NEVADA SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Portland leads 24-20
H / A / N/Unknown: 17-1 / 5-14 / 2-5
Streak: Nevada W1
Last 10 / 5: 4-6 / 3-2
Last: Nevada 78, Pilots 60 (Dec. 22, 2011 at Nevada)

ROSTER NOTES
• Thomas Oosterbroek made his Pilot debut and scored two points against UC Riverside on Sunday. Oosterbroek missed the first two games of the season (concussion protocol).
• True freshmen Vincent Delano, Cyprian Hyde and Jude Harris, as well as sophomroe Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams, are expected to redshirt the 2023-24 season.

WE'RE RIVERBOAT PILOTS, NOT AIRPLANE PILOTS!
• Though the original nickname that students chose in a 1935 contest resulted in "Chinooks" (after the Native American tribe that inhabited the area, and the largest of the salmon species in the Willamette River), the "Pilots" was chosen by presidential fiat. From that day forward, The Bluff had a new mascot, and he was Wally Pilot.
• When the University changed its name from Columbia University (its earliest sports teams were known as the Cliff dwellers or the Columbias), to the University of Portland in 1935, the name and University had already begun to adapt a more "nautical motif," suitable for a campus site overlooking the Willamette River. At the same time, the Pilot athletic teams became associated with Wally (a stylized riverboat pilot), and the pilot's wheel became the logical logo.
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