Portland Pilots (1-0, 0-0 WCC) vs. Lewis & Clark Pioneers (0-0, 0-0 NWC)
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023
Time: 6:00 PM
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
Video: ESPN+
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets

Portland Pilots (1-0, 0-0 WCC) vs. UC Riverside Highlanders (1-0, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: Portland's CW (KRCW)
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots opened the 2023-24 regular season with a 78-73 win against Long Beach State on Monday at Chiles Center.
• Action continues on Wednesday against Lewis & Clark at 6 p.m., before the week concludes on Sunday, Nov. 12 against UC Riverside at 2 p.m.
 
GAME COVERAGE
• Both games will be aired live on ESPN+, with Sunday's game against Riverside also televised locally on Portland's CW (KRCW). Bryan Sleik will be on play-by-play versus against Lewis & Clark, while Ann Schatz is on the call against Riverside. Jennifer Mountain will provide analysis for all Portland men's and women's broadcasts this season.
• 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.
• Follow @PortlandMBB on Twitter and Instagram for the latest team content.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

LAST GAME: PILOTS 78, LONG BEACH STATE 73 (Nov. 6 at Chiles Center)
• Vukasin Masic matched a career high with 25 points in his Portland debut and freshman Tyler Harris added 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Pilots to a 78-73 win against Long Beach State Monday.
• Masic scored 22 second half points and added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Long Beach State took 57-54 lead before Portland went on a 10-0 run, finished off by Masic's three, to seize a 64-57 lead with 6:26 to go in the contest. The Beach narrowed the margin to 66-64, but the Pilots got a Harris layup and three free throws from Juanse Gorosito to regain the margin and held on for the win.
• Tyler Robertson helped out with 13 points and four assists.
• Portland out-rebounded Long Beach State 41-39 and the Pilot defense forced 14 Long Beach State turnovers. Those takeaways turned into 13 points on the other end of the floor.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Head Coach Shantay Legans and the Pilots bring back several key players from last year's team that finished 14-19 overall, including two-time All-West Coast Conference guard, Tyler Robertson. 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).
• 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 also had quite the debut by recording a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Harris became 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.

PILOT BIGS PERFORM WELL
• Portland's big man tandem of junior Vasilije Vucinic and grad transfer Alimamy Koroma combined for 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the win over Long Beach State.
• Vucinic finished with nine points, four boards and two blocked shots in 21 minutes, while Koroma added nine points, five rebounds and a block in 18 minutes.

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.

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 also established 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 on Nov. 11, 2021, while Robertson posted a remarkable 31-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist triple-double in a Feb. 12, 2022 win over LMU. He added another triple-double last season with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists against Multnomah on Nov. 30.
 
ABOUT LEWIS & CLARK
• The Pioneers are a member of the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference.
• Lewis & Clark adds two freshmen and six transfers to the 10 returning Pioneers from last year's 13-12 team.
• Head coach Tim McCrory is entering his sixth year at the helm.
 
PORTLAND-LEWIS & CLARK SERIES HISTORY
Series: Portland leads 24-1
H / A / N:  14-0 / 4-1 / 6-0
Streak: Portland W16
Last 10 / 5: 10-0 / 5-0
Last: Pilots 89, Pioneers 62 (Nov. 7, 2022 at UP)
 
ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE
• The Highlanders opened the season Tuesday with a 76-69 win against UC Merced. They will next travel to play at Utah on Friday.
• UC Riverside was picked seventh in the Big Sky Conference Preseason Poll.
• The team finished the 2022-23 season with a 22-12 overall record and 14-6 mark in league play.
• The Highlanders return seven lettermen from last year's team including starters Kyle Owens (10 ppg) and Wil Tattersall (4.7 ppg).
• Head coach Mike Magpayo is the reigning Big West Conference Coach of the Year and enters his fourth full season at the helm.
 
PORTLAND-UC RIVERSIDE SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Portland leads 5-1
H / A / N: 3-0 / 2-1 / 0-0
Streak: UC Riverside W1
Last 10 / 5: NA / 4-1
Last: Highlanders 76, Pilots 65 (Dec. 22, 2022 at Riverside)

THE SCHEDULE
• The team will play a challenging non-league schedule highlighted by the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii on Dec. 21-24. The Pilots take on host Hawai'i to open the tournament and then will face either Georgia Tech or UMass next. The opposite side of the bracket features TCU, Nevada, Temple and Old Dominion.
• Other notable non-league opponents include 2023 NCAA Tournament participant Grand Canyon on Saturday, Dec. 16 in Phoenix, home games against Wyoming and Air Force, and road contests against Nevada, Portland State and the North Dakota schools.
• The WCC returns to full round robin schedule this season as all teams will play each other home and home. The Pilots open league play at the Chiles Center against Pacific on Jan. 6.

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.
  Get Your Tickets Now!
Secure your spot now for any upcoming Portland Pilots ticketed home event by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or by downloading the Portland Pilots App.  For group and fan experience package information, email pilotsboxoffice@up.edu.

Donate Today
Fans interested in making a contribution to the Pilot Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift directly helps our nearly 300 student-athletes as they strive to make a difference in our community and achieve academic and athletic excellence. Thank you for support of Pilot Athletics!

Follow Along With the Action
Get the latest news and information about your favorite University of Portland athletic programs by visiting PortlandPilots.com. You can also follow along for the most dynamic coverage and team-centric content by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram.