Portland Pilots (6-5, 0-0 WCC) vs. Grand Canyon Lopes (8-1, 0-0 WAC)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023
Time: 6:30 p.m. (PT)
Place: Phoenix, Ariz.
Arena: Footprint Center
TV/Video: Fox 12+/ESPN+
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT)
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

THIS WEEK
• Portland will take part in the Jerry Colangelo Classic, hosted at the Footprint Center which is home to the NBA's Phoenix Suns. The Pilots close out a quadruple header against Grand Canyon at 6:30 p.m. (PT).
• The other games are Washington State vs. Santa Clara (11 AM), UC Santa Barbara vs. Loyola Marymount (1:30 PM) and Saint Mary's vs. UNLV (4 PM).

GAME COVERAGE
• The game will be aired locally on Fox 12+ (Channel 49) and streamed on ESPN+ with Barry Buetel and Scott Williams on the call.
• Radio for all Portland men's basketball games is on 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT) with Jason Swygard and Joel Sobotka calling the action. Pre-game coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off and ends with a 30-minute post-game show.
• 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: PILOTS 83, NORTH DAKOTA 72 (Dec. 9 at North Dakota)
• Vukasin Masic scored a career-high 32 points to lead Portland past the Fightin' Hawks, who lost at home for the first time in four games this season.
• Tyler Robertson tacked on 16 points and Chris Austin chipped in as well with 10 points and two steals.
• Portland did an excellent job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 13 assists while turning the ball over six times. Portland forced 14 North Dakota turnovers and gained a 14-8 in points off takeaways.
• The Pilots opened the game with an 8-0 run, but UND responded with a 16-3 run late in the period and took a 36-33 lead into halftime.
• Portland gained control with an Alimamy Koroma three-pointer for a 44-43 lead. There was a tie and two lead changes before Masic and Robertson took over late. Masic hit a pair of free throws and then Robertson buried a three-pointer for a 70-66 lead. Tyler Harris hit a runner and then Masic hit a clutch three for a 75-68 edge with 2:35 remaining. The Pilots made their free throws late to secure the victory.

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 Tyler 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.
• 2023 All-WCC Freshman Team guard Juanse Gorosito is back after setting the UP freshman record for three-pointers made (63).
• 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 has integrated 2022-23 redshirts Vukasin Masic (Maine transfer) and freshmen Bol Dengdit to the rotation. Masic averaged 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during the 2021-22 season, while Dengdit competed with the NBA Academy in Australia and the Australian National Team.
• An intriguing group of newcomers includes transfers Alimamy Koroma (Cal Poly), Thomas Oosterbroek (Miami), Noah Jordan (West Virginia State) and Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams (Lamar).
• Koroma averaged 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in four years with the Mustangs, twice garnering All-Big West recognition.
• 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.
• 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.
• Yamanouchi-Williams made 24 starts at Lamar and averaged 6.9 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game.
• 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).
 
MASIC MAGIC
• Vukasin Masic erupted for a career high 32 points in last week's road win at North Dakota. He was 10-for-16 from the field, 4-of-8 from three-point range and 8-for-9 at the foul line. Masic added five rebounds and four assists with no turnovers.
• The Belgrade, Serbia native has shown flashes of brilliance early in his return to action this season. Last year, Masic was denied an immediate eligibility waiver after transferring from Maine
• In his Pilot debut, Masic scored 22 of his 25 points in second half to lead the team to a 78-73 season-opening win versus Long Beach State.
• His 25 points were the most ever scored by a Portland player in their debut.

ROBERTSON PILES UP THE STATS
• Tyler Robertson has scored at least 12 points in each of the first 11 games, including a season-high 28 points at Portland State on Nov. 28.
• Robertson is second in the WCC in assists per game (4.6) and third scoring (16.7).
• Last season, Robertson 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 average (15.4, 11th), free throw percentage (.823, 11th), assists (312, 13th) and free throws made (284, t-15th).
• Robertson scored his 1,000th career point as a Pilot in the season opener versus Long Beach State.

HARRIS CONTINUES TORRID START
• Tyler Harris is second nationally among freshmen in rebounds per game (8.2) and 12th in blocked shots (1.5).
• He ranks second in the WCC in blocked shots and ranks fifth in rebounding.
• His double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds 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 in Shantay Legans' seven years as a head coach.
• Harris also recorded double-doubles against UC Riverside (22 pts, 12 rebs) and Wyoming (11 pts, 10 rebs) and has twice been named WCC Freshman of the Week.

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 recently went for a season high 17 points versus Air Force.
• The 6-4 guard has found his stride the last four games, averaging 12.5 points on 51 percent shooting from the field.

KOROMA HEATS UP
• Alimamy Koroma went for 23 points against Willamette on Nov. 25 before erupting for 24 points and 12 rebounds at Portland State on Nov. 28.
• Koroma followed with 13 points and two blocked shots in a win over Wyoming and had 13 points at North Dakota State.
• A grad transfer from Cal Poly, 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.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
• The Pilots are third in the WCC in scoring offense (78.3) and three-pointers made per game (8.2).
• The team also is shooting 73.2 percent from the free throw line, which has been a consistent strength 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).

SETTING PROGRAM RECORDS
• In his first two seasons leading the Pilots, head coach Shantay Legans has 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 GRAND CANYON
• The Lopes (8-1) are No. 37 in the latest NET Ratings and receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
• GCU has notable wins against San Francisco, North Dakota State, San Diego State and Liberty, with its lone loss coming versus South Carolina.
• Tyon Grant-Foster leads the Lopes in scoring at 21.3 per game.
• Head coach Bryce Drew is in his fourth year at the helm and guided GCU to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2023.
•This is the first meeting between Portland and Grand Canyon.
 
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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