Portland Pilots (10-18, 5-10 WCC) at Pacific Tigers (9-21, 4-12 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025
Time: 4 p.m. (PT)
Place: Stockton, Calif.
Arena: Spanos Center
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 1080 The Fan
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots (10-18, 5-10 WCC) played league-leading Saint Mary's tough before falling 79-66 in Moraga, Calif. on Wednesday.
• Portland concludes the road trip with a crucial game for WCC Tournament seeding against the Pacific Tigers (9-21, 4-12) on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Pilots could secure a season sweep of Pacific with a win and continue to climb the WCC standings.
 
GAME COVERAGE
• All WCC games will be aired on ESPN+.
• Radio for all Pilot games is on 910 ESPN-Portland with Jason Swygard calling the action. 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 X and Instagram for the latest team content.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Saint Mary's 79, Pilots 66 (Feb. 19, 2025 @Saint Mary's)
• Vukasin Masic led three Pilots in double figures with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Max Mackinnon added 13 points and eight assists and Chris Austin chipped in with 11 points.
• Portland shot 48 percent overall, but finished just 5-for-17 from three-point range and 9-of-15 at the foul line. Saint Mary's shot 47 percent and 9-for-24 from beyond the arc.
• The Gaels racked up a 41-27 rebounding margin and 14-3 advantage in second chance points. Paulius Murauskas finished with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds to pace Saint Mary's.
• The first half featured three ties and three lead changes early before the Gaels separated with an 11-2 run for a 36-24 lead. The Pilots got a pair of late baskets from Chris Austin to cut the deficit to 36-28 at the break. Saint Mary's scored the first five points of the second half and they extended the margin to 16 points midway through the period. A three-pointer by Mackinnon and jumper from Masic cut the deficit to 61-50 with 8:58 remaining, but that would be as close as it would get down the stretch.
 
RAPP RACKS UP WEEKLY HONORS
• Austin Rapp was named the WCC Freshman of the Week for the third time in four weeks and fifth time overall this season on Monday. Rapp averaged 19.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 54 percent from the field in Portland's wins against Oregon State and LMU. He went for a season-high 24 points against the Beavers.
• The Melbourne, Australia native is averaging 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, both tops among all freshmen in the WCC. He also leads the entire WCC in three-point percentage (.364) and three-pointers made per game (2.6), is second in blocks per game (1.4) and fourth in FT percentage (.835).
• Among freshmen nationally, Rapp leads the country in threes made (71), is second in three-point percentage, No. 4 in free throw percentage, 11th in blocked shots (37), 17th in rebounding and 22nd in scoring.
• Rapp recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Kansas City on Dec. 10 and added another with 10 points and 10 boards at Washington State. He has scored 20-plus points three times this year.
• He passed Juanse Gorosito (61, 2022-23) to break the UP Freshman record for threes made in a season Feb. 1 at Pepperdine and moved into a tie for 10th place on the single-season charts in program history with his 71st made three Wednesday at Saint Mary's.
 
MACKINNON TO THE MAX
• Elon junior transfer Max Mackinnon's performance against San Diego on Jan. 23 will go down as one of the best individual efforts in program history. He matched the previous school record of 43 points set by UP Hall of Famer Matt Houle against San Francisco on Feb. 13, 1992. Mackinnon finished 9-for-17 from the field, drilled a career-best 7-of-9 three-pointers, and converted 18-of-22 free throws in the contest. He also passed the 1,000-point mark for his career, needing 32 points entering the game. He garnered WCC and USBWA Player of the Week honors for his efforts.
• The Brisbane, Australia native made his first 11 free throws against USD to extend his streak of consecutive makes to 40 before having the streak broken late in regulation.
• Mackinnon has delivered during WCC play averaging 18.3 points during conference games, good for third in the league. His 48.4 percent from the field is sixth in WCC contests, while he is No. 3 in free throw percentage (.915).
• Mackinnon erupted for a then-career high 28 points at San Francisco on Jan. 9. He was 11-for-15 from the field and made all four of his free throw attempts. He also went for 22 points, five rebounds and three assists at home vs. Washington State and 29 points in a home win against LMU on Feb. 15.
• Mackinnon was the 2022 Coastal Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year at Elon where he averaged 11.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists as a freshman and followed with 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season. Prior to college, Mackinnon helped Queensland win back-to-back Gold Medals at the U-20 Australian Championships.
 
AUSTIN BREAKS OUT
• Graduate G Chris Austin has come up big recently for the Pilots. He has reached double figures eight times in the last nine games including 20 or more points three times during the span.
• Austin scored a season high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 4-for-5 from three-point range at Washington State Jan. 18 and followed with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists against San Diego Jan. 23. He then erupted for 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting at Pepperdine Feb. 1.
• Austin also recorded 20 points in the win over Lafayette on Dec. 21. It was his first 20-point game since the final game of the 2022 season against Southern Utah when he scored 21 points before going down with a broken leg in the game. Austin was sidelined for the entire 2022-23 season while doing rehab on his knee and leg.
• The Pasadena, Calif. native has navigated injuries throughout his seven total years of college athletics, three at Fordham and the last four at UP. A thumb injury ended his freshman season early.
 
MASIC MAKING WAVES
• Vukasin Masic is Portland's top returning scorer after averaging 12.5 points per game last season and is adding 9.6 points per game this year. He returned to the lineup against LMU on Jan. 30 after missing the previous four games (back) and was crucial in Portland's home wins against Oregon State and LMU last week.
• He scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting against UCSB in his season debut. Masic then scored a season high 27 points in the win against Denver on Dec. 1.
• Masic sat out the 2022-23 season after the NCAA denied an immediate eligibility waiver. In his Pilot debut last year, Masic scored 25 points to lead the team to a 78-73 season-opening win ever eventual NCAA Tournament participant Long Beach State. His 25 points were the most ever scored by a Portland player in their debut. Masic added a career high 32 points in a road win at North Dakota.
 
DELANO DELIVERING
• Redshirt freshman PG Vincent Delano has scored in double figures six times this season, including season highs of 18 points, six rebounds and five assists in a win against Denver on Dec. 1.
• The speedy guard also was good at Oregon with 12 points and five rebounds as the Pilots pushed Oregon to overtime on the road.
• Delano is averaging 5.9 points per game and is leading the team with 29 steals.
 
DENGDIT DOING WORK
• RS sophomore F Bol Dengdit erupted for a career high 21 points and matched his career best with 13 rebounds in Portland win against Pacific on Jan. 16. Dengdit was 8-for-11 from the field with six offensive rebounds. He followed with nine points and seven boards at Washington State.
• The Melbourne, Australia native missed some early season games due to injury but is building on his stellar 2024 WCC campaign where he averaged 9.3 points and 7.1 rebounds during league play. He reached double figures in scoring in nine of the team's last 11 games and added four double-doubles.
 
FRESHMEN PHENOMS
• The Pilots regularly have had four freshmen on the court at the same time often throughout the season and gotten consistent production from the group.
• Between the four active true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen on the roster, the group has accounted for 40 percent of Portland's total scoring this year. Austin Rapp is Portland's second leading scorer (13.6), while RS freshman PG Vincent Delano and freshman G Mikah Ballew add 5.9 and 5.2 points per game, respectively.
• Rapp has been a regular among Australian Youth National Teams and led Victoria to the Under-20 Australian National Championship with 32 points and 13 rebounds in the title game, including the buzzer-beating game-winning shot.
• Delano has started 16 games, while Ballew and RS freshman Kelson Gebbers are also key rotation players.
• Todd Jones has started eight games and contributing 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per outing. Jones is a three-star prospect that helped Isidore Newman High School win three consecutive Louisiana State Championships. The high-flying Jones was the 2024 District MVP and four-time District Defensive Player of the Year.
 
AUSSIE CONNECTIONS
• Head Coach Shantay Legans has had great success with players from Australia and that trend continues this season. Recent graduate Tyler Robertson, a three-time All-WCC selection, is close family friends with Austin Rapp. Rapp, Max Mackinnon, Bol Dengdit and Carlin Briggs make four Aussies on the 2024-25 roster.
 
LEGANS' LATE SEASON SUCCESS
• Shantay Legans' teams have consistently performed well late in the season throughout his head coaching career.
• His record February 1st or later during his eight seasons is 59-31 (.656).

SETTING PROGRAM RECORDS
• In his three years leading UP, Shantay Legans is already rewriting the program record books. The Pilots have the two highest single-season scoring records in school history. Portland scored 2,524 points in his inaugural 2021-22 season and then broke that record with 2,566 total points the following season. The 2021-22 team also established a new free throw percentage record (.791), while the 317 three-pointers made in 2022-23 shattered the previous record of 289 (2016-17).
• The Pilots set the game scoring record in a 122-78 win over Willamette (11/11/21), eclipsing the 115 scored vs St. Martin's in 1978. Portland also broke the program's single game three-pointers made record with 18 against VMI (12/3/21).
• Tyler Robertson broke the school record for free throws made when he converted 22-of-24 against Portland State (11/11/22), eclipsing a record held by Jim Winters (20-of-23) which dated back to a matchup with Seattle U (2/12/56). He also set the program single-game assist record with 15 against New Orleans (12/10/22).
• Mike Meadows and Robertson became the first Pilots to record triple-doubles. Meadows had one against Willamette (11/11/21), while Robertson posted a 31-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist stat line in a win over LMU (2/12/22).
 
ABOUT PACIFIC
• The Tigers (9-21, 4-12 WCC) dropped a road contest at San Francisco on Thursday.
• Pacific has notable non-league wins against San Jose State (80-67) and Cal State Fullerton (64-55), while the team's four league wins have come versus Washington State (twice), LMU and San Diego.
• Elijah Fisher (15.7) and Elias Ralph (14.9) lead the Tigers in scoring, while Portland native Lamar Washington adds 13.6 points and 5.8 assists per game.
• Head coach Dave Smart is in his first year at the helm of Pacific.

PORTLAND-PACIFIC SERIES DETAILS
Series: PAC leads 33-18; H / A / N: 12-11 / 5-22 / 1-0
Streak: POR W3
Last Meeting: Pilots 84, Pacific 81 – OT (Jan. 16, 2025 at Portland)

POOH JETER INDUCTED IN UP HALL OF FAME
• University of Portland inducted nine new members to its Athletics Hall of Fame on September 27 including basketball legend Eugene "Pooh" Jeter.
• Jeter is No. 2 on the Portland career scoring charts (1,708) and ranks in the top five all-time in field goals made (550), three-pointers (200), free throws (408), free throw percentage (.846) and is eighth in total assists (346).
• He garnered All-WCC First Team honors in 2004 and 2006 and was honorable mention all-league in 2005. He also led Portland to a 72-68 road upset against Gonzaga at the Kennel in 2003 with a team-high 18 points as a freshman.
• Following his time on The Bluff, Jeter enjoyed a remarkable professional career that spanned 18 seasons including six different countries and one year with the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Following his retirement from pro basketball in 2023, Jeter joined the Portland Trail Blazers where he still serves as a player development coach and Assistant General Manager for the Rip City Remix.
 
  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 University of Portland Athletics can do so by clicking here. Your gift helps our over 300 student-athletes compete at the highest level – on and off the field - in the rapidly changing world of intercollegiate athletics. All gifts to Pilot Athletics are 100% tax deductible.

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.