Portland Pilots (11-18, 6-10 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (10-19, 4-12 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025
Time: 7 p.m. (PT)
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets

Portland Pilots (11-18, 6-10 WCC) at San Diego Toreros (4-25, 1-15 WCC)
Date: Saturday, March 1, 2025
Time: 7 p.m. (PT)
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Arena: Jenny Craig Pavilion
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 1080 The Fan
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots (11-18, 6-10 WCC) look to continue their winning ways when the Pepperdine Waves (10-19, 4-12) visit Chiles Center Thursday at 7 p.m. for Senior Night. Portland will recognize Coleman Lemke, Vukasin Masic and Chris Austin with a pregame ceremony beginning at 6:50 p.m.
• The regular season then concludes with a Saturday road game against the San Diego Toreros (4-25, 1-15) with a 7 p.m. tip.
• Portland enters Thursday tied with Washington State for seventh in the WCC standings after winning three of the last four games.
 
GAME COVERAGE
• All WCC games will be aired on ESPN+.
• Radio for Thursday's game is on 910 ESPN-Portland, while Saturday will be on 1080 The Fan. Jason Swygard calls the action with coverage starting 30 minutes prior to tip-off and including 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: Pilots 81, Pacific 73 (Feb. 22, 2025 @Pacific)
• Chris Austin scored an efficient 24 points and the Pilots completed a season sweep of the Tigers. Austin was 9-for-13 from the field with seven rebounds and four steals. All five Pilot starters reached double figures as Vukasin Masic finished with 16 points, Max Mackinnon and Austin Rapp added 15 each and Bol Dengdit finished with 11.
• The Pilots led nearly start-to-finish and were up by as much as 21 points midway through the second half before holding off a late rally from the Tigers.
• Portland shot 52 percent from the field and limited Pacific to 46 percent on the night.
• Austin dominated the opening period with 20 points as the Pilots raced to a 40-29 lead at intermission. Portland poured it on to start the second half as Masic recorded all 16 of his points in the final period. A pair of layups from Austin and consecutive three-pointers from Masic pushed the margin to 50-31. Later in the half Dengdit buried a three and Mackinnon converted a layup to give the Pilots their largest lead at 66-45. Pacific got hot late and pulled within five twice in the final minute but Masic and Mackinnon each made a pair of free throws to ice the game.
 
RAPP RACKS UP STATS AND HONORS
• Austin Rapp was named the WCC Freshman of the Week for the fifth time this season on Feb. 17 after averaging 19.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game 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 6.2 rebounds per game, both tops among all freshmen in the WCC. He also leads the entire WCC in three-point percentage (.358) and three-pointers made per game (2.6), is second in blocks per game (1.4) and fourth in FT percentage (.837).
• Among freshmen nationally, Rapp leads the country in threes made (73), is second in three-point percentage, No. 4 in free throw percentage, 10th in blocked shots (40), 18th in rebounding and 20th 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 has moved into 10th place on the overall single-season charts. With 73 made, he is next scheduled to pass No. 9 Moses Wood (75, 2022-23) and then No. 8 T.J. Campbell (76, 2009-10). Jared Stohl sits at No. 5 (91, 2011-12) while Peter McKelvey owns the school record (106, 1992-93).
• Rapp also is approaching single season freshman record for blocked shots, held by Tim Frost (48, 2000-01) and already is No. 7 in overall single season history with 40 blocked shots.
 
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 48.2 percent from the field is fifth in WCC contests as is his free throw percentage (.889).
• 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 nine times in the last ten games including 20 or more points four times during the span.
• Austin scored a season high 24 points in Saturday's win at Pacific and added seven rebounds and four steals.
• He went for 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.
• Austin reached the 1,000-point mark for his career earlier this season at Oregon but has a chance to score 1,000 points as a Pilot down the stretch. He enters Thursday with 984 total points throughout his Portland career.
• 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 has found his stride during Portland's recent run. He returned to the lineup against LMU on Jan. 30 after missing the previous four games (back) and has now reached double figures in five consecutive games.
• Masic scored 21 points in Portland's win over LMU on Feb. 15 and then scored 16 second half points to help Portland hold off Pacific on the road last Saturday.
• He scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting against UCSB in his season debut. Masic then went for a season high 27 points in the win against Denver on Dec. 1.
• Masic is approaching 1,000 career points as he sits at 950 entering Thursday's game.
• 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 5.7 points per game and is leading the team with 30 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 38 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 5.7 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 overall record February 1 or later during his eight seasons is 60-31 (.659).

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 PEPPERDINE
• The Waves (10-19, 4-12 WCC) have notable non-league wins against New Mexico State (82-70) and UC Davis (85-46) while its four WCC victories have been sweeps of Pacific and San Diego.
• San Francisco transfer Stefan Todorovic (18.4) and Pacific transfer Moe Odum (12.2) lead the way for the Waves.
• Head coach Ed Schilling is in his first year after coming over from Grand Canyon as an assistant coach.
 
PORTLAND-PEPPERDINE SERIES DETAILS
Series: PEP leads 67-45; H / A / N: 26-28 / 16-35 / 2-5
Streak: W1
Last Meeting: Pilots 84, Pepperdine 64 (Feb. 1, 2025 at Pepperdine)

ABOUT SAN DIEGO
• The Toreros (4-25, 1-15 WCC) have Division I wins against Boston U (74-60), Idaho (68-61) and Pacific (75-65) but have lost 15 consecutive games entering Thursday.  
• Kjay Bradley Jr. is the only Torero averaging double figures at 14.5 points per game but has missed the last nine games. Steven Jamerson II adds 9.6 points and 7.7 rebounds.
• Head coach Steve Lavin is in his third year with the Toreros.

PORTLAND-SAN DIEGO SERIES HISTORY
Overall: USD leads 62-37
H / A / N: 19-28 / 13-31 / 5-3
Streak: W1
Last Meeting: Pilots 92, San Diego 82 (Jan. 23, 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.
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