Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship Second Round
Portland Pilots (12-19, 7-11 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (10-21, 4-14 WCC)
Date: Friday, March 1, 2025
Time: 6 p.m. (PT)
Place: Las Vegas, Nev.
Arena: Orleans Arena
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 910 ESPN Portland
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats

THIS WEEK
• Portland enters the 2025 Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship as the No. 8 seed and faces No. 9 Pepperdine on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Friday's game will be aired on ESPN+. Radio coverage will be 910 ESPN Portland with Jason Swygard and Joel Sobotka calling the action.
• The winner advances to Saturday's third round against No. 5 Oregon State at 6 p.m. also on ESPN+ and 910 ESPN Portland.
• Saturday's winner moves on to Sunday's quarterfinals against No. 4 Santa Clara at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
• The tournament semifinals are Monday and championship game is Tuesday.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PortlandMBB on Instagram and X for in-game updates.
• Single session tournament tickets are still available by visiting WCCsports.com.

PILOTS AT THE WCC TOURNAMENT
• Portland is 15-36 all-time at the WCC Championships and 8-16 in Las Vegas.
• Portland won the 1996 WCC Tournament to earn the automatic NCAA bid and were defeated in the finals of the 1995 tournament by Gonzaga, the only two finals appearances in school history.
• UP has reached the semifinals five times, most recently in 2015.
• Last season the Pilots knocked off LMU in the second round and fell to San Francisco in the quarterfinals.

RAPP, MACKINNON EARN WCC HONORS
• Portland F Austin Rapp has been named the WCC Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Pilot to win a major conference award since T.J. Campbell was the WCC Newcomer of the Year in 2009.
• Rapp becomes the sixth Pilot to be named WCC Freshman of the Year and first since Ryan Jones in 1999. The others are Dionn Holton (1995), Matt Houle (1990), Erik Spoelstra (1989) and Greg Anthony (1987).
• Portland junior G Max Mackinnon also garnered All-WCC second team recognition.

RAPP RACKS UP STATS AND HONORS
• Austin Rapp earned his sixth WCC Freshman of the Week award on Monday after recording back-to-back double doubles against Pepperdine and San Diego.
• In addition to his WCC Freshman of the Year honor, the Melbourne, Australia native also garnered WCC All-Freshman Team honors in what has been a historic season on The Bluff.
• Rapp currently leads the league in three-pointers made (79), three-point percentage (.354) and defensive rebounds per game (5.9) and is No. 2 in blocked shots (45). He is the WCC leader among freshmen in both scoring (13.7) and rebounding (6.5). He also leads the entire WCC in three-point percentage (.346) and three-pointers made per game (2.5), is second in blocks per game (1.5) and fourth in FT percentage (.830).
• Among freshmen nationally Rapp leads the country in three-pointers made, is second in three-point percentage, sixth in free throw percentage, ninth in blocked shots, 15th in rebounding and 21st in scoring.
• Rapp recorded four double-doubles and scored 20 or more points on four occasions during the regular season. He finished strong with a pair of double-doubles last week and has blocked two more shots in seven straight games. Rapp also made at least one three-pointer in 29 of 30 games played.
• He passed Juanse Gorosito (61, 2022-23) to break the UP Freshman record for threes in a season Feb. 1 at Pepperdine and has moved into seventh place on the overall single-season charts. He is currently No. 2 in single-season freshmen blocked shots, just three shy of Tim Frost's record of 48 in 2001. Rapp already is No. 7 in blocks and No. 8 in three-pointers made in a season all-time at UP.

MASIC MAKING WAVES
• Vukasin Masic has found his stride during Portland's late season 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 six of seven 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 Feb. 22.
• He had 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting against UCSB in his season debut and 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 currently sits at 972.
• He 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.

AUSTIN BREAKS OUT
• Graduate G Chris Austin has come up big recently for the Pilots. He has reached double figures 11 times in the last 12 games including 20 or more points four times during the span. Against Pepperdine on Feb. 27 he scored his 1,000th career point as a Pilot after finishing with 17 points.
• Austin scored a season high 24 points in a Feb. 22 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 and now has 1,001 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.

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 breaking the streak late in regulation.
• Mackinnon has delivered during WCC play averaging 18.4 points during conference games, good for third in the league. His 48.2 percent from the field is sixth in WCC contests and he is fourth in free throw percentage (.900).
• 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 CAA 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.

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 a season ago.

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 37 percent of Portland's total scoring this year. Austin Rapp is Portland's second leading scorer (13.7), while RS freshman PG Vincent Delano and freshman G Mikah Ballew add 5.4 and 5.1 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 61-32 (.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 PEPPERDINE
• The Waves (10-21, 4-14 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.
• Stefan Todorovic (18.0) and Moe Odum (12.0) 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 67-46; H / A / N: 27-28 / 16-35 / 2-5
Streak: W2
Last Meeting: Pilots 87, Pepperdine 67 (Feb. 27, 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.