Portland Pilots (10-13, 3-7 WCC) at Washington State Cougars (10-13, 5-5 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Place: Pullman, Wash.
Arena: Beasley Coliseum
TV: ESPN+
Live Coverage Links: Video | Stats

THIS WEEK
• Portland dropped a 74-51 road game at Pacific on Wednesday and now heads to the Palouse for a game against Washington State on Saturday.
• The Pilots and the Cougars will tip-off on at 3 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.

GAME COVERAGE
• All WCC games will be aired live on ESPN+. Saturday's game will feature Trevor Williams and Ernie Kent on the call.
• Pilot radio this season includes all men's and women's basketball home games, as well as select road games, streamed live on PortlandPilots.com with Jason Swygard calling the action. Saturday's game will not be on the air.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

LAST TIME OUT: Pacific 74, Pilots 51 (Jan. 28, 2026— Stockton, Calif.)
• Pacific improved to 10-0 at home with the win over a shorthanded Portland squad. The Pilots had just 10 active players – including numerous battling illness – and never got into a rhythm on offense. Portland shot just 31 percent overall while Pacific finished at 50.9 percent from the field.
• Joel Foxwell was the lone Pilot in double figures with 13 points. Justin Rochelin led four Tigers in double digits with 17 points.
• The Pilots shot just 25 percent in the first half, including 1-of-10 from three-point range. Pacific finished at 61.5 percent from the floor in the period and took a 40-21 lead into halftime. Foxwell made a pair of threes early in the second half, but Portland could not get closer than a 15-point deficit in the second stanza.
• The 21-point first half was a Portland season low for any half this season and 51 total points was also a season low for the Pilots.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS
• Freshman PG Joel Foxwell is the only player in the NCAA to have multiple games of 15 assists or more and one of two players to have a game with at least 20 points and 15 assists. He is also one of three nationally averaging at least 15 points and seven assists (Braden Smith, Purdue; Christian Anderson, Texas Tech).
• Foxwell picked up his fifth WCC Freshman of the Week award on Jan. 12 after averaging 22.5 points, 6.0 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in wins against Pacific and Oregon State. Foxwell posted a season-high 27 points and seven assists against Pacific and then had 18 points, six assists, and two steals against Oregon State. He had 20 points and 15 assists against Santa Clara on Dec. 30, with his 15 dimes matching a career high as well as the program record for assists in a game set by Tyler Robertson in a Dec. 10, 2022 home win against New Orleans. He matched his high with 27 points in Saturday's loss to Saint Mary's.
• He has seven 20-point games and four double-doubles this season and has dished out 10 or more assists six times. He is the WCC leader in assists per game (7.0), which also ranks sixth nationally and No. 1 among freshmen. Foxwell also leads the Pilots in scoring (15.0) and is No. 2 in points per game among WCC freshmen. In league games his 17.7 points are tied for the most with Ace Glass among frosh.
•The Melbourne, Australia native already owns the UP freshmen record for assists and is on pace to beat Austin Rapp's freshman scoring record of 428 points.
• Freshman F Timo George had been a consistent force for the Pilots as the team's No. 2 scorer (12.5), which is third among league freshmen, while his 4.9 rebounds per game are also second among WCC freshmen. He reached double figures in 11 of 15 games despite playing just 19.9 minutes per game.
• George was two field goals made shy of NCAA qualification in FG percentage. His 69.5 percent from the field would rank No. 3 nationally and lead the WCC. He was 7-for-7 from the field with 14 points and four rebounds at halftime vs. Santa Clara on Dec. 30 before suffering a shoulder injury and has not played since.
• Dante Censori-Hercules has been effective off the bench as a defensive stopper and has his best game of the year at Pepperdine with four points, six rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes. He followed with a season high seven rebounds at LMU and has started the last two games.

WILLIAMS DOING WORK
• Cameron Williams recorded his first double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds at Pepperdine. He previously logged his fifth 20-point game of the season with his 23-point performance against Oregon State.
• Williams is shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 77.5 percent at the foul line. His 11.8 points are third on the roster and he is grabbing a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game. He is averaging 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds in WCC games.
• Williams, a first team JC All-American and national champ with Trinity Valley JC last season, has adjusted well to the Division I level.

BALLEW, BALLISAGER WEBB PROVIDING BOOSTS
• Sophomore G Mikah Ballew and senior C Jermaine Ballisager Webb are the two most experienced returners from last year's roster.
• Ballew has started 14 games is averaging 10.3 points this season, including 12 double figure games. Ballew's 42 three-pointers are second on the roster.
• Ballisager Webb is averaging 7.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in 16.7 minutes and has started the last six games. He had a career high 18 points versus Oregon State.

INJURY AND ILLNESS IMPACT
• Portland has dealt with numerous injuries and illness. Riley Parker (foot) and Timo George (shoulder) are out for the season, while Carlin Briggs (knee) is still returning from offseason surgery.
• UP had eight active players against Saint Mary's Saturday. The Pilots activated grad assistant Sam Noland, who previously played at Pacific Lutheran before joining the staff. He played one minute off the bench against the Gaels and then scored five points in 11 minutes at Pacific on Wednesday. Mikah Ballew (ill) returned to the lineup off the bench against the Tigers, but UP was still without Matus Hronsky (ill).

NATIONAL TEAM DUTY
• Four different players have been regular representatives on their home country's national teams either at the youth or senior level.
• Jermaine Ballisager Webb (Denmark) played on youth national teams from U15 on and represented the Senior National Team this Summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.8 rebounds over four games as Denmark secured a qualifying spot.
• Timo George (Netherlands) helped the Netherlands U20 National Team to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 FIBA EuroBasket where he averaged 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He also represented the Netherlands at the U18 European Championships in 2023.
• Matúš Hronský (Slovakia) represented Slovakia at the 2021 U20 European Championships where he averaged 15.8 points in five games. Hronský also played for Slovakia's Senior National Team at the 2021 World Cup where he scored eight points in four games.
• Dante Censori-Hercules (Canada) also trained this Summer with the U-19 National Team.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
• Portland's current roster features players from seven different countries including nine international student-athletes.
• The Australian pipeline continues to flow with four Pilots hailing from Down Under: Riley Parker, James O'Donnell, Carlin Briggs and Joel Foxwell.
• Throughout his five-year tenure with the Pilots, Legans has had nine different Aussies on the roster and 21 total international players from 12 different countries.

BUILDING A WINNING ROSTER
• The Portland coaching staff focused on building the 2025-26 roster with experienced players from winning programs and Portland's five transfers fit the bill.
• Junior transfers Garrett Nuckolls and Cameron Williams were the top two scorers for Trinity Valley JC, which won the JUCO Division I national title last year.
• Riley Parker was a starter and team captain for St. Francis, which won the Northeast Conference Tournament to reach the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
• Senior F Matúš Hronský spent three years with Duquesne and played in two NCAA Tournament games in 2024, while sophomore C James O'Donnell was a key contributor for San Francisco, who won 25 games and played in the NIT.
• Additionally, Portland's three true freshmen all played for high level clubs or have national team experience: Timo George prepped at IMG Academy in Florida, Joel Foxwell played with pros in the Australian NBL and NBL1, while Dante Censori-Hercules competed at Hodan Prep, which has multiple alums playing in the NBA.

ABOUT THE RETURNERS
• Portland returns six players from last year's roster, three of which redshirted.
• Mikah Ballew averaged 4.9 points as a freshman in 31 games. Jermaine Ballisager Webb started eight games, appeared in 29 and averaged 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 64 percent from the field. RS-sophomore G Kelson Gebbers played 19 games and averaged 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds.
• Carlin Briggs, NaVaughn Long and Preston Lee each utilized their redshirt season. Briggs is returning from a knee injury and working his way back into playing shape. Long made his debut against Willamette and recorded two rebounds with a pair of assists. Lee also debuted against the Bearcats and scored five points with a steal.

STAFF UPDATE
• Portland added two new assistant coaches to staff this offseason in Mark Berokoff and Anthony Separovich, while Decclan Mclean was promoted to an assistant coach after serving two years as a graduate assistant.
• Berokoff brings vast experience to the bench with more than 400 career wins along with multiple state and national championships as a head coach. Berokoff most recently served four seasons as head coach at NAIA Oklahoma City University.  He led Randall University to three national titles and five national semifinals appearances in nine years (2012-21) at the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II level while serving as both head coach and athletic director.
• Separovich and Mclean are Australians that have helped solidified a strong pipeline for the Pilots Down Under. Separovich served as the AUSA Hoops Program and Recruiting Director from 2022-25. He was instrumental in recruiting, mentoring and guiding boys and girls players from Australia to earn college scholarships in the U.S. More than 500 student-athletes represented AUSA in AAU Tournaments across the U.S. in 2025. He helped place more than 100 student-athletes at U.S. colleges over the past three years, including a record 50 in 2024.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (10-13, 5-5 WCC)
• The Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak with home wins against Pepperdine (95-79) and Seattle U (70-58). In addition to a road win at Portland, WSU has home WCC victories over LMU and Oregon State. Notable non-conference wins came against Saint Thomas and Southern Utah
• Freshman G Ace Glass averages a team-best 16.7 points.
• Head coach David Riley is in his second season at the helm. Riley was previously the head coach at Eastern Washington, where he also served as an assistant to Shantay Legans.

PORTLAND-WASHINGTON STATE SERIES HISTORY
Series: WSU leads 15-2
H / A / N: 2-4 / 0-9 / 0-2
Streak: Portland L9
Last 10 / 5: 1-9 / 0-5
Last: Cougars 67, Pilots 62 (Dec. 28, 2025 at Portland)

WE'RE RIVERBOAT PILOTS, NOT AIRPLANE PILOTS!
• Though a 1935 student contest resulted in the nickname "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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