Portland Pilots (1-1) at Colorado Buffaloes (1-1)Date: Friday, November 20, 2015
Tip-off: 6:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Boulder, Colo.
Arena: Coors Events Center (11,064)
TV: Pac-12 NetworksRadio: 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT)Live Stats: PortlandPilots.comPortland vs. Colorado Series Overall Series: First Meeting
THIS WEEK • The Pilots visit Boulder, Colo. to face the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday at 6 p.m. (PT).
• Portland will then return to the Chiles Center for a Sunday meeting with Abilene Christian at 7 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE• Friday's game will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks with JB Long and Mike Montgomery calling the action. Sunday's game will be streamed live on TheW.tv.
• Radio coverage on the home of the Pilots, 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT), begins with a 30-minute pregame show. The broadcast will also feature a complete post-game show with player and coach interviews. David Endres and Jason Brough provide the call on Friday, while Bill Johnson will return on Sunday.
• Online audio simulcasts are available via 910 ESPN-Portland, while all live game statistics can be found on PortlandPilots.com.
ABOUT THE PILOTS • The Pilots (1-1) dropped a 79-66 decision at UC Davis on Sunday, after defeating Oregon Tech 85-78 to open the season last Friday.
• Junior PG Alec Wintering scored a team-high 17 points in the loss to the Aggies, while D'Marques Tyson added 15 off the bench.
• Portland was outrebounded 53-33, went 1-for-6 from the free throw line, and shot just 34 percent from the field in the loss.
• Senior G Bryce Pressley erupted for a career-high 30 points, including eight three-pointers, as Portland opened the season with a home win against Oregon Tech Friday.
• Freshman G Jazz Johnson added 14 points off the bench, while sophomore F Gabe Taylor had 11. Wintering dished out 11 assists and had seven rebounds.
• The Pilots hoisted 30 three-pointers on Friday and 31 on Saturday. The most since the Pilots had 34 attempts in a 2004 game.
• Portland has played up-tempo with a lot of new faces on the roster. The team attempted 80 field goals against UC Davis, the most since the 2001-02 team hoisted 84 on Nov. 25 against Duke.
• Senior F Max Livingston has started both games for the Pilots. Livingston played limited minutes last season, his first with the Pilots after transferring from Clark College.
• Junior F Jarrel Marshall started and scored 15 points in UP's exhibition game, but suffered an ankle injury last week. He sat out the season-opener on Friday and played limited minutes off the bench Sunday, scoring three points and grabbing four rebounds.
• Marshall, along with junior C Ray Barreno, are incoming JC transfers that are expected to contribute immediately. Barreno started and finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots on Friday.
• Head coach Eric Reveno returns an experienced backcourt and seven lettermen from a 2014-15 squad that finished 17-16 overall and earned an invitation to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
• The Pilots were picked fifth in the West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, while Wintering was named to the 10-player Preseason All-WCC Team.
• Wintering earned All-WCC second team honors last year after averaging 12.3 points and 5.7 assists per game. He ranked third in the league in both assists and three-point percentage (.449), fifth in steals (1.5), and ninth in free throw percentage (.794).
• Pressley, a two-year starter like Wintering, ranks fourth in Portland career three-point field goal percentage (.421). He and Wintering are co-captaining the Pilots this season.
• Portland also returns four sophomores that played key minutes last year in Taylor, Jason Todd, Tyson and Philipp Hartwich.
• The Pilots added five true freshmen to the roster, including local standout Jazz Johnson (Lake Oswego HS). Johnson broke the prestigious Les Schwab Invitational scoring record last winter by averaging 35.0 points over four games. Rashad Jackson (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial HS/IMPACT Academy) scored more than 2,100 points as a four-year prep standout and then spent last year training at the IMPACT Academy in Las Vegas. Colin Russell (Folsom, Calif./Folsom HS) led his high school to the 2014 Nor Cal State Title and consecutive Section Division titles. Xavier Hallinan (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS) was a two-sport prep standout in basketball and football and joins the Pilots as a walk-on. Chier Maker (Sydney, Australia/Newington College) is redshirting the 2015-16 season and will have four years of eligibility remaining beginning next season.
• Reveno picked up a pair of his former players to join the coaching staff this offseason. Mitch Johnson, a former Stanford point guard, comes on as an assistant coach, while former Pilot center Kramer Knutson also joined the staff as director of basketball operations.
• Portland announced that 6-10 center Joseph Smoyer (Portland, Ore./Franklin HS) signed a National Letter of Intent and will join the Pilots next season.
ABOUT COLORADO• The Buffs (1-1) dropped a 68-62 decision to No. 7 Iowa State on Friday and then knocked off Auburn on the road (91-84) on Tuesday.
• George King had 27 points and Josh Scott add 24 points and nine rebounds against Auburn. Scott had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds against Iowa State.
• Head coach Tad Boyle is in his sixth season at Colorado and has guided the Buffs to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Colorado finished 16-18 overall and 7-11 in the Pac-12. The Buffs were picked to finish seventh in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll.
PILOTS SIGN LOCAL CENTER TO NLI • Smoyer has started for the Quakers each of the last three seasons earning All-Portland Interscholastic League First Team honors last season. He was honorable mention all-league in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.
• An elite student, Smoyer is currently the senior class President and a has been admitted to the University of Portland Shiley School of Engineering.
• Smoyer joins previous signee Alec Monson to comprise the Class of 2016. Monson signed in 2014 and will return from a two-year church mission next season.
