UP @ EWU: Season Opener, Saturday 11/14/09, 1pm

Eastern Washington University men's basketball head coach Kirk Earlywine admits his team will "jump right into the fire" as the 2009-10 season officially gets underway this week with a trio of games in the span of four nights.

The Eagles open at home on Saturday (Nov. 14) at 1:05 p.m. Pacific time versus Portland, which finished 19-13 overall and 9-5 in the West Coast Conference last season. An early-season home loss for the Pilots came in a 63-58 Eagle win.

"I hope we get tremendous fan support for our home opener against Portland because that is going to be a heckuva game," said Earlywine. "We beat them in a close game at their place last year and I know they'll remember that. So we jump right into the fire with Portland."

The Pilots, in fact, have been picked to finish second in the WCC this season, finishing just four points behind perennial favorite Gonzaga. Portland even received two first-place votes, and T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio were selected as preseason All-WCC selections.

"That is a big, strong, physical and experienced group coming in here," said Earlywine. "I know they'll remember us going (to Portland) and beating them last year. There is certainly no doubt in my mind that Portland will be ready to play, and it's my job to make sure that the Eagles are ready as well."

...

"There probably isn't a coach that says they are absolutely, 100 percent ready at this point," he admitted. "There is just no way to have it all done well at this time. No, we're not ready to play four games in eight days. But it's on our schedule so we'll do our best over the next five days to get ready."

Eastern won both of its exhibition games, following a 98-61 romp over Saint Martin's on Nov. 1 with a 67-58 nail-biter a week later against Montana State-Billings. Of particular concern for Earlywine were 21 turnovers by his team against MSUB, leading to 24 points off turnovers for the Yellowjackets.

"(Portland) is going to beat us handily if we turn the ball over 21 times," he said. "It was good experience for us that Montana State Billings was really physical and aggressive. We didn't handle the ball well, we fumbled it all over and we threw back-cut passes out of bounds. We were not sharp offensively by any stretch of the imagination. But that's why we play exhibition games. We'll clean those things up and be ready for Saturday."

...

Series History:
EWU-Portland Series History -- Eastern has won the last four meetings, but trails Portland in the all-time series 7-9, with a 4-2 record in Cheney, 3-6 mark in Portland and 0-1 record on neutral courts. The first meeting was a 56-41 Portland win on Feb. 18, 1957, and the last meeting was last year's 63-58 Eagle victory on Dec. 3, 2008.

2/18/57 - L - Portland - 41-56- A
1/3/84 - L - Portland - 55-62 - H
11/30/84 - L - Portland - 44-46 - A
12/2/86 - L - Portland - 57-75 - A
12/29/86 - L - Portland - 57-79 - #
12/15/89 - W - Portland - 74-63 - A
11/26/90 - W - Portland - 91-83 - H
11/26/91 - L - Portland - 89-103 - A
12/1/92 - W - Portland - 89-80 - H
12/10/94 - L - Portland - 77-95 - A
12/7/95 - L - Portland - 72-87 - H
12/15/01 - L - Portland - 61-68 - A
1/4/03 - W - Portland - 89-74 - H
12/9/06 - W - Portland - 87-66 - A
12/17/07 - W - Portland - 84-75 - H
12/3/08 - W - Portland - 63-58 - A
# Anteater Classic in Irvine, Calif. (4th)

GETTING INSIDE

There is reason for optimism as honors candidates Benny Valentine and Brandon Moore are among five lettermen who return.

Valentine was selected second-team all-Big Sky a year ago after transferring from Texas Tech. He averaged 15.1 points per game, which ranked third in the league, and also ranked among the conference leaders in assists (3.07 average) and steals (1.47).

Moore is a 6-9, 260-pounder who uses that wide body to his advantage. He averaged 6.8 rebounds per game last season, which ranked second in the league. Moore is a reliable performer who started 29 of Eastern Washington’s 30 games last year and scored in double digits 19 times while averaging 11.2 per game.

The Eagles were 12-18 last season and this is Year Three of the Kirk Earlywine era, so improvement would seem to be expected. Eastern Washington has failed to make the Big Sky tournament so far under Earlywine. Anything less this season would be a disappointment.

Last year’s team was built on its backcourt stars, but it didn’t work.

Eastern Washington finished near the bottom of the league in such key statistical categories as scoring offense (eighth), field goal percentage (seventh) and three-point field goal percentage (eighth).

Earlywine recruited three junior college transfers in hopes of beefing up the roster.

NOTES, QUOTES

• At times last season, C Brandon Moore was one of the league’s best players. In the season finale against Portland State, for example, Moore had 18 points and 14 rebounds. The Eagles have lacked a consistent inside game for several years and need Moore to stay healthy this season.

• F Mark Dunn may be asked to play a larger role. He shot 49 percent from the field and averaged 5.6 points a year ago. He is one of five seniors on the roster and, with 24 starts under his belt a year ago, has kind of experience necessary to provide help for Moore on the front line.

• The Eagles have failed to qualify for the Big Sky tournament the last three seasons. Eastern Washington has been a member of the league for 22 years and made only one trip to the league tournament in their first 10 seasons. The program then qualified nine consecutive times for the postseason.

Last Year: 12-18 overall, 6-10 in the Big Sky.

Head Coach: Kirk Earlywine (career 44-44); third year at Eastern Washington (23-37).

Quote To Note: “Somehow, somewhere, an alien invaded his body for two months and I think we got the real Brandon Moore back tonight. Hopefully we’ll have him for a full season next year.”—Coach Kirk Earlywine after Moore had 18 points and 14 rebounds against Portland State in Eastern Washington’s final Big Sky game last season.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting The Newcomers: Treymayne Johnson, a 6-7 transfer forward from Los Angeles Southwest College, was recruited out of high school by the likes of Arizona and San Francisco. The Los Angeles native averaged nine points and five rebounds two years ago as a freshman at Southwest, then sat out last season and will have three seasons of eligibility at Eastern Washington. Also new to the roster several intriguing transfers, including guard Alden Gibbs of College of the Siskiyous, guard Morgan Hyslop of Columbia Basin Community College and forward Laron Griffin of Los Angeles Southwest College.

Key Early-season Games: The Eagles play at Washington State on Nov. 16 and at Gonzaga on Dec. 28. Both games are important as Eastern Washington seeks to carve out more respect and awareness in the Spokane area. An upset either of the Pac-10 Cougars and Top 25 Zags would be big news in the Palouse.

Program Direction: Rising. At least, it had better be for third-year coach Kirk Earlywine’s sake. Eastern Washington needs to qualify for the league tournament to validate Earlywine’s work. While there will be no predictions of a championship, the Eagles should contend for one of the six available postseason spots.

Probable Starting Lineup: PG Benny Valentine, SG Gary Gibson, SF Treymaye Johnson, PF Mark Dunn, C Brandon Moore.

Roster Report:

• F Matthew Brunell has been a reliable reserve for two seasons and could play a more prominent role as a senior. He played in all 30 games last season and averaged two points and two rebounds.

• G Benny Valentine was a second-team All-Big Sky selection last season when he hit 55 three-pointers and shot 72 percent from the foul line. Only 5-foot-7, Valentine is one of the league’s quickest players.

Top 25 Zags

ShipstadPilot11 wrote:PilotNut will be in the building on Saturday: we can't lose!

coldsmokeCO wrote:As Blount would say, we owe them a butt whoopin.

PilotNut wrote:It's well past time to beat the Eagles... I didnt realize they had won the last 4 meetings!

up7587 wrote:

PilotNut wrote:It's well past time to beat the Eagles... I didnt realize they had won the last 4 meetings!

I think Rodney Stuckey had a lot to do with two of those losses! Glad he's gone!

Go Pilots!

GAME INFORMATION

The University of Portland will open the 2009-10 men’s basketball regular season at Eastern Washington on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Reese Court in the season-opener for both programs. The contest will be aired live on Freedom 970 AM with Tom Kolker and Jason Brough providing the commentary. A live audio simulcast will be streamed at PortlandPilots.com. A free live video broadcast of the game will be available at www.bigskytv.org.



PILOTS BRIEFLY

* Portland won its two exhibition games defeating Concordia (106-78) and Linfield (91-56)

*Portland was picked second in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll behind Gonzaga

*Nik Raivio and T.J. Campbell were named to the 10-player WCC Preseason All-Conference Team

*Portland appeared in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) last year, the program’s first postseason appearance since 1996

*The Pilots tied for second in school history last year in total wins (19) and WCC wins (9)

*Portland returns 12 players and all five starters

*2009 WCC Coach of the Year Eric Reveno and his staff remain together and enter their fourth year at the helm of the Pilots (assistants Joel Sobotka, Eric Jackson and Michael Wolf)

*ESPN.com’s Fran Fraschilla listed UP among the top 10 mid-major programs entering the 2009-10 season

*Portland is ranked No. 15 in the CollegeInsider.com Preseason Mid-Major Top 25

*FOXSPORTS.com’s Jeff Goodman has the Pilots in his preseason NCAA bracket as a 12-seed

*Goodman also listed Jared Stohl as the No. 6 shooter in the nation and Campbell the No. 31 shooter

*Four high school seniors singed NLI’s with Portland on Nov. 11, 2009: Riley Barker, John Bailey, Ryan Nicholas and Tanner Riley



ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON

Eastern won both of its exhibition games, following a 98-61 romp over Saint Martin's on Nov. 1 with a 67-58 nail-biter a week later against Montana State-Billings. The Eagles finished last season 12-18 overall and 6-10 in the Big Sky Conference (t-6th). Head coach Kirk Earlywine enters his third year at the helm with a 23-37 overall record. Earlywine returns five letterwinners and three starters, highlighted by point guard Benny Valentine and center Brandon Moore. Valentine was a second team all-conference pick as a junior and averaged 15.2 points, while Moore averaged 11.2 and 6.8 rebounds per game.



EASTERN WASHINGTON-PORTLAND SERIES
Eastern has won the last four meetings, but the Pilots own a 9-7 advantage in the all-time series. The Eagles are 4-2 on their home floor all-time against Portland. Last year, EWU defeated Portland 63-58 on Dec. 3, 2008 at the Chiles Center. It was one of only two home losses all year for the Pilots.


EXHIBITION RECAPS

Portland 91, Linfield 56 (Dec. 7): The Pilots concluded their exhibition schedule with a 91-56 men’s basketball victory over the Linfield Wildcats before 1,433 fans at the Chiles Center Saturday night. Sophomore guard Nemanja Mitrovic came off the bench to make 5-of-6 three-pointers to lead the Pilots with 15 points. All 12 available Portland players scored in the victory. Mitrovic drilled four consecutive three-pointers to ignite a 24-5 run midway through the first period to put the game out of reach. Sophomore forward B.J. Porter capped the run with a dunk and three-pointer to give the Pilots a 46-17 lead with 2:29 left in the period. Portland took a 53-22 halftime lead as Porter hit another three-pointer just before intermission. Junior guard Jared Stohl added 14 points and Porter finished with 12. Luke Sikma and Robin Smeulders chipped in 11 apiece, while Ethan Niedermeyer finished with 10 for the Pilots. shot 52 percent from the field and made 12-of-24 three-pointers in the game. The Wildcats finished at 41 percent from the field and 5-for-21 from the three-point line. Portland



Portland 106, Concordia 78 (Nov. 27): Nik Raivio led six different players in double figures as the Portland Pilots defeated the Concordia Cavaliers Thursday evening in an exhibition game at the Chiles Center. Junior forward Luke Sikma added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Junior center Kramer Knutson finished with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field and senior forward Ethan Niedermeyer drained 5-of-6 shots, including three three-pointers, en route to 13 points. Seniors Robin Smeulders and Taishi Ito added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Senior point guard T.J. Campbell had a game-high nine assists and junior guard Jared Stohl had four steals. The NAIA Cavaliers were led by Alex Tiefenthaler’s 19 points, while Drew Preuninger made 5-of-6 three-pointers to finish with 15 points. Starting all five seniors on the roster, Portland took the early lead behind the play of Ito who had seven early points. The Pilots made six three-pointers in the first period and cruised to a 57-39 lead at the half. The largest lead for the Pilots was 32 points late in regulation as all 13 players on the active roster saw action. Portland forced 24 Cavalier turnovers and gained a 28-9 margin in points off of turnovers. The Pilots also turned a 40-27 rebounding edge into a 14-2 advantage in second chance points.



PILOTS PICKED 2ND IN WCC PRESEASON POLL

Portland was picked to finish second in the league behind Gonzaga in the 2009-10 West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Zags received six first place votes and tallied 48 points to narrowly edge out the Pilots, which received the remaining two first place votes and collected 44 overall points. Portland’s senior backcourt of T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio were each selected to the 10-player preseason all-conference team, joining Gonzaga’s Matt Bouldin and Stephen Gray as the only teammates on the list.



PILOTS SIGN FOUR TO NLI’s

Head coach Eric Reveno announced on Thursday the signing of four high school seniors to NLI’s. John Bailey (6-8, 200, F, Mesa, Ariz./Dobson HS), Riley Barker (6-9, 225, C, Surrey, B.C./White Rock Christian Academy), Ryan Nicholas (6-7, 235, F, Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) and Tanner Riley (6-3, 195, G, North Bend, Wash./Mount Si HS) will all join the Pilots for the 2010-11 season.



“With our team returning almost everybody to the roster this season, we put a premium on targeting players from the 2010 class that could maintain the momentum our program has built,” Reveno said. “Our coaching staff feels that these four players are all capable of coming in and helping immediately.”



2009-10 SEASON PREVIEW

With nearly the entire roster returning from a banner season, the University of Portland has NCAA Tournament aspirations in 2010. Now in his fourth year at the helm of the Pilots, reigning West Coast Conference Coach of the Year Eric Reveno has transformed the program. Behind the play of All-WCC First Team guards T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio, the Pilots posted a 19-13 record last year and advanced to postseason play for the first time since 1996. It was the third best season in Portland’s 51-year history at the NCAA Division I level despite not having a senior on the roster.



With all of the talent returning, expectations have risen for Reveno and the Pilots as Portland was picked to finish second behind Gonzaga in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll. It is the highest preseason listing ever for the Pilots. Campbell and Raivio were both named to the Preseason All-Conference Team as Portland and Gonzaga were the only two schools with more than one representative.



The Pilots carried the momentum from last year’s run to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament into a valuable offseason. All 12 returning players and staff went on a four-game foreign tour in Australia in May of 2009. With two weeks of full team practice allowed before the foreign tour, Portland had the opportunity for an experienced team to get quality bonding time and extra on-court instruction.



Reveno credits the stability of his coaching staff – assistants Joel Sobotka, Eric Jackson and Michael Wolf all came to Portland with Reveno prior to the 2006-07 season – as one of the many factors in the program’s growth. That stability has transformed a team that was the eighth youngest in the nation two years ago into one of the favorites in the WCC this season.



Signature wins over the University of Washington, Saint Mary’s College and University of Nevada gave the Pilots a taste of high-level success last year. With a challenging schedule that features Oregon, Washington, Nevada and UCLA at the 76 Classic this season, Portland will have more opportunities to establish itself as a national player.



ON THE PERIMETER

Portland developed a reputation last season as a dangerous perimeter team and finished second nationally in three-point percentage (.418). One of the main reasons for the successful campaign was the play of Campbell, a junior college All-American from Glendale CC. Campbell shot 53.1 percent from three-point range and was four makes short of leading the nation in that category. He converted a blistering 60 percent of his three-point attempts during WCC games. Campbell led the league in assists per game (league games only) during his first WCC season and finished the year with averages of 11.4 and 4.7 assists.



Raivio is 109 points shy of becoming the 31st player in school history with 1,000 career points and just the 12th to do it in three or less years with the program. He led the team last season in scoring (16.0) and rebounding (6.5) and was the only guard in the WCC to finish in the top 10 of both categories.



Junior sharpshooter Jared Stohl was 89-for-195 from downtown (.456) and third nationally in three-point percentage. He set a school record with nine three-pointers in a home win versus San Francisco. Stohl, an honorable mention All-WCC pick last year, is on pace to break the school record for career three-pointers this year. He was rated the No. 6 shooter in the nation this year by FoxSports.com’s Jeff Goodman.



Senior Ethan Niedermeyer and junior B.J. Porter split starting duties on the wing last year. Niedermeyer battled injuries after starting the season with a 14-point effort in the upset of Washington. Portland struggled to a 2-4 record in games Niedermeyer missed. Porter came on to earn the starting nod late in the season and provided multiple highlight reel dunks on the fast break. His shot has improved dramatically since first arriving on campus as a freshman.



Senior co-captain Taishi Ito provides a steady hand at the point guard position and is also the best perimeter defender for the Pilots. Sophomore Eric Waterford earned point guard minutes down the stretch last year and had his best performance in the WCC semifinals against Saint Mary’s.



Sophomore Nemanja Mitrovic is another player that can shoot it from deep and will look to crack the playing rotation in his second full year on The Bluff. Freshman walk-on Cody Mivshek provides toughness on the perimeter.



IN THE PAINT

Portland boasts an experienced frontline led by senior forward Robin Smeulders. At 6-feet, 10-inches, Smeulders used his athletic frame and good shooting touch to average 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and earn All-WCC honorable mention status.



Two-year starting junior center Kramer Knutson and versatile 6-foot, 8-inch junior forward Luke Sikma also have played big-time minutes since their freshman seasons. Knutson does a lot of the dirty work underneath and shot a team-high 54.4 percent from the field last season. Sikma missed much of last year’s preseason training with a knee injury, but has shown the ability to be a dominant force at both ends of the floor. He nearly averaged a double-double in his first 10 games as a freshman.



Junior center Jasonn Hannibal has the best size on the team (6-10, 270) and looks to continue his improvement and be a regular member of the rotation this season. Freshman walk-on Ryan Schaefer is coming off of surgery repairing a torn ACL over the summer.



THE SCHEDULE

Highlighting the 2009-10 schedule will be the 76 Classic in Anaheim over Thanksgiving weekend. The eight-team field includes six teams that competed in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Portland will open the tourney against UCLA live on ESPN2 Thanksgiving Day at 7:30 p.m. and then play either Butler or Minnesota the following day. Other 76 Classic participants include West Virginia, Clemson, Texas A&M and Long Beach State.



Portland will open the regular season at Eastern Washington on Nov. 14. The Pilots have lost four straight to the Eagles and are looking to avenge last year’s 63-58 loss at the Chiles Center, one of only two all year at home for Portland. Other key non-conference games include home games against Oregon (Nov. 21) and Portland State (Dec. 2) road games at Washington (Dec. 19) and Nevada (Dec. 28). The Pilots will also play a home-and-home with upstart Idaho.



WCC play begins with a matchup of the two preseason favorites as Gonzaga visits the Chiles Center on Saturday Jan. 9. The WCC Championships will again be hosted by the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Mar. 5-8.

ShipstadPilot11 wrote:To put last year's game into context and give it some perspective:
Ethan was out.
We shot 36.8% from the field (21-57)
We shot 16.7% from 3 (3-18) Jared had 2 and TJ had one. Robin was 0-4 from 3, I think he was still riding the rush from the one he made against UW.
Nik was 2-12 from the field, including 0-5 from deep.

What I'm driving at is that this game seems to have been a fluke. We were off to a bad start with Ethan's injury and we couldn't buy a bucket. It was Nik's worst night of the year (he matched his 2-12 in the ugly win over Air Force).

We return our entire team. They lost their leading scorer from last years game although they do return Brandon Moore, their big center and Benny Valentine a 5-7 guard who averaged 15ppg last year.

We shouldn't pencil in the "W" just yet, but if we play hard there is no reason why we shouldn't start the season the right way on Saturday.

Portland 64, Eastern Washington 58: Reveno pleased with Pilots opener
By Special to The Oregonian
November 14, 2009, 4:45PM
SPOKANE - The replay might not be as good as the live performance but the Portland Pilots won't be complaining if the reviews aren't quite as glowing.

UP opened the men's basketball season with a 64-58 win at Eastern Washington before 1,522 on Saturday afternoon -- a perfect start for a coach: a win that left plenty of room for improvement.

"I'll go back on film and probably be more critical of our guys," Pilots coach Eric Reveno said. "Right now, I give a lot of credit to them. They really got after us with good athletes that were committed to defending every possession, they made it hard.

"On the flip side, go one level deeper. We have to figure out how to solve that. There's plenty there, first game out on the road, to work on. Our seniors haven't beat them so it's a good win.

But until he watches the video, Reveno had no complaints.

"I liked our defense," he said. "I thought we did a good job defending, to a person, taking charges, rebounding the ball real well and they had to work for everything."

The Pilots never trailed -- but they never put away the Eagles, who had won the previous four games in the series. However, each time Eastern got close, a different player came up with a big play.

"It was a team effort," Reveno said. "It doesn't surprise me but it is something special when you have different guys making plays, trusting each other, working hard. What I told them before the game we're a balanced team, we have to take what they give us and that person has to step up."

Starters Nik Ravio and T.J. Campbell had 16 and 15 points, respectively, but the real difference maker was Luke Sikma, who came off the bench to score 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting and grab 14 rebounds.

"I didn't really feel it," Sikma said after his fifth career double-double. "I just had to come out, get on the glass, rebound the ball and let the game come to me. It happened today. We got a good win on the road and we're looking forward to Seattle (Tuesday at the Chiles Center)."

The Pilots led by 12 with 5:09 to play but the Eagles kept coming. Campbell hit a three-pointer at 4:02 when Eastern was within six. In fact, starting with Campbell's fourth three-pointer, the Pilots scored after every successful Eagle possession down the stretch. Twice it was Sikma doing the answering.

"As a coach you can call all kinds of stuff to get guys open shots but you don't know if they're going to knock them down," Reveno said. "Sure enough he steps up and knocks it down.

"That's a nice boost off the bench. That was real big for us. Our first seven, eight guys, I feel like I could start any of them. I think we'll have the ability to adjust based on who we're playing."

- Dave Trimmer