PSU @ #25 Portland, Wednesday 12/2/09, 7pm

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN, STATS Senior Writer 9 hours, 2 minutes ago

Portland is ranked for the first time in more than 50 years. In order to maintain its place in the Top 25, it will likely have to end a losing streak against a crosstown rival that features a player who began his career with the Pilots.

The No. 25 Pilots are back home to try to end a three-game skid against Portland State on Wednesday night when Vikings forward Jamie Jones plays his first game at Chiles Center as a visitor.

Portland (5-1) was among a record-tying seven teams to move into the rankings Monday, making its first appearance in the poll since February 1959.

“Being ranked in the Top 25 at this point of the season is not necessarily a great accomplishment in and of itself,” coach Eric Reveno said. “But it is a tremendous milestone for us as we progress as a program. Our goals still are set on winning a WCC (West Coast Conference) championship and making the NCAA tournament.”

The Pilots are in the Top 25 due to a strong showing in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif. They beat UCLA 74-47 and then-No. 22 Minnesota 61-56 before falling 84-66 to then-No. 8 West Virginia in Sunday’s championship.

“It is good to be on the national radar,” Reveno said. “We worked hard to get here so we should embrace the attention, but we’ll know by the end of the season if it is truly deserved.”

Portland hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1996, while Portland State (1-4) is seeking a third straight NCAA appearance. The Vikings, though, lost two of their top three scorers from last season’s squad that went 23-10 and promoted Tyler Geving to coach after Ken Bone left to take over at Washington State.

One of their top returnees is Jones, who began his career at Portland and started 29 games as a sophomore in Reveno’s first season in 2006-07 before transferring. Jones’ last game in the Chiles Center was an 87-47 loss to Saint Mary’s on March 3, 2007.

The 6-foot-7 Jones is shooting 71.4 percent and averaging 14.3 points over his last three games for Portland State. He made his first seven shots and scored 16 in an 83-64 loss at Stanford on Sunday.

Portland State won 81-76 over Portland last season as Jones scored 14 points and Jeremiah Dominguez had 23. Nik Raivio led the Pilots with 19.

Raivio’s backcourt partner T.J. Campbell fouled out with two points and nine assists in that contest. Campbell should be eager to make amends after being named to the all-tournament team in Anaheim for averaging 16.7 points in the three games.

The Pilots backcourt combined for 27 points on 7-of-21 shooting in Sunday’s loss to the Mountaineers. Portland was outrebounded 26-10 in the first half and 41-29 for the game.

“We got crushed on the boards and didn’t give ourselves a chance,” Reveno said. “They had a ton of offensive boards in the first half. If we could’ve kept it close and maybe tried to get aggressive in the second half, it might’ve been a different story.”

No. 25 Pilots ready to take on Vikings in annual cross-town rivalry game

By Jim Beseda, The Oregonian
December 01, 2009, 7:52PM

Athletically, the University of Portland mainly has been known for two things. One, UP doesn't lose as many football games as its sister school, Notre Dame. And, two, it's a soccer school.

Eric Reveno's men's basketball team has been changing that, and the Pilots have been drawing a lot of attention nationally after their runner-up showing in last week's prestigious 76 Classic and their No. 25 ranking in the latest Associated Press poll.

At 5-1, the Pilots are off to their best start in six seasons and hoping to play up to their national ranking in tonight's 7 p.m. game against cross-town rival Portland State at the Chiles Center.

"This early in the season, I think for every team -- and we're no different -- it's about establishing consistency," Reveno said before Tuesday practice. "So if we are that good, then let's be that good consistently."

On Tuesday, the Pilots watched video of Sunday's 84-66 loss to then-No. 8 West Virginia in the championship game of the eight-team 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., before going through a 90-minute workout that focused on defense, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball.

"Defensively, there still are some stretches where teams are scoring too easily on us or teams are getting out on transition on us," Reveno said. "We're 5-1, we're a good basketball team, so the defense isn't bad, but if you're looking for an area to improve, I'd say it's our defense."

This is the first time the Pilots have been ranked in the AP poll in more than 50 years. They also fell a few votes shy of cracking the top 25 in this week's ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll, while they jumped six spots to No. 3 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 behind top-ranked Gonzaga and No. 2 Butler.

"Obviously, the national recognition is great, but we have bigger goals in mind," junior forward Luke Sikma said. "I think we're keeping pretty level heads. We welcome the attention and it's great for our program, but we know we still have a lot of work to do.

"To be 5-1 after the first six games and playing against the opponents we've had, I think we're pretty satisfied with that."

The Pilots also expect to have their hands full with a Portland State team that has won the last three games in the series, including last season's 81-76 victory at the Stott Center.

"You watch them on film, and you see stretches where they look pretty good," Reveno said. "My guess is they'll be fired up to play us and we better be able to match that intensity."

The Vikings, who reached the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons under Ken Bone, are 1-4 in Tyler Geving's first season as coach and coming off an 83-64 loss at Stanford Sunday.

"As I told the guys, it's not so much that we lost to Stanford, it's that I felt we didn't compete, we didn't play hard," Geving said. "I felt if we would have played a little harder on the defensive end, with the way we shot it in the first half, we could have been up 10 or 12 maybe.

"We're just so focused on the offensive end right now, and there needs to be more of an effort on the defensive end."

There's also a sense of urgency for the Vikings, who open Big Sky Conference play Saturday at home against Eastern Washington and then don't play another league game until Jan. 2 when Sacramento State visits.

"Saturday's huge," Geving said. "Out of all the games we've played ... the most important game is Saturday. We're at home and we need to come out and compete, we need to play hard, and we need to execute. That's a big game for us."

Maybe the Vikings can set the tone for Saturday with a strong showing tonight against their cross-town rivals.

"Our players know their players and they know us," Geving said. "I think it's going to be a fun, competitive game no matter what the records might indicate.

"For us, the things we've emphasized all year have been assist-to-turnover ratio, rebounding and defense, and we're trying each game to see if we can be better at those three things. If we do well in all three areas, then we're going to give ourselves a chance to win."

--Jim Beseda

up7587 wrote:Yeah. OSU brought in Sacramento St. this year. How'd that work out for them?

ShipstadPilot11 wrote:the easier-to-find chatbox

mattywizz wrote:I believe that I am the only certified Chris Kirkpatrick impersonator who resides in the USA. Sadly, I will not be performing at tonight's game.

DaTruRochin wrote:Consider it a decade-old inside joke...

ShipstadPilot11 wrote:Matty, will I see you in the easier-to-find chatbox tonight? Anyone else?