Portland vs. Denver Dec 11th

Portland Faces Denver in Third Straight Road Contest

Portland Pilots (7-3) at Denver Pioneers (2-7)
December 11, 2010 • 3 PM • Denver, Colo. (Magness Arena – 7,200)
Television: FSN Rocky Mountain
Radio: 800 AM (KPDQ)
Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Series: Tied 6-6
Last Meeting: UP 72, DU 62 (2009-10 at UP)

This Week in Pilots Hoops…

The Portland Pilots (7-3) visit the Denver Pioneers on Friday night in the third of four consecutive road games for Portland. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. (PST) at Magness Arena. Portland enters the game having won three of its last four games, with the lone loss coming on Monday at No. 21 Washington. Denver (2-7) is 17-3 at home the last two seasons.

Game Coverage
Monday’s game will be televised live on FSN Rocky Mountain with Tom Helmer and Greg Lackey providing the commentary. The game will be replayed Friday night at 8 p.m. (PST) on FSN Northwest. All Portland games will be aired live on the radio in the Portland market on 800 AM (KPDQ) with Bill Johnson providing the play-by-play, including a 30-minute pregame show. The feed will be simulcast online at PortlandPilots.com.

Portland Briefly...

• The Pilots are now 2-1 in true road games after Monday’s 94-72 loss at No. 21 Washington. Nemanja Mitrovic led Portland with 15 points, while Luke Sikma added 14 points and 16 rebounds in the loss.
• Sikma is leading the WCC and is fifth in the nation in rebounding (12.1).
• Jared Stohl’s 33 three-pointers made are tied for third in the nation as of Dec. 10. He led the nation in three-point percentage last season (.478) and could become the first player in NCAA history to do it two years in a row. Stohl is already the UP record holder in threes made (278) and is fourth in WCC history. He is 33-for-67 this season from the three-point line (.493).
• Mitrovic has drilled 25 three-pointers as he and Stohl have made the most three-pointers of any teammates in the nation (58).
• Mitrovic has reached double figures in the last six games and in eight of the ten total games.
• The Pilots are 30-4 at the Chiles Center since the beginning of the 2008-09 season (5-0 this year) and have led by at least 16 points in all five wins this season in the building.
• Portland ranks fourth nationally in team three-point percentage (.435).
• Portland is ranked No. 13 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 (Dec. 6).
• Stohl was named to the 10-player WCC Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Portland returns one starter from last year’s 21-11 squad (Kramer Knutson) along with Sikma and Stohl, both All-WCC honorable mention honorees last season.
• Head coach Eric Reveno returns with his staff for their fifth season together at Portland. He is the third longest tenured head coach in the WCC.
• The Pilots matched a school Division I record with 21 wins last season, following a 19-win 2008-09 campaign. Both years Portland was invited to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

About Denver

• The Pioneers return nine players, including four starters and seven of their top eight scorers, from last season’s squad that went 19-13 overall, 10-8 in the Sun Belt Conference and 15-1 at home.
• Denver was picked third in the Sun Belt Conference West Division in the annual coaches’ preseason poll.
• Through nine games, junior Brian Stafford leads the Pioneers with 14.1 points per game, while sophomore Chase Hallam has averaged 12.0 points and a team-high 2.2 assists per game.
• Head coach Joe Scott will coach his 300th career game on Saturday against the Pilots.
• The all-time series is tied at 6-6 between the schools after Portland’s 72-62 win over the Pioneers last year at the Chiles Center. Denver is 5-1 all-time against the Pilots at home. leads the all-time series with Portland by a 12-2 margin including a 7-0 record at home.

Last Time Out
#21 Washington 94, Portland 72 (Dec. 6, Seattle, Wash.): The Portland Pilots used a big second half to pull with six points late, but the No. 21 Washington Huskies came away with a 94-72 win Monday night before 9,425 fans at Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Trailing by 15 at the half Portland used a 10-0 run to pull within 68-62 with 8:25 remaining, but Washington’s exceptional perimeter shooting proved to be too much as the Huskies extended their nonconference home win streak to 25 games. Luke Sikma had a big homecoming for the Pilots (7-3). The Bellevue, Wash. native finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Nemanja Mitrovic added 15 points, while Jared Stohl chipped in 12. Freshman point guard Tim Douglas had his best game of the season, finishing with 12 points and three assists before fouling out. Washington (6-2) entered the game leading the nation in three-point shooting at 46 percent. They lived up to the billing by going 13-for-23 from beyond the arc (.567). Portland, meanwhile, entered No. 4 nationally in three-point percentage but finished just 8-for-25 from three-point range (.320). The Huskies entered the game leading the nation in scoring average (95.7) and had scored 100 or more points in four games. Portland used a 10-0 run to cut the Husky lead to 68-62 with 8:25 remaining. Consecutive three-pointers by Mitrovic and two layups by Sikma pulled the Pilots within six. Washington answered with yet another three-pointer, this time by Scott Suggs to make it 71-62 with 8:10 left. That sparked an 11-0 run to push the margin to 17 points and the Pilots would never get it back down to single digits. Washington shot 59 percent from the field in the first half and took their largest lead of the period on a layup by Thomas 10 seconds before the halftime buzzer.

Sikma and Fellow Bigs Play Big
Portland has finished in the top 5 nationally in three-point percentage the last two years and is currently tied for fourth in the nation early this season. Teams have challenged Portland’s frontcourt to score while staying home on shooters and the bigs have come through. Luke Sikma scored a career-high 26 points against St. Louis on Nov. 30, while fellow senior Jasonn Hannibal also had a career-high with 12 points. Senior C Kramer Knutson chipped in 10 points as the trio combined to score 48 points on 21-of-33 (.636) shooting from the field. It was more of the same at Montana on Dec. 3 as the Grizzlies played one-on-one against the Pilots posts. The trio of Sikma, Knutson and Hannibal again had their way, scoring a combined 27 points on 13-of-23 shooting. Sikma followed that up with 14 points and 16 rebounds at Washington on Monday.

Douglas Breaks Out
Freshman PG Tim Douglas (Cerritos, Calif/Mayfair HS) played his best game of the season on Monday at No. 21 Washington. He finished with 12 points and three assists off the bench against the high-pressure perimeter defense of the Huskies. Douglas was key in a big second half comeback that cut the deficit from 18 points to six with eight minutes remaining, before fouling out down the stretch.

Rodgers’ Role
Sophomore JC transfer PG Derrick Rodgers has worked his way into the regular rotation over the last five games with excellent perimeter defense. Rodgers saw extended minutes versus Washington State as he was the only Pilot able to slow down Klay Thompson. He then started in Portland’s win over UCSB and held one of the nation’s top scorers, Orlando Johnson, eight below his average. He then slowed down Montana PG Will Cherry, who scored 13 first half points against the Pilots. Rodgers played 13 second-half minutes and limited Cherry to two points after the break, while scoring four himself. Against UW on Monday, Rodgers scored a season-high eight points in 24 minutes off the bench.

Mitrovic Plays Through Pain
Junior G Nemanja Mitrovic suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee in the second half against Washington State on Nov. 23 and left for the remainder of the game. He has returned to score in double figures each of the last six games, including team-highs of 16 at Montana on Friday and 15 at UW on Monday. Mitrovic has reached double figures in eight of ten games this season. He also has at least two three-pointers in eight games and is shooting 48.1 percent from beyond the arc (25-52).

Stohl/Mitrovic Top Three-Point Combo in the Nation
Jared Stohl and Nemanja Mitrovic have combined to make 58 three-pointers, the most of any duo in the nation as of Dec. 10. Stohl is tied for third nationally in three-pointers made (33) through the first ten games. Already the Portland leader in career three-pointers made (278), Stohl is chasing the WCC record of 363 held by Jeff Fryer of LMU (1987-90). He moved into fourth place in the WCC record book and trails Richie Frahm (Gonzaga, 1997-00) by two for third place.

Sikma Fifth Nationally in Rebounds
Senior F Luke Sikma is leading the WCC and ranks No. 5 nationally in rebounding average (12.1). Sikma has corralled double-digit rebounds in six of the team’s first ten games and already has four double-doubles this season. He matched his career-high with 19 rebounds versus Florida Atlantic on Nov. 14 and grabbed 18 at Idaho on Nov. 20.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:As I recall, though, Denver doesn't score much because they don't play at a very fast pace. Efficiency wise, they score 0.98 pt per possession and allow 1.02. So far the Pilots are scoring 1.07 and allowing 0.99. Portland's numbers are about the same as they were last season for the sake of comparison.

onetouchfutbol wrote:We're definitely an improved road team so far this year...