Pilots vs. Boise State

Pilots Open Three-Game Homestand Versus Boise State

Portland Pilots (9-3) vs. Boise State Broncos (7-4)
December 22, 2010 • 7:00 PM • Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center - 4,852)

Radio: 800 AM (KPDQ)
Live Video/Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: Tied 6-6
Last Meeting: POR 77, BSU 72 (Dec. 28, 2003 at Boise State)

This Week in Pilots Hoops…

The Portland Pilots (9-3) begin a three-game homestand by hosting the Boise State Broncos (7-4) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Chiles Center. Portland has won five of its last six games, with the lone loss coming on at No. 21 Washington. Boise State’s four losses have been by a combined 10 points this season.



Ticket Information

Tickets for all Portland home games are available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, over the phone at (800) 745-3000 or in-person at the Pilot Box Office. The Box Office will also be open one hour before tip-off for walk-up sales.



Game Coverage
Wednesday’s game will have a free online video stream at PortlandPilots.com. 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 improved to 4-1 in true road games after Saturday’s 78-67 win at Portland State. Freshman PG Tim Douglas logged a season high 27 points in the win and was named the WCC Player of the Week.
• Portland ranks No. 3 nationally in team three-point percentage (.436).
• Nemanja Mitrovic (32) and Jared Stohl (37) have made the most three-pointers of any teammates in the nation (69).
• Luke Sikma is leading the WCC and is eighth in the nation in rebounding (11.3).
• Stohl 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. He is 37-for-80 this season (.463).
• 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 is ranked No. 15 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 (Dec. 20).
• 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.



About Boise State

• The Broncos (7-4) won their first six games, then lost four in a row, before defeating Texas Pan-American 91-62 on Saturday.
• Notable wins have come against Denver (65-52) and at San Diego (65-60).
• Boise State’s four losses have all been by three points or less, including games at UNLV (75-72) and Utah (86-84).
• Robert Arnold (16.5) and La’Shard Anderson (13.2) lead the Broncos in scoring.
• Head coach Leon Rice is in his first season at the helm of BSU after serving the previous 11 seasons as an assistant at Gonzaga.
• Rice welcomes back two starters and six lettermen from a squad that finished 15-17 last season.
• The all-time series between Portland and Boise State is tied at 6-6. The teams played twice during the 2003-04 season with each squad pulling out the road victory.

onetouchfutbol wrote:I agree that it should be very close. In the Pomeroy basketball rankings (which I take with a big grain of bleeping salt) they are #92 and we are #98. I think that the home court is going to be the difference in this one...

http://kenpom.com/

PilotNut wrote:Pilots win! 88-79!

Portland 88, Boise State 79: Nemanja Mitrovic's career-high 22 points paces Pilots to sixth consecutive home win

When the University of Portland needed a big shot in crunch time Wednesday night, junior guard Nemanja Mitrovic delivered.

And there was some luck involved, too.

Mitrovic scored 14 of his career-high 22 points in the second half, including consecutive three-pointers –- the first on a desperation bank shot –- in the final three minutes that helped lift the Pilots to an 88-79 non-conference victory over the Boise State Broncos at the Chiles Center.

Luke Sikma finished with 18 points, Jared Stohl added 16 points, and Eric Waterford had a career-high eight assists as the Pilots won improved to 10-3 -– the first time in school history they’ve had 10 wins before Christmas.

“I think this was a great win for us,” Mitrovic said. “It was one of those wins that might not look great to somebody else, but we know that they’re a good team.”

La’Shard Anderson led Boise State with 17 points and Daequon Montreal added 13 points and seven rebounds in Broncos’ final tune-up before next week's Western Athletic League opener against Louisiana Tech in Boise.

Portland led from start to finish after to jumping to an early 11-2 lead, but it wasn’t as if the Pilots were always in control.

The Broncos (7-5) rallied from a 66-53 deficit midway through the second half and crept within three, 75-72, on Paul Noonan’s two free throws with 3:26 remaining.

Mitrovic then hit the biggest shot of the game, coming around a Sikma screen with the shot click winding down and hoisting up a shot from the top of the three-point arc that banked in to give the Pilots a 78-72 lead with 2:51 to play.

“We needed to make a play and Luke set a pretty good screen,” Mitrovic said. “I wasn’t an intentional bank. I knew it was long as soon as I released it, but it was one of those nights where shots were falling.”

After Portland’s Kramer Knutson rebounded a Thomas Bropleh miss at the other end, Mitrovic got open in front of the Pilots’ bench for a three-pointer that pushed the lead to 81-72 with 2:13 remaining.

“Again, a couple good screens set, and I came off them and had a little daylight,” said Mitrovic, who ended up making 7 of 9 shots from the field, including 5 for 5 from three-point range.

From there, the Broncos were forced to foul and the Pilots made 7 of 10 free throws in the final 1:30 to seal their sixth consecutive win at the Chiles Center.

The Pilots also finished with a 40-26 advantage in rebounds, led by Knutson’s game-high 11, which helped offset the Broncos’ 16-8 edge in turnovers and 19-5 advantage in points off turnovers.

“We made it more interesting than we needed to by not taking care of the ball,” Pilots coach Eric Reveno said. “I thought we defended, overall, pretty well. Boise State shot it better (11 of 24 from three-point range) than they normally do, and you wonder if we could have done better on that.

“I’m encouraged by the fight we showed. We’ve done that a few times … and I think that resolve and that belief in winning does sort of feed on itself.”

-- Jim Beseda

Pilots Remain Unbeaten at Chiles Center with 88-79 win over Boise State

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots have ten wins before Christmas for the first time in school history after an 88-79 win over the Boise State Broncos Wednesday night before 2,729 fans at the Chiles Center. The Pilots (10-3) led from start-to-finish and improved to 6-0 at the Chiles Center as junior guard Nemanja Mitrovic led all scorers with a career high 22 points. Portland has yet to trail when playing on their home court this season.

Mitrovic went 5-for-5 from the three-point line for the game, including two clutch threes late in regulation to create separation and secure the win. Senior forward Luke Sikma added 18 points and senior guard Jared Stohl added 16 points. Junior point guard Eric Waterford dished out a career-high eight assists and did not commit a turnover. Senior center Kramer Knutson tied a career best with 11 rebounds.

Portland shot 56 percent from the field and made 11-of-16 three-pointers for the game. Boise State (7-5) was held to 41 percent shooting and the Pilots outrebounded the visiting Broncos by a 40-26 margin. BSU forced 16 Pilot turnovers and gained a 19-5 edge in points off of turnovers to keep the game within reach.

A Mitrovic three-pointer gave Portland its largest lead of the night at 66-53 midway through the second period, but the Broncos were able to chip away and cut the deficit to three points on two occasions late. A pair of free throws by Paul Noonan made it 75-72 with 3:26 remaining, but Mitrovic made consecutive three-pointers on the next two possessions and the Pilots made 7-of-11 free throws in the closing minutes to seal the victory.

Portland led by as much as 12 points in the first half following an 8-0 run capped by a Stohl jumper with 6:14 remaining. A BSU three-pointer by Paul Noonan at the buzzer cut the deficit to 43-36 at the break.

La’Shard Anderson had 17 points and nine assists to lead the Broncos, while Daequon Montreal and Robert Arnold added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Portland will take a brief break for Christmas before returning to the Chiles Center to host Nevada visits on Monday, Dec. 27 at 7 p.m. and then Utah on Dec. 31 at 4 p.m. Tickets are still available through all Ticketmaster outlets or online at www.ticketmaster.com.


Newspaper Box Score
Boise State vs Portland
12/22/10 7:00 PM at Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
At Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
PORTLAND 88, BOISE STATE 79

BOISE STATE (7-5)
Anderson, La'Shard 4-10 8-8 17; Montreal, Daequon 5-10 3-4 13; Arnold,
Robert 4-9 2-3 12; Noonan, Paul 3-5 2-2 10; Elorriaga, Jeff 2-3 0-0 6;
Perryman, Westly 2-9 0-0 6; Watkins, Ryan 1-4 2-2 4; Bropleh, Thomas 1-2 1-2
4; Imadiyi, Sean 1-1 2-2 4; Nichols, Tre 1-4 0-0 3; Moritz, Zack 0-1 0-0 0;
Salzwedel, Justin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-58 20-23 79.

PORTLAND (10-3)
MITROVIC, Nemanja 7-9 3-3 22; SIKMA, Luke 7-12 3-4 18; STOHL, Jared 7-8 0-0
16; HANNIBAL, Jasonn 3-6 1-2 7; WATERFORD, Eric 1-5 2-3 5; RILEY, Tanner 2-4
0-0 5; DOUGLAS, Tim 1-7 2-4 5; RODGERS, Derrick 2-3 0-1 4; KNUTSON, Kramer
1-1 2-2 4; BARKER, Riley 1-2 0-0 2; NICHOLAS, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-57
13-19 88.

Boise State................... 36 43 - 79
Portland...................... 43 45 - 88

3-point goals--Boise State 11-24 (Noonan, Paul 2-3; Elorriaga, Jeff 2-3;
Perryman, Westly 2-5; Arnold, Robert 2-5; Nichols, Tre 1-3; Bropleh, Thomas
1-1; Anderson, La'Shard 1-4), Portland 11-16 (MITROVIC, Nemanja 5-5; STOHL,
Jared 2-3; SIKMA, Luke 1-2; WATERFORD, Eric 1-1; RILEY, Tanner 1-3; DOUGLAS,
Tim 1-2). Fouled out--Boise State-Anderson, La'Shard; Noonan, Paul,
Portland-None. Rebounds--Boise State 26 (Montreal, Daequon 7), Portland 40
(KNUTSON, Kramer 11). Assists--Boise State 19 (Anderson, La'Shard 9),
Portland 20 (WATERFORD, Eric . Total fouls--Boise State 20, Portland 18.
Technical fouls--Boise State-None, Portland-None. A-2729

PilotNut wrote:Portland led from start to finish after to jumping to an early 11-2 lead, but it wasn’t as if the Pilots were always in control.

RiseUP wrote:

PilotNut wrote:Portland led from start to finish after to jumping to an early 11-2 lead, but it wasn’t as if the Pilots were always in control.

Have they trailed at home yet this year?

up7587 wrote:Trust, but verify. Thanks for the research.

up7587 wrote:Strange game. Pilots had significantly better shooting and rebounding stats. But turnovers and FT's kept BSU hanging around. There were two explosions that helped seal it. First Jared hit a couple quick 3's, to extend the lead to 12 (I think), when BSU seemed to be ready to close in. Then a little later Nem hit two 3's, including a long range banker, to move from up three to up 12 after BSU got close again.

Rochin54 wrote:I think the theme of this game was "How Jared Got His Groove Back." He curled off some screens to get a couple of buckets at the rim, hit a couple of pull up jumpers, then hit a few threes. Great way to get back into the groove, get some easy buckets. I still think he needs to draw some fouls when guys push and hold him trying to run off of screens.