Utah December 31st

Portland's Luke Sikma adjusts to new role as starter, team captain with Pilots

Last season, Luke Sikma came off the University of Portland bench and played about 23 minutes a game.

This season, heading into Friday's 4 p.m. non-conference game against Utah at the Chiles Center, the 6-foot-8, 235-pound senior forward is a team captain, is starting, and is logging about 30 minutes a night.

For all those changes, Sikma's game hasn't changed much during his time on The Bluff.

Sikma, the son of former seven-time NBA All-Star Jack Sikma, remains a hard-working, defensive-minded player. The Pilots still count on him for rebounds, blocked shots, and some low-post scoring, plus he's the trigger man on all of the team's late-game inbound plays.

So far, Sikma has been one of the Pilots' most consistent players in the 11-3 start, averaging 12.7 points and 10.6 rebounds with five double-doubles.

"I think my teammates are looking for me a little bit more in the post and I think they respect my ability down there to score," Sikma said. "What I lack in lateral quickness at the defensive end, I try to make up for by really getting everyone's energy going, always talking, and trying to be a good help defender. That's a lot different."

Thinking of Sikma as more of an offensive catalyst is a switch, too, at least compared to last season when he played behind senior Robin Smeulders, the all-West Coast Conference selection, and was regarded as more of a supporting cast member.

"Instead of, 'Oh, Luke scored 17 tonight. Good for him,' now I'm being expected to score a little more," Sikma said. "I think I'm definitely comfortable with that.

"After four years, if you're looking for someone else to do the work, you've got something wrong with you. And I think the seniors, collectively, went into this year really wanting to make our mark on this program, so we're still looking to do that."

Obviously, Sikma has matured as a player during his time with Portland, although Pilots coach Eric Reveno said he has progressed at the rate that the coaching staff had projected when they recruited him out of Bellevue High School in Bellevue, Wash.

"It's good for him that the program helped him develop to where he has become the player we expected," Reveno said. "He's not a top-five lottery pick, but he's not a three-minute-a-game guy, either.

"In terms of the type of player he is, he's just improved on the things that he was good at. He's always had a great knack for the ball, and his role has expanded as he has improved and the team has changed."

Reveno said he was surprised when Sikma was left off last season's all-conference team.

"I don't know what guy I would have taken off, but he's an all-conference level performer for us," Reveno said. "And we recruited him with that in mind.

"There were times last year when you could say the only reason he didn't get bigger numbers was because he didn't get the minutes. And there were plenty of times I looked at a box score and said to myself, 'Boy, I would have liked to play Luke more,' but I played the other all-conference forward (Smeulders).”

Sikma has scored in double figures in each on the Pilots last nine games and 11 of 14 games overall, and has reached double figures in rebounds seven times. He’s also the only WCC player currently averaging double figures in both points and rebounds heading into Friday’s game against the Utes -- the Pilots’ final test before the Jan. 8 league opener at Gonzaga.

“I don't know if I had any expectations, but I'm thrilled to be 11-3 at this point," Sikma said. "It's nice in your senior year to perform the way we have.

"We lost to three tough teams in Kentucky, Washington and Washington State, and we didn't really play like we would have liked to in those games, but we've come in and protected home court, which is really important."

Notes: The Utes (7-6) of the Mountain West Conference have lost their last three games, including Saturday's 67-64 loss to San Diego in the seventh-place game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. Will Clyburn, a 6-7, 200-pound junior forward from Detroit, has scored in double figures in all 13 games for Utah and is averaging a team-high 18.8 points on 46.3 percent shooting (74 for 160) from the field. He also leads the team in rebounds (8.6) and steals (1.5). … The Pilots are coming off Monday’s 66-62 victory over Nevada at the Chiles Center. The Wolf Pack scored the game’s first basket, marking the first time Portland had trailed in seven games at the Chiles Center. Nemanja Mitrovic, last week’s WCC co-player of the week, matched his career-high with 22 points for the Pilots, who shot 37 percent from the field -– the first time UP has shot below 40 percent and won. “It's nice to get some wins and still have games that test you,” Reveno said. “There's not a guy in the locker room or a coach in the office that isn't thinking about things that we can do better -- things that were exposed a little bit here, and a little bit there in our last few games.” … At 11-3, the Pilots are off to their best start through 14 games since 1994-95 season when they started 13-3. “I just want to keep getting better,” Reveno said. “It's like making a nice drive to the basket -- you want to finish it. When you've got a good thing going, you don't want to take you eye off the ball. At the same time, you've got to appreciate that the guys have worked hard. People that have been around the program for awhile know that what this team is doing is a nice accomplishment.”

-- Jim Beseda

MesaPilot1 wrote:Nice article, thanks Pilotnut!

Mesapilot1 (5fftfftyffftttfyyyttyffftffttyff degree's and rainy like PDX)

MesaPilot1 wrote:Nice article, thanks Pilotnut!

Mesapilot1 (5fftfftyffftttfyyyttyffftffttyff degree's and rainy like PDX)

Bench points-UU 40,POR 8.

UP Hoops: Pilots Win Fifth Straight with 88-79 Defeat of Utah‏

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots scored 56 second half points to erase an eight-point halftime deficit and defeat the Utah Utes, 88-79, Friday night before 1,756 at the Chiles Center. Nemanja Mitrovic and Jared Stohl scored 21 points each to lead four Pilots in double figures. Portland committed a season-low four turnovers in the game and zero in the second half to run their win streak to five games.

Portland improves to 8-0 at the Chiles Center this season and is now 12-3 entering West Coast Conference play. The Pilots will open league play at Gonzaga next Saturday. The 12-3 start is tied for the second best in school history.

Mitrovic scored 18 second half points in recording his third consecutive 20-point game. He drilled 5-of-6 three-pointers and was 7-for-10 from the field. Stohl was 5-for-11 from three-point range as the duo extended their margin as the top three-point shooting tandem in the nation.

Senior center Kramer Knutson added a season-high 17 points and junior point guard Eric Waterford matched his career-best with 13 points.

Will Clyburn paced the Utes (7-7) with 24 points, but was held to four in the second half. Chris Kupets added 20 points and four assists for Utah.

Portland shot 51 percent from the field for the game, including 10-of-20 from three-point range. The Pilots also made 22-of-30 free throws. Utah also shot 51 percent from the floor, converted 11-of-21 three-pointers and 16-of-20 free throws.

The Pilots outscored Utah 56-39 in the second period despite the Utes shooting 54 percent from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range in the period. Portland countered by making 61 percent from the field, 5-of-9 from three-point range and 17-of-22 free throws in the second half. In addition to committing no turnovers, the Pilots gained a 16-6 rebounding advantage in the period.

Portland trailed by 11 at 50-39 with 16:10 remaining on a layup by Kupets. The flood gates would open from there for the host Pilots as a 13-0 run capped by two Stohl free throws gave Portland the lead for good. Utah didn’t go away and pulled within one at 67-66 on a Kupets three with 7:16 left, but three straight jumpers by the Pilots kept it a two possession game. A 7-0 run capped by a Derrick Rodgers runner made it 81-70 in favor of Portland with 2:32 left.

The Pilots jumped out to an 11-0 lead right off the bat after making 5-of-6 shots, but Portland missed 11 of their next 12 field goal attempts and Utah capitalized by taking a 10-point lead late. The Utes would go into the break with a 40-32 lead.

Portland opens WCC play at Gonzaga on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on FSN Northwest and have live radio at 800 AM (KPDQ).

NOTES: Stohl passed Blake Stepp of Gonzaga and moved to No. 2 all-time in the WCC in career three-pointers made … Stohl currently has 292 career threes and trails only Jeff Fryer (LMU, 363) … Mitrovic and Stohl entered the game with 83 combined three-pointers, the most in the nation … Mitrovic was also No. 5 nationally in three-point percentage and will move up as he is now shooting .548 from beyond the arc … Portland’s best start was 13-2 during the 1979-80 season … this year’s Pilots matched the 1958-59 and 1994-95 teams with 12-3 starts.


Newspaper Box Score
Utah vs Portland
12/31/10 2:00 PM at Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
At Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)

PORTLAND 88, UTAH 79

UTAH (7-7)
CLYBURN, Will 7-13 5-6 24; KUPETS, Chris 8-13 0-0 20; WATKINS, Josh 4-7 5-7
14; WATKINS, Jay 3-4 3-3 9; GLOVER, Shawn 1-5 1-1 3; WASHBURN, Jason 1-3 1-1
3; FOSTER, David 1-3 1-2 3; HINES, Chris 1-1 0-0 3; O'BRIEN, J.J. 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 26-51 16-20 79.

PORTLAND (12-3)
MITROVIC, Nemanja 7-10 2-2 21; STOHL, Jared 6-16 4-7 21; KNUTSON, Kramer 6-8
5-9 17; WATERFORD, Eric 4-5 5-6 13; SIKMA, Luke 2-4 4-4 8; RODGERS, Derrick
2-5 2-2 6; BARKER, Riley 1-3 0-0 2; HANNIBAL, Jasonn 0-2 0-0 0; DOUGLAS, Tim
0-2 0-0 0; RILEY, Tanner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 22-30 88.

Utah.......................... 40 39 - 79
Portland...................... 32 56 - 88

3-point goals--Utah 11-21 (CLYBURN, Will 5-7; KUPETS, Chris 4-7; WATKINS,
Josh 1-1; HINES, Chris 1-1; O'BRIEN, J.J. 0-2; GLOVER, Shawn 0-3), Portland
10-20 (MITROVIC, Nemanja 5-6; STOHL, Jared 5-11; WATERFORD, Eric 0-1; SIKMA,
Luke 0-1; DOUGLAS, Tim 0-1). Fouled out--Utah-WASHBURN, Jason,
Portland-None. Rebounds--Utah 25 (CLYBURN, Will , Portland 31 (SIKMA, Luke
12). Assists--Utah 13 (KUPETS, Chris 4), Portland 14 (WATERFORD, Eric 4).
Total fouls--Utah 24, Portland 18. Technical fouls--Utah-None,
Portland-None. A-1756

martymoose wrote:Nice win.

I'm really glad you beat them since our seating reservation at McCormick & Schmick's Harborside was delayed for about 15 minutes so that they could seat the entire Utah team ahead of us last night.

They must have a heck of a Athletic Department budget. Feeding the entire men's basketball team at McCormick & Schmick's can't be cheap...