Portland @ Santa Clara, Jan. 22 3 PM

DaTruRochin wrote:Hell yes!

Time to get gritty on defense, crash the boards and put those ponies down... (Wooo I've been up since 4 and had a whole pot of coffee already!!!)

DaTruRochin wrote:Hell yes!

Time to get gritty on defense, crash the boards and put those ponies down... (Wooo I've been up since 4 and had a whole pot of coffee already!!!)

Pilots Look to for Road Split at Santa Clara

Portland (14-5, 2-2 WCC) at Santa Clara (11-9, 2-2)
January 22, 2011 • 3:00 PM • Santa Clara, Calif. (Leavey Center - 4,700)
TV: CSN NW
Radio: 800 AM (KPDQ)
Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Series: SCU leads 54-26
Last Meeting: UP 68, SCU 55 (2/27/10 at UP)

This Week in Pilots Hoops…
The Portland Pilots (14-5, 2-2 WCC) conclude their West Coast Conference road swing with a Saturday meeting against the Santa Clara Broncos. Portland dropped an 81-74 decision to San Francisco on Thursday, while the Broncos (11-9, 2-2) knocked off the Gonzaga Bulldogs by an 85-71 margin.


Game Coverage
Saturday’s game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest and Comcast Bay Area with Ted Robinson and Kris Weems calling the action. 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.


Portland Briefly...
• Senior F Luke Sikma recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to USF, but the Pilots struggled to 38 percent shooting against the Dons.
• The 81 points allowed were the third most of the season for Portland, who drops to 4-3 in true road games.
• Last weekend, Portland improved to 10-0 at the Chiles Center with wins over LMU (79-78, 2ot) and Pepperdine (57-42). The Pilots are 35-4 at the Chiles Center since 2008-09.
• Sikma is averaging 16.8 points and 10.0 rebounds in WCC play.
• The Pilots are rated No. 47 nationally according to the NCAA RPI as of Jan. 17.
• Portland is ranked No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 (Jan. 17).
• Portland is No. 2 in the nation in team three-point percentage (.427).
• Mitrovic (59) and Jared Stohl (56) have made the most 3-pointers of any teammates in the nation (115). Mitrovic is No. 2 nationally in 3-point percentage (.504).
• Luke Sikma is leading the WCC and is 12th in the nation in rebounding (10.6).
• Stohl led the nation in three-point percentage last season (.478) and is No. 2 all-time in the WCC in career three-pointers. He currently has 301 career threes and trails only Jeff Fryer (LMU, 363).
• 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 Santa Clara
• The Broncos (11-9, 2-2 WCC) earned a crucial home win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Thursday by an 85-71 margin.
• RS-sophomore G Kevin Foster erupted for 36 points in the win to lead Santa Clara.
• Previously, the Broncos split a road trip last week with a win over San Diego (61-52) and loss to Saint Mary’s (84-59). SCU lost at home to San Francisco to open league play (74-67).
• Foster leads SCU in scoring at 19.4 ppg, while junior Marc Trasolini adds 11.9 ppg and freshman Evan Roquemore contributes 10.9 ppg.
• Among common non-conference opponents, SCU lost at home in OT to Washington State (85-79) and lost at home UC Santa Barbara (80-69).
• Head coach Kerry Keating is in his fourth year at SCU with a career record of 54-63.
• Santa Clara was picked fourth in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.

14-5 Start Second Best in School History
Portland’s 14-5 record through 19 games is the second best in school history behind the 1978-79 Pilots (15-4). UP also collected its 10th win of the season before Christmas for the first time in school history with victory over Boise State on Dec. 22.

upsailor wrote:I believe its a mistake to look at the RPI'S and conclude that thgis team is better than that team, or vice versa. The preconference scheddules have a lot to do , I believe, with what the RPI is at this point in time. A perfect example is the USF gAME WHERE WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKDED.
Don't think the same thing can't happen today. Personnally I've got my fingers crossed.

mattywizz wrote:

upsailor wrote:I believe its a mistake to look at the RPI'S and conclude that thgis team is better than that team, or vice versa. The preconference scheddules have a lot to do , I believe, with what the RPI is at this point in time. A perfect example is the USF gAME WHERE WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKDED.
Don't think the same thing can't happen today. Personnally I've got my fingers crossed.

Could not agree more. RPI means nothing to a team like UP. They just need to play their butts off and win some games!

MesaPilot1 wrote:

mattywizz wrote:

upsailor wrote:I believe its a mistake to look at the RPI'S and conclude that thgis team is better than that team, or vice versa. The preconference scheddules have a lot to do , I believe, with what the RPI is at this point in time. A perfect example is the USF gAME WHERE WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKDED.
Don't think the same thing can't happen today. Personnally I've got my fingers crossed.

Could not agree more. RPI means nothing to a team like UP. They just need to play their butts off and win some games!

Losses on the road to weak Wcc teams throw any RPI talk out the window......PERIOD!!!!!!!

MesaPilot1 wrote:

mattywizz wrote:

upsailor wrote:I believe its a mistake to look at the RPI'S and conclude that thgis team is better than that team, or vice versa. The preconference scheddules have a lot to do , I believe, with what the RPI is at this point in time. A perfect example is the USF gAME WHERE WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKDED.
Don't think the same thing can't happen today. Personnally I've got my fingers crossed.

Could not agree more. RPI means nothing to a team like UP. They just need to play their butts off and win some games!

Losses on the road to weak Wcc teams throw any RPI talk out the window......PERIOD!!!!!!!

onetouchfutbol wrote:

MesaPilot1 wrote:

mattywizz wrote:

upsailor wrote:I believe its a mistake to look at the RPI'S and conclude that thgis team is better than that team, or vice versa. The preconference scheddules have a lot to do , I believe, with what the RPI is at this point in time. A perfect example is the USF gAME WHERE WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKDED.
Don't think the same thing can't happen today. Personnally I've got my fingers crossed.

Could not agree more. RPI means nothing to a team like UP. They just need to play their butts off and win some games!

Losses on the road to weak Wcc teams throny RPI talk out the window......PERIOD!!!!!!!

Well, USF is a WEAK,WEAK, WEAK, INEXPERIENCED, WCC team who played out of their mind this weekend.......The loss to SCU, on the other hand, is pretty bad...even if they did manage to beat GU at home.






What a pain to see such a good effort by Sikma go to waste...

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2011/1/22/MBB_0122113451.aspx?path=mbball

Yeah, but mesa would gave settled for 19 less points by Sikma and that 19 other points spread around to Stohl, NEM, etc.... basketball is a TEAM GAME,& Sikma has nowhere the skill level or talent to carry a team ala Nik or TJ .....there us a reason he plays at UP....because Gonzaga, UDUB,& the, WSU, Oregon, nor OSU wanted him. Why do you think Butler wins not because of Gordon Hayward but because they play a team game with all five players contributing to a win??? The starters Waterford, Knutson, Nem,& Stohl all laid an egg....I imagine Luke would trade a one pt.win for his glossy stats in a "New York Minute". JMHO

I would love it if REV would start a combination of subs with LUKE& Jasonn in the next game to get Stohl, Nem,& KK out of their slumps, but he probably won't. He's in the business of winning, not teaching
young men lessons....bs!!! BTW, where was big RED? If the starters are going to stink the joint
up at least we could get next yrs.starters some p/t , no minutes for BIG RED one of our biggest
components to winning for the next 3 yrs, well at least Riley , TIMMY,(next years starters got in)got in???