Pilots @ SMC 8 PM

Portland (20-9, 7-6 WCC) at Saint Mary’s (22-7, 10-3)
February 26, 2011 • 8:00 PM • Moraga, Calif. (McKeon Pavilion)
TV: CSN NW
Radio: 800 AM (KPDQ)
Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Series: SMC leads 51-29
Last Meeting: POR 85, SMC 70 (Jan. 29 at Portland)

This Week in Pilots Hoops…
The Portland Pilots will conclude the 2010-11 regular season on Saturday against the Saint Mary’s Gaels. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. at McKeon Pavilion. The Pilots (20-9, 7-6 WCC) enter the game tied for fourth-place in the West Coast Conference standings with Santa Clara after knocking off San Diego on Thursday, 65-61. The Gaels (22-7, 10-3) are tied for first in the league standings with Gonzaga after losing to the Bulldogs in overtime on Thursday.

Game Coverage
Saturday’s game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest and CSN California. All Portland games will be aired live on the radio on 800 AM (KPDQ) with Bill Johnson providing the play-by-play, including a 30-minute pregame show.

Portland Briefly...
• The Pilots defeated San Diego (65-61) on Thursday, overcoming a five point halftime deficit.
• Senior G Jared Stohl scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half.
• The Pilots split their final homestand of the season last week, following an 82-73 loss to San Francisco with a 78-68 victory over Santa Clara on Senior Night.
• Senior C Jasonn Hannibal recorded a career-high 15 points in his first start of the season on Saturday against Santa Clara. Senior F Luke Sikma added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• Senior C Kramer Knutson (back) missed his first game of the season last Saturday against Santa Clara, but came off the bench on Thursday against the Toreros. Knutson is Portland’s all-time leader in games started (116).
• Senior F Luke Sikma is the school’s top all-time rebounder (959) and recorded his 1,000th career point on Feb. 17 against San Francisco.
• The Pilots are No. 2 nationally in team 3-point percentage (.422).
• Junior G Nemanja Mitrovic is No. 6 in the nation in three-point percentage (.473) and senior G Jared Stohl is No. 16 (.439).
• Mitrovic (87) and Stohl (82) have combined to make 169 three-pointers which is the most of any teammate duo in the nation. BYU’s Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery are second with 162.
• Portland is ranked No. 23 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
• The Pilots secured their second consecutive 20-win season for the first time in program history since joining Division I (1958-59).
• The 41 wins over the last two seasons are the most in back-to-back seasons in Portland history.
• Portland’s 60 wins over the last three years are the most of any three-year stretch since the Pilots joined Division I for the 1958-59 season.

Seeding Scenarios
Portland can clinch fourth place in the league standings and a first round WCC Tournament bye if the Santa Clara Broncos lose on Saturday to Pepperdine. The only scenario the Pilots would get the fourth seed with a SCU win would be if the Pilots win and San Diego defeats Gonzaga.

About Saint Mary’s (22-7, 10-3 WCC)
• The Gaels dropped their third straight game with an 89-85 overtime loss to Gonzaga on Thursday. Saint Mary’s is now tied for first in the league standings with Gonzaga.
• Saint Mary’s dropped out of the rankings last week after back-to-back losses to San Diego (74-66) and Utah State (75-65).
• The Gaels’ only other losses this season came at No. 4 San Diego State (69-55), versus No. 9 BYU (74-73), at Vanderbilt (89-70) and at Portland (85-70). Saint Mary’s best win came against St. John’s (76-71).
• Head coach Randy Bennett returns All-WCC honorees Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova from a squad that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 last season.
• Bennett is in his 10th year overall and has led SMC to three NCAA Tournaments.

Pilots Secure Second Straight 20-Win Season
Thursday’s win over San Diego gave Portland its second consecutive 20-win season for the first time in program history at the Division I level (1958-59). The Pilots won 21 games last year to tie the school Division I single-season record (1994-95).

Two-Year Run Best in UP History
The Pilots have had the most successful back-to-back seasons since joining Division I after the victory over San Diego on Thursday. The 41 wins eclipse the previous mark of 40, initially set from 1994-96 and then matched from 2008-10.

Best Two-Year Records in UP History Since 1958-59
Overall W-L (Years) WCC W-L (Years)
41-20 (2009-11) 19-9 (2009-10))
40-19 (1994-96) 17-11 (1995-96)
40-23 (2008-10) 16-12 (1994-95)
37-18 (1977-79) 16-12 (1981-82)

Sikma Joins 1,000-Point Club
Senior F Luke Sikma became the 34th player in school history to join the 1,000-point club after scoring six points last Thursday against San Francisco. He entered the game with 997 points and now joins fellow senior Jared Stohl in the exclusive club.

Sikma Breaks UP Career Rebounding Record
Luke Sikma corralled seven second half rebounds against Pepperdine on Feb. 10 to pass Rick Raivio (910, 1976-80) as the Portland all-time leader in career rebounds. Sikma now has 959 for his career. He also ranks in the school’s top 10 in blocked shots (2nd, 88) and field goal percentage (6th, .539). The Bellevue, Wash. native is also in the Top 20 in career assists (17th, 244) and steals (11th, 118).

Mitrovic No. 6 Nationally in 3-Point Percentage
Junior G Nemanja Mitrovic is currently No. 6 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage according to NCAA statistics (minimum of 2.5 made per game). Mitrovic is shooting .473 from beyond the arc and is looking to follow teammate Jared Stohl as the national leader as Stohl led the country last year by finishing at .478. Stohl is currently 16th this season at .439 and could become the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in consecutive seasons.

Pilots No. 2 Nationally in Three-Point Percentage
Portland is second nationally in team three-point percentage (.422) and trails only Northern Arizona (.432). Last year Portland finished fifth nationally as a team in three-point percentage (.407), while the Pilots finished second nationally in 2008-09 (.418).


Copyright © University of Portland Athletics

dholcombe wrote:Did we find out that we can't get the 4 seed and give up?

Purplegeezer wrote:This announcer is even more annoying that Ehlo.

" why do we need the 5 second rule? We need to get rid of that rule. The women don't have it " blah blah...

MORAGA, Calif. -- In the end, it was pretty close to a meaningless game on Saturday night. St. Mary's finished off the West Coast Conference regular season with an 83-69 win over Portland. For the Gaels, it clinched a tie for the regular-season title.

For the Pilots, their fate was sealed before the final horn -- fifth place in the WCC.

Matthew Dellavedova led St. Mary's with 19 points, one of four Gaels in double figures.

Luke Sikma led Portland with 10 points and 10 rebounds, his 14th double-double of the season. Jared Stohl led the Pilots with 16 points.

Portland (20-10, 7-7 WCC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the early going and maintained a 39-38 lead at halftime. However, St. Mary's (23-7, 11-3) opened the second half on a 10-2 run, eventually taking a 64-47 lead. The Pilots fought back to make a game of it late but the Gaels held on.

As it did in its first trip to the Bay Area, Portland's three-point shooting abandoned it. The Pilots made 4 of 13 (31 percent) from long distance despite coming into the game shooting 42 percent, second in NCAA Division I.

Portland shot 9 for 38 (24 percent) against San Francisco and Santa Clara in its first trip to the area.

The Pilots will play Loyola in the first round of the WCC tournament on Friday in Las Vegas. Portland's seed was secured before the game with St. Mary's was over -- Santa Clara clinched the fourth spot with a win over Pepperdine on Saturday and even if Portland had won to tie the Broncos for fourth, Santa Clara won the tiebreaker for the tournament seed.

"I think the conference is better than it has been," Pilots coach Eric Reveno said. "It's the best it's been since I've been here. I would have liked to have finished in the top half of the conference in a year we were supposed to be down after losing some key people last year.

"I feel like we've represented ourselves well. Again, I would have liked to have finished in the top half of conference, I think we were capable of it. Now, we've got to move toward the conference tournament."

The Pilots were short-handed as guard Tim Douglas missed the game with a right foot injury. Douglas has been suffering from the injury for a couple of weeks but was playing through it.

However, in Thursday's win at San Diego, it flared up. He was cleared to play Saturday but was still in pain. It was decided to rest him for the WCC tournament. Eric Waterford replaced Douglas in the starting lineup.

Kramer Knutson came off the bench after missing last Saturday's game against Santa Clara with back problems.

"Knutson is doing much better, he's fine," Reveno said. "Douglas, it's sort of day-to-day with the foot. We'll get back to campus and see."

-- Damin Esper

Tough loss tonight to very good SMC. We were up 1 at half but got away. Lost game at FT line, getting out scored there 34 to 11.