USF @ Pilots 2/17 ...6:00 PM...

by **DaTruRochin** Tue Feb 15, 2011 2:48 pm

Before I get any further, take note of the game time, the game is nationally televised so we get an early start at 6 PM.

So these next 2 games are paramount to maintain any hope of getting a bye (or maybe 2) in the WCC Tourney, and both opponents have had relatively surprising seasons thus far. The Dons are still fighting for the ever important 2 seed (or even the 1 if SMC skids) and are lead by Michael Williams's 15.0 ppg. They are kind of opposite of us in that they do their best work inside and only Williams shoots above 35% from distance (at a solid 44%), plus they do force a fair amount of turnovers, which could be problematic. Down at War Memorial we struggled to handle their perimeter defensive pressure effectively, and we will definitely need to rectify that issue in order to win. I like our chances if we can take good shots, while still not allowing them to set up their defense that gave us so much trouble the first time around.

TV: ESPNU

Live Stats

Don't forget your bow ties!

by **PilotNut** Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:35 pm

Sweet! The halftime mile is back! I always thought that was a cool event...

Pilots Host Second-Place USF in Nationally Televised Thursday Game

A huge weekend of University of Portland men’s basketball comes to The Bluff beginning on Thursday with a night of remembrance and battle for WCC seeding. The Pilots host San Francisco at 6 p.m. on ESPNU as the program will recognize our Ultimate Fan, Mauro Potestio. Fans are encouraged to wear bowties to the game in honor of Potestio, who watched a remarkable 898 consecutive UP games from 1949-2011 and wore his signature bowtie to nearly every game. The Pilots will then take on Santa Clara on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the regular season home finale. Portland’s four seniors will be recognized 10 minutes prior to tipoff with a Senior Night presentation.

Ticket Information
Thursday’s game is featuring a buy one get one free ticket special. 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.

Wear a Bowtie on Thursday
Help us honor our Ultimate Fan Mauro Potestio by wearing a bowtie to Thursday’s game against San Francisco at the Chiles Center. Mauro, who passed away last Saturday, is legendary for his amazing devotion to the Pilots (he attended 898 consecutive home games from 1949-2011) and for wearing his signature bowtie to nearly every game. To learn more about Mauro, his streak, and his incredible impact on Pilots athletics, check out these articles from The Oregonian, The Portland Tribune and look at a slideshow of his time here at UP.

Halftime Mile is Back!
A halftime show that was immensely popular previously at Portland is making a comeback on Thursday. Portland will host the Halftime Mile, featuring four members of the University of Portland’s track team against four runners from the University of San Francisco. Pilot sophomore sensation Trevor Dunbar, the reigning USA Junior Cross Country and 10,000-meter champion, will chase his father’s Chiles Center mile record (4:04). Fans are encouraged to line the track upstairs to cheer on the runners, or can watch the proceedings on the Chiles Center video board. OregonLive.com previewed the event.

Senior Night on Saturday
Show up early on Saturday as Portland’s four seniors will be recognized 10 minutes prior to tip-off as part of Senior Night. The quartet of Jasonn Hannibal, Kramer Knutson, Jared Stohl and Luke Sikma have put together one of the best four-year runs in school history and have achieved unprecedented success as Pilot hoopsters. The program will recognize each player and the families of all four will be on hand for the special occasion.

Canzano On-Site for BFT on Thursday
John Canzano will be hosting his Bald-Faced Truth radio show at the Chiles Center on Thursday from 3-6 p.m. The show airs Monday-Friday on 95.5 The Game on the FM dial. Check in early or tune in to catch Canzano talk about the Pilots and get on a few special guests. Canzano on Coach Reveno and the Pilots.

Game Coverage
Thursday’s game will be nationally televised on ESPNU with Mark Neely and Miles Simon calling the action. Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. game against Santa Clara will be aired on CSN Northwest and CSN Bay Area with Scott Lynn and Dwight Jaynes on the call. 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 earned a road split last week by following Thursday’s 66-64 loss at Pepperdine with a 71-48 victory at Loyola Marymount.
• Senior F Luke Sikma scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against LMU.
• Sikma became the school’s top all-time rebounder on Thursday, passing Rick Raivio (1976-80, 910) and he now has 928 career rebounds.
• Sikma is also just three points shy of joining the 1,000-point club.
• Senior C Kramer Knutson is the Portland career leader in games started (115).
• The Pilots are fifth nationally in team 3-point percentage (.419).
• Junior G Nemanja Mitrovic is No. 2 in the nation in three-point percentage (.485) and senior G Jared Stohl is No. 17 (.435).
• Mitrovic (79) and Stohl (74) have combined to make 153 three-pointers which is tied for the highest total of any teammate duo in the nation with BYU’s Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery (153).
• UP is No. 21 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
• Portland’s 58 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.
• Portland is coming off of back-to-back postseason appearances and tied a school record with 21 wins last year. Head coach Eric Reveno welcomes eight newcomers to the roster, including seven true freshmen.

About San Francisco (13-12, 7-3 WCC)
• The Dons are tied for second place in the WCC standings after splitting a home stand last weekend. USF beat San Diego (61-47) and lost to No. 23 Saint Mary’s (86-68).
• The Dons post an RPI of 127, fourth best in the conference.
• USF is one of the youngest teams in Division I basketball this season with just seven years of returning Division I experience.
• Michael Williams (15.1 ppg), Rashad Green (11.6) and Perris Blackwell (10.4 ppg) lead the Dons.
• USF knocked off the Pilots by an 81-74 margin on Jan. 20 in San Francisco, snapping a four-game losing streak to Portland.

by blacksheep Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:26 am

So if they are running on the track, where can I get my halftime beer?

by W W Winkie Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:31 am

blacksheep wrote:So if they are running on the track, where can I get my halftime beer?

Your parents must be proud!!

by Stonehouse Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:35 am

W W Winkie wrote:Your parents must be proud!!

Actually, I think they behind him in the beer line. Smile

Honestly, I'm not sure... maybe they are just roping off the track part and using the rest of it? I doubt it'll be back in the HOF room. I suppose I should know these types of things...

by **PilotNut** Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:38 am

blacksheep wrote:So if they are running on the track, where can I get my halftime beer?

Oh my... we have a pending crisis on our hands!

by W W Winkie Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:55 am

PilotNut wrote:
blacksheep wrote:So if they are running on the track, where can I get my halftime beer?

Oh my... we have a pending crisis on our hands!

USF @ Pilots 2/17 ...6:00 PM... Boozeb10

by Woodless! Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:52 am

We are a 10 point favorite in this game? Are you sure they are not talking about the half-time mile?

by **PilotNut** Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:39 am

I would be quite satisfied with a 10-point win...

Remember: 6:00 pm early tip-off!

by onetouchfutbol Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:26 am

I'm not quite sure how ESPNU counts as being nationally televised when very few people pay for cable packages that have that channel, but, hey...I guess it's good exposure all the same. There's still a chance at a top 10 highlight if any of the guys do something cool.

I guess if I wasn't working I could watch the game at the gym...
-------------

Keys to the game in my opinion:

1) Keep turnovers to a minimum.
2) Try to run.
3) If the game slows down, set effective screens to break down USF's perimeter defense.
4) Block out and rebound.

I think that our shooting percentage will be better in the Chiles than it was against them on the road, but, obviously that's another key to the game.*

by **DaTruRochin** Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:32 am

Well I think this game will also be a lot different if both Kramer and Luke avoid quick foul accumulation in the first 10 minutes of the game (Something both players suffered in our game at the hilltop...)

by Geezaldinho Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:57 pm

Canzano On-Site for BFT
John Canzano will be hosting his Bald-Faced Truth radio show at the Chiles Center on Thursday from 3-6 p.m. The show airs Monday-Friday on 95.5 The Game on the FM dial. Check in early or tune in to catch Canzano talk about the Pilots and get on a few special guests. Canzano on Coach Reveno and the Pilots.

Also Pooh and Wesley Mathews.

by Geezaldinho Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:14 pm

Pooh at 5:00

Rev at 4:35

by **DaTruRochin** Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:25 pm

82-73 Dons...

UGH. That game was just a shame, after fighting back to take the lead we absolutely crumbled in the last 5... We couldn't buy a shot if we wanted to (which coincidentally that last 5 gave me the sudden urge to do...) and just seemed to succumb to both turnovers and poor shot selection. A lot of freshman PT tonight, especially down the stretch.

Credit the Dons, every time we punched, they swing right back. Looks like we might get ourselves a bonus game on March 4th after all...

by Geezaldinho Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:35 pm

Worse, Kramer hurt his back, which is why he only played about 11 minutes.
Luke got his bell rung and went into the locker room, but came back out.

And I heard that Nem was sick but that didn't seem to affect him much.

by **DaTruRochin** Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:40 pm

Double ugh, I missed the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half with dinner... And the announcers were making flubs every single play so I couldn't tell who was what or what was going on. It explains why Luke's jump hook was just a little off the whole second half... And for Kramer, just a tough thing to have to over come for the last few games of your career Evil or Very Mad

But yeah for a sick guy, a career high is admirable, kudos to Nem!

On a lighter note: Rev can wear the heck out of a tux, methinks Mauro would be proud.

by ShipstadPilot11 Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:47 pm

Bright Spot:
Tim Douglas - 7 assists, 1 turnover

by dholcombe Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:57 pm

Also....we won the halftime mile? We should get 10 bonus points in the game for that I think.

Sigh. I thought we were going to pull it out, but we crumbled in the last 3 minutes or so. Nothing seemed to click.

by **DaTruRochin** Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:12 pm

UP recap:

Dons Spoil Career High Night by Mitrovic

2/17/2011 8:58:09 PM

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland junior Nemanja Mitrovic scored a career-high 26 points and senior Luke Sikma joined the 1,000-point club, but the San Francisco Dons pulled out an 82-73 road victory over the Pilots on Thursday before 2,538 fans at the Chiles Center. The Pilots fall to 12-2 in games at the Chiles Center this season.

The Dons (14-12, 8-3 West Coast Conference) remained tied in second place in the league standings with the win, while the Pilots (18-9, 5-6) are in fifth place and one game behind fourth place Santa Clara. The Broncos will visit Portland on Saturday in a pivotal game for the WCC standings.

Thursday’s game featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes and Portland seemed to regain control after three free throws by Mitrovic gave the Pilots a 66-63 lead with 4:57 remaining. USF answered with a 6-0 run capped by a three-point play by junior Angelo Caloiaro and extended the lead to nine points after holding Portland without a field goal over a stretch of five minutes and 13 seconds down the stretch.

Caloiaro and sophomore guard Michael Williams led USF with 18 points each, while freshman Cody Doolin added 14 points.

Sikma entered the game needing just three points to become the 34th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. He finished the night with six points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Senior Jared Stohl added 11 points, while freshman point guard Tim Douglas chipped in 10 points and a career-high seven assists.

Portland struggled to 38 percent shooting in the second half and finished at 45 percent for the game. The Dons shot 47 percent for the game and had a 38-31 rebounding advantage. USF also made 23-of-35 free throws compared to Portland’s 10-for-17 at the line.

The Pilots will host Santa Clara on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the final regular season home game of 2011. Portland’s four seniors will be honored with a pre-game Senior Night ceremony scheduled for 5:15 p.m. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest and on the radio on True Talk 800 (AM). Tickets are still available through all Ticketmaster outlets or in-person at the Pilot Box Office beginning 90 minutes prior to tip-off.

Official Basketball Box Score
Univ. San Francisco vs Portland
02/17/11 6:00 PM at Portland, Ore. {Chiles Center}

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VISITORS: Univ. San Francisco 14-12, 8-3 WCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 DIARRA, Moustapha... f 2-8 0-0 5-6 2 3 5 2 9 1 4 1 0 24
32 CALOIARO, Angelo.... f 6-10 4-8 2-4 0 7 7 2 18 0 0 0 1 31
05 WILLIAMS, Michael... g 5-13 2-7 6-11 1 4 5 0 18 3 1 0 2 31
13 GREEN, Rashad....... g 5-8 1-3 2-2 1 5 6 2 13 3 2 0 2 24
45 DOOLIN, Cody........ g 3-5 1-2 7-10 1 4 5 1 14 2 0 0 2 32
10 PETROVIC, Marko..... 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 4 3 3 0 0 1 22
11 RAFFINGTON, Justin.. 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 2 2 0 1 1 0 13
25 DICKERSON, Cole..... 2-3 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 5 5 1 0 0 0 9
33 JOHNSON, Avery...... 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 4 5 0 0 0 1 0 1 14
TEAM................
Totals.............. 25-53 9-25 23-35 7 31 38 18 82 13 9 2 9 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-27 51.9% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 47.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-15 40.0% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 36.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 17-26 65.4% Game: 65.7% 8

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HOME TEAM: Portland 18-9, 5-6 WCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
43 SIKMA, Luke......... f 2-7 0-0 2-6 1 9 10 1 6 4 3 0 3 33
45 KNUTSON, Kramer..... c 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 11
11 DOUGLAS, Tim........ g 4-9 1-3 1-2 0 3 3 3 10 7 1 0 0 34
20 STOHL, Jared........ g 3-6 3-5 2-2 2 2 4 2 11 2 1 0 0 30
33 MITROVIC, Nemanja... g 9-18 4-9 4-4 1 5 6 4 26 2 3 0 0 36
01 WATERFORD, Eric..... 1-1 1-1 1-2 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 0 6
03 RILEY, Tanner....... 2-6 0-2 0-0 1 2 3 3 4 1 2 0 1 15
14 BARKER, Riley....... 4-8 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 8 1 0 1 0 17
32 NICHOLAS, Ryan...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 2 0 1 0 2 9
55 HANNIBAL, Jasonn.... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 9
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 27-60 9-20 10-17 6 25 31 23 73 18 12 1 6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8% 2nd Half: 13-34 38.2% Game: 45.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 45.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 9-14 64.3% Game: 58.8% 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Dick Cartmell, Michael Eggers, Frank Harvey
Technical fouls: Univ. San Francisco-None. Portland-None.
Attendance: 2538
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Univ. San Francisco........... 40 42 - 82
Portland...................... 35 38 - 73

Points in the paint-USF 28,POR 20. Points off turnovers-USF 16,POR 5.
2nd chance points-USF 9,POR 5. Fast break points-USF 6,POR 9.
Bench points-USF 10,POR 20. Score tied-12 times. Lead changed-11 times.
Last FG-USF 2nd-01:42, POR 2nd-00:12.
Largest lead-USF by 10 2nd-00:40, POR by 6 1st-12:08.

by onetouchfutbol Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:34 pm

Looking at the stats, we just got outplayed. We got outrebounded by 7. They shot a better percentage than us from the field, and had 3 less turnovers. Stohl and Mitrovic's 3s (combined 7-14) are what made this a ball game...and Douglas was solid too.

One other glaring stat: They went to the line 35 times (23-35), and we only went 17 (10-17). Rev's got to encourage the guys to try to get to the line more at home. Getting outscored by 13 on the line in your own house is not cool...

by **DaTruRochin** Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:37 pm

Yeah, and long stretches without our senior front court kind of left us playing catch up the whole second half. Had the lead and then just went stone cold in the last 5 minutes, missed layins, bank shots, hooks, you name it, we just couldn't convert down the stretch. Thats not to say the Dons didn't play a solid game themselves, but we didn't do ourselves any favors missing easy buckets.

by Guest Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:55 pm

Purplegeezer wrote:Worse, Kramer hurt his back, which is why he only played about 11 minutes.

Rev said in the pre-game radio show that Kramer's back was sore from the traveling last weekend. Guess the coach seats don't fit him well. The team really missed him; USF got way too easy penetration down the lane.

by DTLegend Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:21 am

Sometimes in games everything goes your way, other times things don't. How many times did the ball bounce right for the Dons and wrong for us. There was a stretch where we missed three open layups, the Luke had back to back baby hooks miss, and the missed layup before halftime and the layup off the side of the backboard at the end of the game. Two or three times we had the ball stolen because the pass wasn't placed in the right place. Frustrating how we came back to take the lead then just nothing was working.

San Fransisco is going to be tough for a few years to come. I really like that team that coach Rex has put together. They are pretty long and athletic. Versatile, and they definitely play as a team. No longer Dior and everyone else. Also, they are young. In that respect they remind me of us a couple years ago. If we maintain our level of success and Saint Mary's, Gonzaga, USF, BYU, and hopefully Santa Clara can maintain that will be quite the conference in the coming years.

On a positive note, as mentioned before, the younger guys got some minutes. I remember at one point we had no seniors on the floor, which got me excited for next year. It's always fun to get a glimpse of the future. To be honest, seeing that comforted me a little bit.

So this game is over, Water Under the Bridge. Let's finish strong and prepare for Vegas. Its looking like the WCC tournament could be crazy this year, I really believe that one of about 6 teams could make a run at any time.

by onetouchfutbol Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:50 am

That's true. On the bright side, in a league with so much parity this year (WCC), it will be tough to beat the same team 3 times. Hopefully if we play USF or Gonzaga in the tourney, we've learned a few lessons. For me, one of the biggest lessons from this game has to be no matter which players we have on the floor--seniors or freshman--we've got to find a way to get to the foul line enough times to compete with our opponent. I'm just assuming the refs called it fairly since I wasn't there and I didn't see the game. But, we cannot have another game in the regular season or the WCC tourney where the other team goes to the free throw line 18 more times than we do. That's bleeping ridiculous!

by **DaTruRochin** Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:53 am

A lot of that foul disparity had to do with us fouling them down the stretch to get ourselves back in the game...

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