Pilots @ USF, Thursday @ 7pm

That scorer's table with the video screen is pretty, but sure is annoying. Glad we don't have one of those.

I feel like I watched this same game last night ... only last night it was the Blazers getting snowed by Orlando threes.

USF shooting 61% from the field at this point....going into halftime down by 10 or less would be a major coup for the Pilots at this point. Down 16 as it stands with a minute left.

After watching a little of the St. Mary's-Gonzaga game: I would like to thank the powers that be for not allowing our basketball court to say "Muscle Milk" or "Les Schwab."

Pilotnut - you swayed me to put money on the Pilots (in WCC Pick'em) with your tough schedule argument. So much for logic I guess.
Best of luck to the Pilots for the remainder of the season.
But how did the Dons get over 100 pts tonight???

Several reasons: Portland's youth, USF's 0-4 record coming in, their experience and their stellar performance behind the 3pt line, 13-18, getting easy buckets from
14 steals and 21 Portland turnovers.

I'll have my reactions tomorrow. In short, more painful to watch than the Kentucky game last year and there were a few bright spots. Plus a meeting with a recent alumnus!

RipCityPilot wrote:After watching a little of the St. Mary's-Gonzaga game: I would like to thank the powers that be for not allowing our basketball court to say "Muscle Milk" or "Les Schwab."

I agree (see what I said after the Stanford soccer match when everyone thought I was being cranky), but almost any school, especially a mid-major, would do it for the right price.

Lions90045 wrote:Pilotnut - you swayed me to put money on the Pilots (in WCC Pick'em) with your tough schedule argument. So much for logic I guess.
Best of luck to the Pilots for the remainder of the season.
But how did the Dons get over 100 pts tonight???

for lots of reasons...

Read this at your own peril.

Pilots Struggle in Road Loss to San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --- The University of Portland gave up a season-high in points as the San Francisco Dons found their shooting touch in a 104-70 win Thursday night at War Memorial Gymnasium. Sophomores Ryan Nicholas and Tim Douglas scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Pilots (5-12, 2-2 WCC).

The Dons (11-8, 1-4 WCC) picked up their first West Coast Conference win after struggling shooting the ball in their first four league games. USF was averaging 66.2 points and shooting 24 percent from three-point range entering the game, but finished Thursday a remarkable 13-for-18 from beyond the arc.

In addition to the points allowed opponent high, USF’s 13 three-pointers, 72 percent three-point shooting, and 67 percent field goal shooting were also highs on the season for a UP opponent.

USF built a 20-point lead late in the first half after an early three-point barrage. The Pilots scored seven of the last night points of the period to pull within 53-38 at the break. The 53 first half points allowed were a season-high for UP opponents.

The Dons came out firing again in the second period, opening the half with a 16-2 run to put the game out of reach.

Portland committed 21 turnovers in the game, including 12 in the second half. The Dons gained a 34-23 advantage in points off of turnovers and 44-18 margin in points in the paint.

Freshman forward Dorian Cason scored a season-high nine points off the bench for the Pilots. Portland finished the game at 40 percent shooting from the field and 4-for-14 from three-point range.

Five Dons players reached double figures in scoring, led by 19 points from senior Rashad Green. Senior Angelo Caloiaro added 16 points, all in the second half.

The Pilots will look to bounce back on Saturday when they travel to face the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Moraga, Calif. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised live on Comcast Bay Area (tape delayed at 9 p.m. on CSN Northwest). The game will be aired live on True Talk 800 AM (KPDQ).

So much for hoping USF's shooting struggle continued....If you told me we'd get 70 points before the game I'd have said we had an excellent chance at a win.

, indeed, SP11.

This game felt like being a St. Mary's fan during the blowout on the Bluff last Jan and reminded me of the Pilot's game in Spokane after USF beat GU in SF in 2009. USF capitalized on the mistakes of youthful play and desperate measures. Missing several 3s, breakaway layups in order to be fancy and being unselfish to a fault did not help matters either. USF looked like a good team that could make things interesting for St. Mary's, Gonzaga and BYU in their last three conference games.

WMG certainly looks nice with the new floor and banners for their prior succesess. Not too fond of the glass partition, but I can live with it.



I have to give credit to the USF fans; once it hit 25 the first time, 97% of them stopped responding to the prompts by the lone student representative. There are a few that clearly were not in intersession, a condensed study abroad for some, because they certainly were lacking class at the time. For the most part, USF has had a small but faithful contingent; glad to see them get a win though many would prefer it had come against Pepperdine in front of what could be a tiny crowd on Saturday.

After the game I went to Bill Johnson and figured one of the few bright spots was the return game next Saturday, but he would not acknowledge anything as positive that night. He also compared Jason Brough's second half to his partner's during the NCAA game against Villanova, in which he could not find anything to say during the second half. His frustrated attitude threw me for a loop and underscored the stunned and unsure feelings of the Pilot faithful.

For me, however, there were some bright spots: I got to meet a childhood friend of Tanner and see their happy reunion; talked a bit with Tim's parents about the team, ran into some old friends, currents students and bumped into new USF Law school student Ethan Neidermeyer.
He's undeclared at the moment but leaning away from criminal law, so I'm sure he'll make a great lawyer, even if that phrase is consider by some to be an oxymoron. There were also some great athletic plays that do give hope for the future but waiting is hard especially if you're in your senior year.

Needless to say this was the worst loss for the men I've had the pleasure of attending with Kentucky a close second because I did not have to drive for two hours to get to the Rose Garden and Kentucky didn't cross 80. At least for a night, I also knew how hard it was to be a Pilot fan before the last few seasons.

The Pilots could turn things around and knock off USF next week but for now, I'm uncomfortably numb...

Didn't Ethan have his road uniform with him? He CAN play defense!