Announcement

**ASI Inc.** · 03-04-2005, 06:59 PM

From the San Francisco web site.

Dons Open Play At WCC Tournament Friday (8 p.m.) vs. Portland

USF swept series, both both games were nailbiters

March 1, 2005

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San Francisco, CA- USF (15-12, 6-8 WCC) will open West Coast Conference tournament play on Friday night when the face #7 seed Portland at 8:00 p.m. (ESPN U.) at Santa Clara's Leavey Center. The Dons are in the lower half of the bracket that would see them have to play through Portland, host Santa Clara and St. Mary's to get to the league finals. The lower half of the bracket will play the last game of the evening each night, with each game televised.

The Dons have had success in the regular season against Portland and Santa Clara, going 2-0 against each, but lost both contests to St. Mary's. When you look closer at the games against these three opponents, there was not much margin of error in any of these six games.

COX HONORED AGAIN: USF senior guard John Cox has been named all-West Coast Conference it was announced Monday, February 28th. Cox, who was named all-WCC in his junior season of 2002-03 sat out last season as a redshirt after a knee injury. Cox led the WCC in scoring in both overall (20.4 - 19th NCAA at start of week) and league (19.9) play. Cox is currently eleventh in all-time career scoring at USF and is the son of former all-WCC USF guard Chubby Cox.

RILEY HONORABLE MENTION: For the second straight season, senior forward Tyrone Riley barely missed the all-WCC team and was named all-WCC honorable mention. Riley had a sensational senior season, which he culminated with a solid February. Over the past seven games last month, the Watts native averaged 19.1 points per game and 10.4 rebounds and recorded personal bests with 24 points at Portland and 20 rebounds against Loyola Marymount.

USF IS 2-1 VS. TOP 25: USF is 2-1 in games vs. the AP top 25. The Dons defeated #19 Pacific 67-64 in Stockton on December 18th, UOP's last loss, and their only loss in Stockton. USF also beat Gonzaga at USF when they were ranked #11, 73-70, which is also Gonzaga's last loss. USF lost last Saturday at Gonzaga 75-73 on February 19th.

USF HAS BEATEN LEAGUE FOUR LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: USF has beaten four conference champions this season, Gonzaga (WCC), Pacific (Big West), Penn (Ivy) and St. Joseph's (Atlantic-10).

Media: All of USF's WCC tournament games will be carried live on KYCY, 1550 AM. The first and second round games will also be televised on ESPNU and the semi-final and championship games on ESPN.

USF THE MOST EXCITING TEAM IN SPORTS? Do you like close games?: With the exception of the two Pepperdine games and Feb. 9 game at USD, USF WCC games have been real nail biters. Here is a sampling: 1/7 at LMU: Trailing by one Andre Hazel's lay-up attempted is deflected by center Mathew Knight with :05 left and USF trailing by one. USF loses 68-65. 1/9 at Pepperdine: USF trails by just three with 2:43 left and has three possessions to get closer but eventually falls 64-57 1/15 San Diego: USF and USD go into overtime after failing to score in last 1:29. The Dons trail by four in overtime before taking control. USD has a three-point attempt to tie the score by Brandon Gay miss with :10 left. USF wins 87-82. 1/20 #11 Gonzaga: USF looks like they will runaway from the Zags but #11 still has some fight left. Gonzaga takes a 19 point lead down to three but a buzzer beating three to tie by Derek Raivio is off mark. USF wins 73-70. 1/22 Portland: The Pilots erase a USF second half lead and it takes a gutty three by Tyrone Riley with :26 left and a late steal by Jason Gaines to get USF to OT where Riley takes over and the Dons win 74-70. 1/27 at Santa Clara: USF sophomore Alan Wiggins breaks a tie with a baseline jumper with less than a second left to give USF a 62-60 win vs. Santa Clara. 1/20 at St. Mary's: In the game where WCC officials incorrectly used a TV replay to check a shot clock violation vs. USF, Tyrone Riley's short shot to give the Dons the lead with 18 seconds left is short and St. Mary's outlasts USF 68-64 2/5 Loyola Marymount: USF leads all the way until LMU takes a lead for the first time with 18 seconds left. USF has shots to go ahead by John Cox at :05 and a layup by Tyrone Riley miss with :01 left and loses 50-49. 2/17 at Portland: USF builds a big halftime lead of 16 points but then goes cold offensively letting the Pilots back in the game. Portland leads after scoring with :41 left but Tyrone Riley banks in a three with :18 left to give USF the lead. USF twice gets steals at end of the game and wins by two after a Cox free-throw. 2/19 at Gonzaga: USF fights back from a double digit deficit to take the lead with 1:10 left on an Ingerson trey. GU makes two free-throws and USF one to have the game tied at 73-all. Gonzaga's Adam Morrison drills a jumper in the last second and John Cox's equalizer is just a fraction late to send the game to ot. 2/24 St. Mary's: USF leads late, has shots to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime to win it, but eventually falls in triple overtime to St. Mary's. USF makes just 5-10 free-throws in overtime sealing its fate. Hazel has a chance to make a lay-up to win it at the end of OT1, but it rolls off the rim. 2/26 Santa Clara: What looked like a runaway earlier became very tight when Santa Clara closed a USF 17-point lead to 2 late in the game. USF built the lead back to three and a late three-pointer at the buzzer by Santa Clara bounced harmlessly off the rim.

WCC Holds Steady At No. 7 In Latest RPI Report The WCC is entering its conference tournament with its highest ever conference RPI ranking in men's hoops. For the seventh consecutive week, the WCC is listed as the No. 7 rated conference in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI rankings. The WCC is listed ahead of other highly regarded conferences such as Conference-USA, the Missouri Valley Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference. In fact, the only conferences listed ahead of the WCC are the six "BCS" conferences with the ACC leading the way, followed, by the Pac-10, the Big 12, the Big East, the SEC and the Big Ten.

Earlier, seven in a row: USF went undefeated for a month from Dec. 2-Dec. 31. The streak ended at Texas Tech. The Dons won five in a row last season, but had not won seven in a row since the 1999-2000 year when they won 12 straight after dropping their opener in the preseason NIT at Maryland.

During the seven-game win streak USF had outscored its opponents 77.1 to 62.3, outshot them 45.0% to 40.7% and has a +7.4 turnover margin, making just 12.1 turnovers per game. Three players, John Cox (21.0), Tyrone Riley (16.0) and Jerome Gumbs (11.1) were averaging in double figures over the seven contests. John Cox moves to 11th in scoring: Senior All-WCC guard John Cox became the 27th player in USF history to score his 1,000th career point on December 1st in USF's 65-55 loss at Wichita State. Cox's baseline three-pointer with 18:02 remaining in the first half gave Cox 1,001 points. He now has 1,470 and is 11th on the all-time USF career scoring list. He passed Pete Cross (1,415) on February 22nd. He needs 53 points to tie Phil Smith for 11th place . He has scored 551 points this season, surpassing his personal best (445) in 2002-03 (28 games) when he was also named all-WCC. (see top-20 list at end of release)

Cox and Riley rank in WCC key categories: John Cox is first in the West Coast Conference in scoring with 20.4 points per contest (ranked 19th in NCAA at start of the weekend) and finished tied for the lead in scoring during league play at 19.9. He also leads the WCC in three-pointers made with 2.6 made per contest. Riley is second in the WCC in rebounding with 8.9 per game.

Evans earns win #145: USF is led by new head coach Jessie Evans, who came over from Louisiana Lafayette this summer. The Santa Clara win last Thursday was the 145th in his career. He led Louisiana to a 132-81 record in seven seasons (and four postseason berths) after coming over from Arizona, where he was an assistant to Lute Olson. He took UL to the NCAA tournament last season. His team led the Sun Belt in scoring last season with 77.0 points per game. USF was last in the WCC in scoring last season with 65.0 ppg. Evans took over the program from Phil Mathews (139-123 in eight years), who is now head coach at San Bernardino Valley College.

More new staff: USF has a new alignment on the bench besides Evans. Next to Evans is former Casper College head coach Bill Johnson, who previously served as an assistant at Columbia (to Armond Hill) and Nebraska (to Danny Nee). Johnson is a graduate of Nebraska (1988) where he was a two-year letterwinner. Promoted on the USF staff were Anwar McQueen (Cal, 1997) and former Administrative Assistant Philippe Doherty (UC Davis, 1999). Joining the USF staff is Coach Evans' son Jarret, a former player at Louisiana-Lafayette (2002) and Director of Basketball Operations.

Dons Radio: USF games are broadcast live on KYCY (1550 AM) and be streamed live on USFDons.com. Saturday, play-by-play man Pat Olson will be broadcasting his 401st USF men's basketball game on the radio. In addition several games were be broadcast nationally on Sirius Satellite radio. Pat Olson is in his 14th season as the voice of USF basketball. He will be joined during USF home and local games by former USF head coach Jim Brovelli. In addition to streaming the audio this season, USF streamed video of non-televised home games which is still available archived. KYCY also carried the weekly "Jessie Evans Show" every Monday night at 8:00 p.m. live from the Kezar Pub in San Francisco.

FREE-THROWS NOT FREE: USF has shot less free-throws in nine of the 14 WCC contests than their opponents after shooting less in just six of 14 non-conference games. In nonconference play, USF attempted 295 fts (22.7) to their opponents 272 (20.9), but in conference USF shot just 259 ft's (18.5) compared to 317 (22.6) for opponents. Five times during WCC play (at SCU, Pep-Home, and two of the last four contests (@USD, @PORT & @GU) USF has shot at least 10 less free-throws than its opponent. USF has also struggled to make its free throws in league play making just 67.6% (7th), which has cost USF a few of the close games they have lost. Against St. Mary's USF missed four straight when up by one point in overtime.

**ASI Inc.** · 03-04-2005, 07:00 PM

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From the Portland web site

It's WCC Tourney Time!

3/1/2005

COMING UP: The University of Portland (15-14, 4-10 WCC) will travel to Santa Clara, Calif. to compete in the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament, on Mar. 4-7.

WCC TOURNAMENT: The West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament returns to the Bay Area in 2005. The 2005 WCC Basketball Tournament will be held on the Santa Clara University campus, and for the second consecutive year, the WCC will use an Eight-Team/Play-In format for the men, while the women’s championship will use the traditional No. 1 versus No. 8 seed format with no teams receiving byes. The women’s teams receive a rest day after the first round and are reseeded before the semifinals. The women will play March 3-6, 2005 and the men will square-off March 4-7, 2005.

The 2005 tournament will be held in the Bay Area, the 2006 and 2007 tournaments in the Pacific Northwest and the 2008 and 2009 tournaments in Southern California.

Under the format that was adopted in 2003, the No. 5 through No. 8 seeds will compete in the opening round to determine who will advance to the next round of the tournament. Waiting for the winners in the quarterfinals will be the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, who will have first round byes. The winners of the quarterfinal match-ups will go head-to-head with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, who will have byes through the first two rounds of the tournament.

On Friday, Mar. 4, the action kicks-off with No. 5 seed Pepperdine (16-13, 6-8 WCC) and No. 8 seed Loyola Marymount (11-16, 3-11 WCC) at 5:30 p.m. At 8:00 p.m., No. 7 seed Portland (15-14, 4-10 WCC) takes on No. 6 seed San Francisco (15-12, 6-8 WCC) in an ESPNU broadcasted game. No. 4 seed San Diego (15-12, 7-7 WCC) will match-up with the Pepperdine/Loyola Marymount winner at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 5. No. 3 seed Santa Clara (14-15, 7-7 WCC) will face the winner of the Portland/San Francisco game at 8:00 p.m in an ESPNU broadcasted game. On Sunday, Mar. 6. No. 1 seed Gonzaga (22-4, 12-2 WCC) will face the winner of game No. 3 at 6:00 p.m. in an ESPN2 broadcasted game, while No. 2 seed Saint Mary’s (24-7, 11-3 WCC) will take on the winner of game No. 4, at 9:00 p.m. in an ESPN broadcasted game. The West Coast Conference will crown its basketball champion on Monday, Mar. 7 at 9:00 p.m. ESPN will televise the championship game from the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.

WHAT’S AHEAD: From Mar. 17-20, Portland will await the chance to compete in the NCAA First Round Tournament.

GAME DATA: The Pilots will open WCC Tournament play vs. San Francisco (15-12, 6-8 WCC) at the Leavey Center on Friday, Mar. 4 at 8:00 p.m.

PILOTS ON TV: The Pilots’ game against the San Francisco Dons at the Leavey Center on Friday, Mar. 4 at 8:00 p.m. will air LIVE on ESPNU (DirecTV, Channel 609).

Rich Cellini will do the play-by-play and the color analyst for Portland’s game vs. USF is Jimmy Dykes.

A QUICK LOOK AT PORTLAND: Portland allowed a 16-0 run in the first half of play, creating the separation needed for an 84-68 Gonzaga victory on Thursday, Feb. 24 at the Chiles Center to end WCC regular-season play. It was Portland’s seventh loss in the last nine games, the last three coming at home. It was also Portland’s second largest home crowd of all time at the Chiles Center as 5,000 fans came out to watch the nationally televised game. Previously, the Pilots lost a 58-56 heartbreaker to San Francisco on Thursday, Feb. 17 and fell, 89-73 to San Diego on Saturday, Feb. 19. It was Portland’s most lopsided home loss of the season and its worst home defeat since losing by 19 to Saint Mary’s last season. The Pilots’ win over LMU on Feb. 10 marked the first time since 1995-96 the Pilots have won 15 games in a season. Portland’s 11 non-conference wins is the highest total since the 1978-79 squad finished with a 12-1 mark. The Pilots’ win over Idaho State on Jan. 2, 2005 marked their 1,000th all-time win. To date, Portland posts an all-time record of 1,004-1,080 (.482). The Pilots currently hold a 15-14 (.517) overall record and end the WCC regular-season in seventh place (4-10, .286).

Junior Pooh Jeter was named to the 2005 honorable mention all-WCC team, while Marcus Lewis was a 2005 WCC all-Freshman team pick.

Jeter became the 28th Pilot men’s basketball player to record 1,000 career points. With 2:46 left in Portland’s win over Pepperdine on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005, Jeter converted a three-point play to record his 15th point of the game and the 1,000th point of his career.

Jeter was named the WCC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for his performance in games during the week of December 5-11, 2004. It was Jeter’s first WCC Player of the Week honor for his career.

Earlier this season, the Pilots placed fourth at the Top of the World Classic, defeating Georgia Southern, 74-60 in the consolation championship. Pooh Jeter was named to the Top of the World Classic all-tourney team.

Possible starters for the Pilots in the WCC Tournament are: Donald Wilson (Jr., G/F); Pooh Jeter (Jr., G); Ben Sullivan (So., C); Darren Cooper (Jr., G) and Andreas Gahlmann (Sr., C).

The Pilots return three starters, six letterwinners and add seven newcomers to this year’s roster. Last year, the Pilots finished the West Coast Conference regular-season in a tie for sixth place. Portland ended its season with an 11-17 (.393) overall record and a 5-9 (.357) conference mark. The 11-17 (.393) overall record comprised the fourth-best win-loss record over the last 11 years. Portland’s 5-1 start at the beginning of the 2003-04 season was the best start since Rob Chavez’s 1998-99 team went 5-1 to open play. The Pilots posted a 6-6 (.500) home record, a 5-10 (.333) away record and a 0-1 (.000) neutral site record in 2003-04.

Head Coach Michael Holton is the 19th head coach in school history. In four seasons, Holton has a 43-72 (.374) career overall record and a 15-41 (.268) career WCC record. Holton recently recorded his 100th career game on Dec. 30, 2004 with an 81-66 win over Idaho at the Chiles Center.

Portland returns two players that received West Coast Conference recognition last season. Pooh Jeter took home 2004 first team all-WCC honors, a first for any Pilot sophomore since the 1977-78 season, while teammate Dreshawn Vance was a 2004 WCC all-Freshman team selection.

In a vote of the league’s eight head coaches, the Pilots were picked to finish in eighth place in this year’s WCC race.

QUOTING HOLTON: “We look forward to this opportunity and I would like to say that this conference tournament is going to be extremely competitive as it has been all year long. It was a very tough conference race, there were a lot of close games and no one was able to run the table. At the same time, you do have to take your hat off to Gonzaga as they were able to emerge at the top. I am proud to be associated with this league, there were a lot of good things that happened this year in terms of national recognition and knocking off ranked teams. I think the conference tournament is going to probably hold a couple of surprises as well. I think our team is ready to go. We’ve dropped some close games down the stretch in league play, but we are certainly optimistic and excited about playing.”

CHECKING OUT SAN FRANCISCO: The San Francisco Dons enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed with a 15-12 overall record, 6-8 in WCC play. The Dons defeated Santa Clara, 73-70 on Saturday, Feb. 26 at home and lost in triple overtime, 81-77 to Saint Mary’s on Thursday, Feb. 24.

Leading the Dons are John Cox, Tyrone Riley and Jerome Gumbs. Cox (20.4 ppg) and Riley (15.5 ppg) are averaging double-figure scoring for the Dons, while Gumbs posts 9.4 points per game. Riley leads the team in rebounding (8.9 rpg), while Cox averages 4.4 boards per game. USF averages 69.4 points and 36.0 rebounds per game as a team.

The Dons return three starters, eight letterwinners and add two newcomers to the 2004-05 roster. Head Coach Jessie Evans enters his first year with San Francisco, posting a 147-93 career record. Last year’s team went 17-14 overall and finished in fourth place in the WCC with a 7-7 record.

Probable starters for the Dons are: #3 Tyrone Riley (Sr., 6-7, F); #5 Jason Gaines (Sr., 6-1, G); #21 Jerome Gumbs (Jr., 6-4, G); #25 Alan Wiggins, Jr. (So., 6-8, F) and #33 John Cox (Sr., 6-5, G).

CHECKING OUT NO. 12/16 GONZAGA: The No. 12/16 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed with a 22-4 overall record, 12-2 in WCC play. The Zags defeated the Pilots, 84-68 in Portland on Thursday, Feb. 24.

Four Gonzaga players are currently averaging in double-figure scoring. Adam Morrison leads the team in points per game (18.2) and posts 5.6 rebounds per game, while Ronny Turiaf leads the team on the boards (9.3 rpg) and totals 16.3 points per game. Derek Raivio averages 13.5 points and 5.1 assists per game, while J.P. Batista chips in 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. As a team, the Zags post 79.0 points and 38.1 rebounds per game.

The Zags return three starters, eight letterwinners and add six newcomers to the 2004-05 roster. Head Coach Mark Few enters his sixth year with Gonzaga, posting a 155-36 career record. Last year’s team went 28-3 overall and finished in first place in the WCC with a perfect 14-0 record.

Probable starters for the Zags are: #1 Ronny Turiaf (Sr., 6-10, F, 16.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg); #3 Adam Morrison (So., 6-8, F, 17.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg); #5 Derek Raivio (So., 6-3, G, 12.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg); #13 J.P. Batista (Jr., 6-9, C/F, 10.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and #22 Erroll Knight (Jr., 6-7, G, 7.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg).

CHECKING OUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: Loyola Marymount enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed with an 11-16 overall record, 3-11 in WCC play. The Lions fell, 82-76 to the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday, Feb. 26 to end WCC regular-season play on the road.

The Lions return three starters, 12 letterwinners and adds three newcomers to the 2004-05 roster. Head Coach Steve Aggers enters his fifth year with Loyola Marymount, posting a 55-89 record at LMU and a 369-359 career record. Last year’s team went 15-14 overall and finished in a tie for sixth place in the WCC with a 5-9 record.

Three LMU players currently average double-figure scoring with Matthew Knight leading the way, tallying 15.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Brandon Worthy totals 11.2 points and 3.9 boards per game, while Charles Brown adds 10.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. As a team, the Lions average 67.4 points and 33.5 rebounds per game.

Probable starters for the Lions are: #00 Brandon Worthy (So., 6-2, G); #13 Wes Wadrop (J., 6-3, G); #14 Matthew Knight (So., 6-8, F/C); #15 Damian Martin (So., 6-2, G) and #21 Daryl Pegram (So., 6-8, F).

CHECKING OUT PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed with a 16-13 overall record, 6-8 in WCC play. The Waves defeated the LMU Lions, 82-76 in their final WCC regular-season home game on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Pepperdine returns all five starters, 11 letterwinners and adds five newcomers to the 2004-05 roster. Paul Westphal, the former head coach of the Phoenix Suns and the Seattle Super Sonics, is beginning his fourth season at Pepperdine and has compiled a mark of 68-51 in Malibu. Overall, Westphal has a 152-78 career record. Last year’s team went 15-16 overall and finished in a tie for second place in the WCC with a 9-5 record.

Three Pepperdine players average double-figure scoring as Glen McGowan leads the way, totaling 19.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Alex Acker posts 16.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, while Yakhouba Diawara averages 14.4 points and 5.6 boards per game. The Waves average 74.2 points and 36.2 rebounds per game as a team.

Probable starters for the Waves are: #2 Glen McGowan (Sr., 6-5, G); # 3 Alex Acker (Jr., 6-5, G); #5 Marvin Lea (So., 6-3, G); #10 Kingsley Costain (Fr., 5-7, G) and #33 Russell Hicks (Fr., 7-0, C).

CHECKING OUT SAINT MARY’S: Saint Mary’s enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed with a 24-7 overall record, 11-3 in WCC play. The Gaels swept both games on the road last week to close out WCC regular-season play. SMC defeated San Francisco, 81-77 in triple overtime on Thursday, Feb. 24 and topped San Diego, 86-83 on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Saint Mary’s returns four starters, nine letterwinners and adds five newcomers to the 2004-05 roster. Now in his fourth season as the head coach of the Gaels, Randy Bennett has a 67-54 career record. Last year’s team went 19-12 overall and finished in second place in the WCC with a 9-5 record.

Three SMC players average double-figure scoring thus far. Paul Marigney leads the Gaels in scoring with 16.7 points and 4.2 boards per game. Daniel Kickert totals 16.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while E.J. Rowland chips in 11.1 points and 3.8 board per game. The Gaels post 70.4 points and 36.3 rebounds per game.

Probable starters for the Gaels are: #14 Daniel Kickert (Jr., 6-10, F); #32 Jonathan Sanders (Sr., 6-7, G); #2 E.J. Rowland (Sr., 6-2, G); #50 Frederic Adjiwanou (Sr., 6-8, F) and #11 Paul Marigney (Sr., 6-3, F).

CHECKING OUT SAN DIEGO: The San Diego Toreros enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 15-12 overall record, 7-7 in WCC play. The Toreros lost 86-83 to the Saint Mary’s Gaels in their final WCC regular season home game on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Three USD players currently average double-figure scoring thus far. Brandon Gay leads the way, totaling 16.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Brice Vounang averages 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while Nick Lewis chips in 12.3 points and 5.0 boards per game. As a team, the Toreros average 76.4 points and 34.3 rebounds per game.

Coach Brad Holland is in his 11th season at the helm of Torero basketball. He posts a 163-149 record with San Diego and a 186-180 career record. Last season the Toreros finished 4-26 overall and 1-13 in WCC play for an eighth place finish. This year, the Toreros return four starters, seven letterwinners and add five newcomers to the 2004-05 roster.

Probable starters for the Toreros are: #5 Brandon Gay (Sr., 6-8, F); #12 Brice Vounang (Sr., 6-8, F/C); #14 Ross DeRogatis (So., 6-1, G); #32 Corey Belser (Jr., 6-6, F) and #42 Nick Lewis (Jr., 6-10, F/C).

CHECKING OUT SANTA CLARA: The Santa Clara Broncos enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed with a 14-15 overall record, 7-7 in WCC play. The Broncos closed out WCC regular-season play on the road with an 87-73 loss at San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 24 and a 73-70 loss at San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Three Bronco players average in double-figures thus far. Doron Perkins leads the way, averaging 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Travis Niesen totals 15.2 points and 4.2 boards per game, while Kyle Bailey adds 14.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. As a team, the Broncos post 75.1 points and 36.7 rebounds per game.

Dick Davey is in his 13th season as the head coach at Santa Clara with a career coaching record of 216-163, which includes three 20-win seasons.

The Broncos return three starters, 10 letterwinners and adds three newcomers to the 2003-04 roster. Last year’s team went 13-15 overall and finished in a tie for sixth place in the WCC with a 4-10 record.

Probable starters for the Broncos are: #30 Doron Perkins (Sr., 6-2, G); #41 Travis Niesen (Jr., 6-7, F); #5 Brody Angley (Fr., 5-11, G); #40 Ethan Rohde (Sr., 6-5, G) and #15 Sean Denison (So., 6-11, C).

THE SERIES: Friday’s match up with San Francisco will mark the 59th meeting between the two schools. The Dons lead the all-time series with Portland, 38-21 going back to the 1954-55 season. Portland is 19-33 vs. the Dons in WCC play. Portland split the 2003-04 season series with the Dons, losing 86-73 on the road on Feb. 14, 2004 and recording a 77-63 win at home on Jan. 17, 2004. Portland is 15-13 at home, 5-24 away and 1-1 at a neutral site vs. USF. Earlier this season on Jan. 22, the Pilots lost a 74-70 heartbreaker to the Dons in overtime at Memorial Gym and dropped a 58-56 heartbreaker to USF at home on Feb. 17.

If Portland faces Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament, it will mark the 141st meeting between the two schools. Gonzaga leads the all-time series with Portland, 76-65 going back to the 1946-47 season. Portland is 14-38 vs. the Zags in WCC play. The Zags swept the 2003-04 season series with a 79-69 win at The Kennel on Feb. 18 and an 80-65 win at the Chiles Center on Jan. 23. The Pilots were the last WCC team to defeat Gonzaga in Spokane, handing the Zags a 72-68 loss during the 2002-03 season. Portland is 35-27 at home, 21-37 away and 2-3 at a neutral site vs. Gonzaga. From 1946-50, Portland posted a 7-9 record vs. Gonzaga, but the game sites are unknown. Earlier this season, the Zags recorded a 91-79 win over the Pilots in Spokane, Wash. and an 84-68 win on Feb. 24 in Portland, Ore.

If Portland faces LMU, it will be the 70th meeting between the two teams. Loyola Marymount leads the all-time series with Portland, 38-32 going back to the 1954-55 season. Portland is 28-32 vs. the Lions in WCC play. Portland swept the 2003-04 season series with the Lions, defeating them 74-59 on Feb. 5, 2004 at home and 77-68 on the road on Jan. 12, 2004. When it came tournament time the Lions claimed an 82-77 victory in the first round of the WCC tournament on Mar. 5, 2004. Portland is 20-14 at home, 10-20 away and 2-4 at a neutral site vs. LMU. The Pilots swept the 2004-05 season series record vs. LMU after a 74-57 victory over the Lions at home on Jan. 16 and a 54-50 win in Los Angeles, Calif. on Feb. 10.

If the Pilots and the Pepperdine Waves meet in the WCC Tourney, it will mark the 70th meeting between the schools. Pepperdine leads the series with Portland, 50-20 going back to the 1953-54 season. Portland is 16-44 vs. the Waves in WCC play. Pepperdine swept the 2003-04 season series with the Pilots and recorded a 71-67 win at the Chiles Center on Feb. 7, 2004 and a 97-88 win in Malibu, Calif. on Jan. 10, 2004. Portland is 13-22 at home, 6-23 away and 1-4 at a neutral site vs. Pepperdine. The Pilots split the 2004-05 season series, 1-1 after an 81-71 victory over the Waves at home on Jan. 13 and a 72-66 loss to the Waves on the road on Feb. 12.

If SMC and Portland meet up in the WCC Tournament, it will mark the 67th meeting between the schools. Saint Mary’s holds a 42-24 advantage overall in the series dating back to 1949-50. Portland is 22-37 vs. the Gaels in WCC play. In their last meeting on Feb. 5, 2005, Portland was edged 73-72 by the Gaels at home. On Jan. 6, 2005 the Pilots dropped a 66-45 decision to the Gaels in Moraga, Calif. Portland is 18-17 at home, 6-24 on the road and 0-1 at a neutral site vs. Saint Mary’s. Saint Mary’s swept the season series last year.

If the Pilots face San Diego, it will mark the 57th meeting between the two schools. San Diego leads the all-time series with Portland, 36-21 going back to the 1964-65 season. Portland is 19-33 vs. the Toreros in WCC play. The Pilots owned last year’s season series vs. the Toreros with an 89-78 win at home on Feb. 28, 2004 and an 84-72 victory on the road on Jan. 31, 2004. Before Portland’s win on Jan. 31, 2004, the Pilots dropped the previous four meetings with the Toreros, but defeated USD, 61-56 on the road during the 2000-01 season. Overall, Portland is 11-17 at home, 9-17 on the road and 1-2 at a neutral site vs. the Toreros. The last time Portland defeated the Toreros at home was with an 89-78 victory on Feb. 28, 2004. Earlier this season on Jan. 20, the Pilots lost a 92-58 decision to USD at Jenny Craig Pavilion and on Feb. 19, Portland dropped an 89-73 decision to the Toreros at home.

If Portland meets up with Santa Clara in the WCC Tournament, it will be the 69th meeting between the two teams. Santa Clara leads the all-time series with Portland, 47-22 going back to the 1946-47 season. Portland is 20-39 vs. the Broncos in WCC play. Most recently, The Pilots defeated the Broncos, 75-62 at home on Feb. 3. Previously, Portland lost a 76-63 decision to the Broncos in Santa Clara, Calif. on Jan. 8. Last year, the Broncos recorded a 2-0 sweep of the series. Portland posted a 0-3 record vs. Santa Clara during the 1946-47 season, but the game sites are unknown. Overall, Portland is 15-17 at home, 6-27 on the road and 1-0 at a neutral site vs. the Broncos.

The Pilots have a 202-324 (.384) all-time series record vs. West Coast Conference opponents.

ALL-WCC HONORS: Junior Pooh Jeter was named to the 2005 honorable-mention all-WCC team, while Marcus Lewis was a 2005 WCC all-Freshman team pick. It is Jeter’s second all-WCC award of his career, in 2004 he was a first-team pick.

INJURY REPORT: Junior Darren Cooper went down with a shoulder injury in practice on Tuesday, Feb. 22. Cooper’s status for this week’s WCC Tournament is listed as day-to-day. Dreshawn Vance missed the last two games with a lower leg injury, but will return to the line up for the tournament.

Here is the link to Portland U. hoops forum if you want to know what the students have to say.

http://www.oregonlive.com/forums/pi....ssf?artid=2988

**james1961** · 03-04-2005, 09:44 PM

Thanks and Good Luck :bestwishe

**ASI Inc.** · 03-04-2005, 09:54 PM

Thanks James

**ASI Inc.** · 03-05-2005, 07:08 AM

winner 65-60

San Francisco -3	100.00%	2 votes
Portland +3	0.00%	0 votes

Announcement

ASI Inc. 3* Portland at San Francisco

ASI Inc. 3* Portland at San Francisco

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