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USF Men's Basketball - Portland Game Advance
Feb. 24, 2010
By Stacy Hicklin
USF Beat Writer
SAN FRANCISCO -- The University of San Francisco men's basketball has a critical, yet extremely challenging weekend ahead.
USF (12-15) travels first to Portland (17-9, 8-4) for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday, Feb. 25 at the Chiles Center. The game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet California.
"We challenged our guys this week to be able to beat teams that play tough and together," USF coach Rex Walters said. "A team like Portland, along with St. Mary's and Santa Clara, that is really together, doesn't beat itself, has good 3-point shooting and solid post play."
End of the season momentum and win totals aren't the only things up for grabs this weekend. All eight West Coast Conference teams still have two games to play with no team having secured its tournament seed -- not even league-leading Gonzaga.
USF (7-5) sits in fourth place, but Loyola Marymount (6-6) is lurking just one game behind in fifth place.
If Loyola Marymount wins at both San Diego and Saint Mary's and USF loses twice this weekend, the Lions would overtake the Dons for the fourth seed in the WCC Tournament. One win from the Lions wouldn't be enough because the Dons own the tiebreaker having won twice against Loyola Marymount this season.
Jumping up to the third seed is also a possibility for USF, but it would have to either win both games this weekend or beat Portland (8-4) along with Santa Clara beating the Pilots as well.
Portland is 10-2 at home this season, having lost to Gonzaga and Portland State by three points and four points, respectively.
The Pilots are coming off 77-68 overtime loss to Loyola Marymount.
"LMU is really talented and they've shown that when they're running on all cylinders, they can beat anyone in this league," Walters said.
Portland has won three straight against USF, including the most recent meeting that went the Pilots' way 74-58.
The Pilots scored 22 points off the Dons' 18 turnovers in that game and USF scored just 12 points in the final 11 minutes of the contest. Jared Stohl leads the WCC in made 3-pointers and the junior guard scored 22 points, including nailing six shots from behind the arc, against USF in January.
"They did a good job defensively [on us last time] and got through a lot of ball screens," Walters said.
PORTLAND PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 2/21/10)
G. #20 Jared Stohl, 6-1, 165, Jr. (11.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G. #44 T.J. Campbell, 5-9, 190, Sr. (13.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 5.5 apg)
C. #45 Kramer Knutson, 6-9, 220, Jr. (5.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)
F. #3 Ethan Niedermeyer, 6-6, 200, Sr. (6.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)
F. #12 Robin Smeulders, 6-10, 230, Sr. (12.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.3 apg)
LAST THREE MEETINGS: Portland 74, at USF 58 (1/28/10); Portland 72, at USF 67 (2/13/09); at Portland 78, USF 60 (1/15/09)
SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USF leads 52-24/Portland won 3
ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB:
Television: Comcast SportsNet California
Television Talent: Scott Lynn & Dustin Geddis
Radio Broadcast: Green 960 - Pat Olson
Internet Audio: Yes - USFDons.com (Yahoo Broadcast)
Live Stats: Yes
Official Website: PortlandPilots.com
UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: After tackling Portland Thursday, USF closes the 2010 regular season when it heads to Spokane to face defending West Coast Conference Champion No. 13 Gonzaga on Saturday. Game time is set for 5:00 PM at the McCarthey Athletic Center in a game televised live in the Pacific Northwest by Fox Sports Northwest (no Bay Area coverage). The Dons won the first meeting this season, dispatching the No. 13/8 Bulldogs 81-77 (1/30/10).
