Portland Preview
Pilots improving down the stretch
After a 2-8 start in WCC play that included only home wins vs. San Diego and our Tigers in OT, the Pilots (10-18, 5-10 in WCC) have turned it around, winning of three of their last five games. Included in that stretch are recent impressive home wins against Oregon State and Loyola Marymount. That said, Portland is just 1-6 on the road in WCC play, coming off a 79-66 loss at Saint Mary’s on Wednesday night, in a game that the Pilots trailed by double digits for virtually the entire second half and by as many as 20 later in the game.
6’3” JR guard Max Mackinnon averages 14.0 ppg/3.1 apg and shoots over 90% from the foul line in WCC league play - he had 29 including 4-6 from three vs. LMU and previously exploded for 43 including 7-9 from three vs. San Diego. He was held to 13 but did have 8 assists in the loss at Saint Mary’s.
Fellow Aussie 6’10” FR Austin Rapp checks in at 13.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg, playing a team-high 32.2 mpg. Rapp averages almost three 3 point makes per game while shooting 36.4% from beyond the arc and is also a decent rim protector. Rapp, who was held to just 8 points on 3-10 shooting vs. Saint Mary’s is likely to be considered as one of the favorites for WCC Freshman of the Year. The Gaels held Portland’s pair of Aussie’s to a combined 8-22 field goals and just 2 of 6 from three.
6’5” SR Vukasin Masic leads the Pilots in assists at 3.2 and had a solid game vs. the Gaels, flirting with a triple-double (15 / 8 / 7) as Saint Mary’s picked their poison defensively. 6’4” SR guard Chris Austin has logged major minutes lately - logging 32+ minutes in each of the past six games - as the Pilots have shortened their bench into the home stretch. Austin had 20 in win over Pepperdine and in the past two games has played 79 of 80 minutes for the Pilots.
The fifth starter is another Aussie, 6’11” Bol Dengdit, who torched Pacific in the first meeting in Portland for 21 points and 13 rebounds, essentially the difference maker inside down the stretch of that game. In the nine games since lighting up the Tigers, the sophomore has only scored in double digits once (11 points vs. Oregon State).
Off the bench when Portland wants to play smaller comes 6’2” RS FR Vincent Delano but his minutes have been cut recently, especially in the preceding two games (just 16 minutes combined vs. LMU and Saint Mary’s). 7’1” JR Jermaine Ballisager Webb (Denmark) has been in and out of the Pilots lineup but did get 10 minutes vs. Saint Mary’s. 6’5” freshman Mikah Ballew has also seen his minutes dwindle, especially in the past three games (8 minutes total) but he was impactful last time against Pacific with 13 points in 26 minutes including 2-5 threes. Ballew has made only one three since that game.
Recall in their first meeting, Pacific blew one of their more winnable games this season, giving up a second half 8-point lead aided by some questionable whistles if memory serves - especially in the OT to fall 84-81 in Portland. 6’4” Lamar Washington had a season-high (vs. NCAA Division I opponents) 12 assists in that game and is on the verge of setting a program record for assists in a season. Lamar is currently at 174 with the program record at 178 set by Leonard Armato in 1973-74.
If my math and understanding of the WCC seeding method is correct, a Pacific win today by 4 or more gives our Tigers the tiebreaker with Portland. That said, the Pilots have games at home against Pepperdine and then at San Diego to finish the season while after today, the Tigers (4-12 in WCC play) only have a home date against Santa Clara next Saturday remaining on the schedule.
Today’s game begins at 4 PM Pacific / 7 PM Eastern time, the penultimate home game on the Tigers schedule.