By Ben Arthur |
The Bluff is welcoming back members of its 1995-96 Portland men’s basketball team to mark the 20-year anniversary of the Pilots last NCAA tournament appearance, but the current team will have their hands full with BYU. The Cougars have a great chance of making the 2016 edition come this March.
The Cougars are coming off of a one-point road win against No. 25 Gonzaga and will be riding high in confidence to face the struggling Pilots at the Chiles Center on Saturday afternoon.
There are many questions on the offensive side of the ball for Portland. After starting conference play with a pair of wins at home, the Pilots have dropped four straight. Their ‘bread-and-butter’ has been the 3-pointer, ranked 22nd nationally in shots made behind-the-arc going into this week.
The Pilots have shot just four of 20 from deep in each of their last two games.
The Pilots’ dynamic backcourt of Alec Wintering and Bryce Pressley have held up their end, but the supporting cast will need to step up to help on the scoreboard. Wintering and Pressley have been Portland’s offense in conference so far this season with averages of 23 and 18 points per game, respectively, in the last six games.
Kyle Collinsworth, Nick Emery and Chase Fischer all pour in at least 14 points per contest for BYU at the guard position. Another guard or wing will have to step up for the Pilots to keep up with the Cougars’ fire power.
The key for Portland, however, lies in consistent defensive effort. The Pilots have given up a 51.5 percent shooting average in their four-game skid. That is the recipe for a blow out led by Collinsworth, the reigning WCC Player of the Week. The ‘Do-It-All’ guard is averaging 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per contest on the season. Portland will need to be dialed-in and communicating with each other to make sure the Cougars don’t establish early rhythm.
The one WCC team that has managed to beat BYU thus far, St. Mary’s, did just that: defend. They held the Cougars to 28 percent shooting in the first half on their way to an 84-75 win.
So forget about the San Diego loss. Forget about the 3-pointers that haven’t dropped in the last few games. Play hard for 40 minutes, and a win is possible.
No better way to honor the last Pilot team to get to the NCAA tournament than by beating a team that will most likely be ‘dancing’ come spring time. Ben Arthur is a Sports Reporter for the Beacon. He can be reached by email at arthur17@up.edu or on Twitter @King_Arthur425
