Game #9: Denver (6-2) vs. Portland (5-3)

Saturday, December 12, 2009 • 2 p.m. MT

Chiles Center (4,852) • Portland, Ore.

           TV: None • Radio: AM 950 • Web: www.DenverPioneers.com (Audio only)

About Denver: The Pioneers enter Saturday’s game following an 89-82 victory over 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Cal State Northridge on Dec. 8, DU’s sixth win in the past seven games. Denver returns nine players, including all five starters, and 98 percent of its scoring and rebounding from last year. DU was picked second in the Sun Belt West Division in the annual coaches’ preseason poll, and senior captain and guard Nate Rohnert was named to the Preseason All-SBC First Team.  

About Portland: The Pilots jumped into the Top 25 on Nov. 30, the first time UP had been ranked in 50 years. However, Portland has dropped its last three games, including a 20-point loss at Idaho on Dec. 6. Among their five wins, the Pilots have knocked off No. 16 Minnesota and beat UCLA by 27 points on Thanksgiving night. Portland was predicted by various national publications to compete with Gonzaga for the West Coast Conference title this season, and it was picked second in the WCC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Seniors Nik Raivio and T.J. Campbell both were named Preseason All-WCC, and they are leading the Pilots with 15.1 and 15.0 points per game, respectively. Portland returns all five starters and 12 of 13 letterwinners from last year’s team, which finished 19-13 overall and was third in the WCC.  The Pilots also welcome two newcomers to their squad.

The Match-up: Denver holds a 6-5 advantage in the all-time series, but the Pilots won the past three meetings. The Pioneers are 1-4 in Portland, the last of which was in 1997, when DU’s Adam McCanna set the Chiles Center record with eight blocked shots. 

Seeing Double: Five Pioneers scored in double digits in DU’s win over Cal State Northridge on Dec. 8, marking the first time Denver had five players with at least 10 points since Feb. 10, 2008.

Back to the 80s: Denver’s 89 points against Cal State Northridge on Dec. 8 were the most by a team coached by Joe Scott. In fact, entering this season Scott-led teams had scored 80 or more points only six times and just once since 2004 (80 - DU vs. Troy on Feb. 7, 2008). The Pioneers have done so three times in the first eight games this season: 80 vs. Wyoming (11/24), 83 at South Dakota State (11/28) and vs. CSU Northridge (12/8). Scott has never lost when his team scored 80 points.

For Starters: The Pioneers’ 6-2 record to open the season is the team’s best since starting 7-0 in 1996-97.

Shooting Stars: Denver shot 59.1 percent (26-of-44) from the field against Cal State Northridge on Dec. 8, after which the Pioneers moved into third in the nation with a 52.3 field goal percentage. Only Syracuse (55.7 percent) and Ohio State (52.5) had a higher percentage from the floor. The Pioneers are also ranked 12th in the nation with a 43.8 three-point field goal percentage. Although no DU player qualifies for the minimum in either individual category, Tyler Thalken (71.4), Travis Hallam (63.6), Chase Hallam (62.8), Sabatino Chen (61.1), Rob Lewis (55.0), Nate Rohnert (53.6) and Andrew Hooper (53.3 percent) all are shooting better than 50 percent from the floor.

O Captain! My Captain!: Nate Rohnert needs just 14 points to reach 1,000 in his career. The senior captain also is seventh on DU’s all-time career list with 284 and sits 17 assists shy of sixth place. Rohnert also has 284 career free throw made, ninth on DU’s all-time list and 10 shy of Dick Brott for seventh, and he is 10th with 400 free throw attempts. The Parker, Colo., native has career totals of 406 rebounds, 278 assists and 97 steals in 96 games at Denver.

Be the Three: Junior forward Andrew Hooper hit his 77th career three- pointer on Tuesday, leaving him just five shy of 10th place on DU’s all-time list. However, teammates Kyle Lewis and Brian Stafford are right on Hooper’s heels with 73 and 72 career three-pointers, respectively. Hooper, who went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc in the last two games, is shooting 52.9 percent (18-of-34) from three-point range this season, increasing his career total to 47.9 percent.