When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 17, 2018
Where: Chiles Center, Portland, Oregon
Matchup Edge
SMC Edge in: PORT
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Preview: Saint Mary's at Portland
Gracenote
Feb 16, 2018

No. 15 Saint Mary's is sliding in the wrong direction after a school-record 19-game winning streak and aims to turn things around when it visits Portland on Saturday in West Coast Conference play. The Gaels have dropped back-to-back games to fall out of first place and stand one game behind Gonzaga.

Saint Mary's was rolling before being outclassed by Gonzaga on Saturday and then it suffered a costly 70-63 setback against San Francisco on Thursday to fall into second place in the WCC. "It just felt like we lost a bit of rhythm both offensively and defensively," senior point guard Emmett Naar said of the stunning loss to the Dons. "We want to be able to separate and you do that by getting two, three stops in a row, but it felt like we could never do that. We might get one and then they'd score." That marked the first road loss of the season - after nine victories - for the Gaels and they now face a Portland squad that they beat 72-55 on Jan. 27. The Pilots have dropped their past three contests, including Thursday's 81-72 home loss to Santa Clara.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, ROOT, Spectrum SportsNet, NBCS Bay Area (Saint Mary's)

ABOUT SAINT MARY'S (24-4, 13-2 WCC): Senior center Jock Landale is averaging 21.9 points and 10.5 rebounds and is just the fifth player in program history to have at least 1,500 points and 700 rebounds in his career. Naar, who averages 10.6 points, ranks second nationally with 8.7 assists per game and last week passed current NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova (768 from 2009-13) for most career assists in school history. Junior forward Evan Fitzner (5.2 points per game) was surprisingly good with a season-best 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting against the Dons to reach double digits for just the fifth time this season.

ABOUT PORTLAND (10-18, 4-11): Senior guard D'Marques Tyson is averaging 8.6 points off the bench and shooting a WCC-leading 47.7 percent from 3-point range. Tyson needs 18 points to become the 40th player in Pilots' history to reach 1,000 career points and ranks second in school history with 245 career 3-pointers. Senior center Philipp Hartwich has set the school single-season record with 68 blocked shots while freshman guard Marcus Shaver Jr. (11.8 points) and sophomore forward Josh McSwiggan (11.2, team-best 61 3-pointers) are the team's lone double-digit scorers.

TIP-INS

1. Saint Mary's has won 15 of the past 16 meetings.

2. The Pilots are last in the WCC in free-throw percentage (67.2), primarily due to Hartwich's troubles (25-of-87, 28.7 percent).

3. Gaels senior F Calvin Hermanson, who averages 10.9 points, ranks second in the WCC behind Tyson with a 44.6 3-point shooting percentage.

PREDICTION: Saint Mary's 79, Portland 71