Kentucky takes on the University of Portland at noon on Saturday, and will attempt to extend their win streak to two. I'm sure a lot of you are like me, and don't know too much about Protland. So let's look at the history of the Pilots.
Established: 1901
Nickname: Pilots
Colors: Purple/White
Conference: West Coast Conference
First basketball game: 1922
Weeks in the AP top 25: 3
All-Time record: 1,045-1,156 (.478)
Record against Kentucky: 0-3
NCAA Tournament apperarcenes: 2 (1959 & 1996)
Notable Alumni: Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat head coach)
The most impressive thing about the University of Portland has absolutely nothing to do with their basketball team. Their Men's Cross Country team won 31 consecutive West Coast Conference Championships, with that coming to an end last season. That is the most impressive stat (also the reason for the picture above) regardless of sport I've ever heard of, and deserves mentioning. Thank God we're not playing that team Saturday.
Now let's take a look at Portland by the numbers.
PPG: 63
RPG: 34
APG: 14
SPG: 6
BPG: 4
TPG: 15
FG%: .428
FT%: 68%
3P%: .313
So as you can see they are not a very dangerous team, but should still be taken seriously by the Cats. Truth be told, Kentucky should win this one by 30-35 points Saturday without breaking a sweat. What I will be looking for is improvement in rebounding, limiting defensive breakdowns, shot selection, and most importantly point guard play. Kentucky can use these next few games to build players confidence, and work out whatever issues or problems they may have. They better hurry though, Louisville is just around the corner, and dare I say, so is Marshall. I can handle losing to Louisville, that's no problem. But a loss to Marshall, let's just hope we don't have to worry about that.
BPG: 4
TPG: 15
FG%: .428
FT%: 68%
3P%: .313
So as you can see they are not a very dangerous team, but should still be taken seriously by the Cats. Truth be told, Kentucky should win this one by 30-35 points Saturday without breaking a sweat. What I will be looking for is improvement in rebounding, limiting defensive breakdowns, shot selection, and most importantly point guard play. Kentucky can use these next few games to build players confidence, and work out whatever issues or problems they may have. They better hurry though, Louisville is just around the corner, and dare I say, so is Marshall. I can handle losing to Louisville, that's no problem. But a loss to Marshall, let's just hope we don't have to worry about that.
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