HOME SWEET HOME: It has been 28 days since Seattle University last played on Elgin Baylor Court. Saturday night, the Redhawks return to KeyArena to face the University of Portland beginning at 7:10 p.m. in a game to be broadcast on 710 ESPN Seattle (Dave Grosby and Gary Hill, Jr.) and FSN Northwest (Tom Glasgow, Francis Williams, and Jen Mueller). This is the renewal of the longest-running rivalry in Seattle U history, as it will face Portland for the 103rd time. This is the first time these two teams have faced off in Seattle since the 1979-80 season, a 72-66 victory for Seattle U at the old Seattle Arena. Seattle U will play four of its next five games at home.
THE LOYOLA MARYMOUNT GAME: Despite battling all night, Seattle University could never recover from an early deficit, as Loyola Marymount defeated the Redhawks, 81-64, Monday night at Gersten Pavilion. Aaron Broussard led the way for Seattle U with 22 points and six rebounds, with Sterling Carter contributing 17 points and three rebounds. Alex Jones finished with nine points, but had a rough night in the shooting department, and fellow senior Garrett Lever collected six points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Loyola Marymount jumped out to a 13-2 lead four-and-a-half minutes into the game and never looked back. With a 7-0 run, Seattle U came within six at 32-26 thanks to Carter making all three free throws after being fouled with 3:16 left in the first half, but the Lions scored the final six points of the half to take a 38-26 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Redhawks could only get as close as seven points behind early in the second half before Loyola Marymount pulled away. The Lions shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the second half, while Seattle U shot only 36.4 percent (12-of-33) from the field after halftime.
#32: The number 32 of Seattle U Athletic Hall of Famer Tom Workman will be retired at halftime of Saturday's game against Portland at KeyArena. Workman played for Seattle U from 1964 to 1967, scoring 1,497 career points for a 19.2 ppg scoring average. His number will be the sixth retired by Seattle U, joining Elgin Baylor (#22), Eddie Miles (#20), Ed O'Brien (#3), John O'Brien (#4), and Clint Richardson (#44).
SCOUTING PORTLAND: The Pilots come into Saturday's game with a 16-7 overall record after losing to Gonzaga, 67-64, Thursday night. Portland is 4-5 away from home, including an 84-68 loss to Washington State at KeyArena on Nov. 23. The Pilots are scoring 71.7 points per game and giving up 68.7 points per contest. As a team, Portland is shooting 46.3 percent from the field, including 42.8 percent from behind the three-point line, and 74.8 percent from the free throw line. One of the better shooting teams in Division I, the Pilots are third in the country in three-point field goal percentage, 21st in free throw percentage, and 62nd in overall field goal percentage. Jared Stohl leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game. He is shooting 45.5 percent from behind the three-point line and 89.7 percent from the free throw line. Luke Sikma is contributing 13.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, while Nemanja Mitrovic is scoring 12.9 points per contest.
SEATTLE U VS. PORTLAND: Seattle University has faced the University of Portland more than any other school during its history, with Saturday's game being the 103rd meeting between the two schools. The first meeting took place during the 1946-47 season, a 59-55 victory for Seattle University. From 1947 to 1962, the two schools faced each other four times per season, twice in Seattle and twice in Portland. They still faced each other twice per season from the 1962-63 campaign through 1979-80, Seattle University's last year of its first Division I era. The 100th meeting took place during the 2005-06 season, with Division II Seattle University upsetting Portland at the Chiles Center, 88-85. Seattle U holds a 73-29 series lead over Portland.
LAST MEETING: Despite a 30-point effort from Charles Garcia, Seattle U fell victim to a second-half run by Portland as the Pilots earned a 98-81 victory Nov. 17, 2009, at the Chiles Center. The two teams basically traded baskets for the first seven minutes of the second half, with back-to-back baskets by Aaron Broussard and Garrett Lever giving Seattle U a 60-59 lead. Portland struck back with a 17-4 run, highlighted by a three-pointer by Jared Stohl and four points each from Robin Smeulders and Ethan Niedermeyer. Seattle University used defensive pressure to start an 8-1 run, punctuated by a three-pointer from Chris Gweth, to cut the Pilot lead to five at 77-72. The Redhawks had a chance to move closer, but Garcia could not convert on a layup, and Portland took advantage with a three-pointer by Stohl, two free throws by T.J. Campbell, and a basket by Nik Raivio to ice the game.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS: Since returning to Seattle Center Jan. 1, 2009, with a 49-39 victory over Loyola Marymount, Seattle University is 16-5 at KeyArena. The Redhawks finished the 2009-10 season with a 10-3 home record and has compiled a 5-2 record at the Key so far in 2010-11.
THE LEADER OF THE REDHAWKS: Cameron Dollar is in his second year as the head coach of the Seattle University men's basketball team. After leading the team to a 17-14 record in 2009-10, he was named Independent Coach of the Year. He did not need to leave the city of Seattle to accept this position, as he had been an assistant coach at the University of Washington under Lorenzo Romar for seven seasons. In 2008-09, the Huskies won their first outright Pac-10 regular season title since 1953. Dollar also was instrumental in helping Washington reach the Sweet 16 in both 2005 and 2006. Dollar joined Romar at Saint Louis in 1999, helping the Bilikens win the Conference USA tournament championship in 2000. After spending one season as an assistant for Pat Douglass at UC Irvine, Dollar became the nation's youngest head coach in 1998, taking over the program at Southern California College (now Vanguard University), where he went 11-22 in one season. As a player, Dollar helped UCLA win the 1995 NCAA Championship at the Kingdome in Seattle.
BRACKETBUSTERS: This past Monday, Seattle University found out that it would be facing Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 19, as part of the ESPNU BracketBuster series of games. In September, it was announced that Seattle U would be one of 114 teams to participate in one of the BracketBuster games, a concept which provides programs with an opportunity to play non-conference opponents late in the regular season. Seattle U was one of the 57 designated visiting teams and was matched up with Northern Illinois, a designated home team in the process. Northern Illinois is currently 7-13 overall, including 3-5 in Mid-American Conference play. The Huskies are led by senior guard Xavier Silas, a transfer from the University of Colorado who is averaging 24.2 points per game, currently second in the country in scoring average. This will be the first meeting all-time between Seattle U and Northern Illinois and the eighth game Seattle U will play against a current member of the Mid-American Conference. Game time is set for 3 p.m. Central time, and it will be broadcast on 710 ESPN Seattle with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill, Jr.