Portland (6-10, 0-7) vs. Saint Mary’s (11-5, 2-3)
University Credit Union Pavilion, Moraga, California; Thursday, 11 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Saint Mary’s looks for its 10th straight win in the head-to-head series over Portland. In its last nine wins against the Pilots, Saint Mary’s has won by an average of 18 points. Portland’s last win in the series came on March 7, 2015, a 69-52 victory.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: Tommy Kuhse has averaged 14.3 points and 5.4 assists to lead the charge for the Gaels. Matthias Tass is also a primary contributor, maintaining an average of 10.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Pilots are led by Eddie Davis, who is averaging 11.4 points and 4.8 rebounds.
CREATING OFFENSE: Logan Johnson has had his hand in 42 percent of all Saint Mary’s field goals over the last three games. Johnson has 17 field goals and 12 assists in those games.
COMING UP SHORT: Portland has dropped its last five road games, scoring 61 points and allowing 85.4 points during those contests. Saint Mary’s has lost its last three home games, scoring an average of 58.3 points while giving up 67.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Pilots have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Gaels. Saint Mary’s has 35 assists on 69 field goals (50.7 percent) across its past three outings while Portland has assists on 39 of 69 field goals (56.5 percent) during its past three games.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: The tough Saint Mary’s defense has held opponents to 61.9 points per game, the 20th-lowest mark in Division I. Portland has allowed an average of 80.8 points through 16 games (ranking the Pilots 290th).
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