Portland looks to muster energy to face San Diego

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Jan 11, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Toreros guard

Johnny Dee

(1) celebrates after a basket by guard

Chris Sarbaugh

(5) during the first half against the Pepperdine Waves at Jenny Craig Pavillion. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Portland Pilots (12-8, 4-4) vs. San Diego Toreros (11-10, 2-6)

Date: Saturday, January 25, 2014

Location: Chiles Center, Portland, OR

Time: 1:00 PM PST

TV: TWC SN, CSN CA, ROOT Sports NW/RM

Video: TheW.tv

LiveStats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=port

Last Season: San Diego won 61-50 at home,  and Portland won 70-67 at home.

PROJECTED STARTERS 

Portland

Alec Wintering, 7.8 PPG, 4.1 APG

Bryce Pressley, 7.9 PPG, 3.5 APG

Kevin Bailey, 17.1 PPG

Ryan Nicholas, 12.9 PPG, 9.1 RPG

Thomas van der Mars, 13.1 PPG, 7.2 RPG

San Diego

Christopher Anderson , 10.4 PPG, 5.7 APG

Johnny Dee, 17.0 PPG

Duda Sanadze, 12.9 PPG

Jito Kok, 4.5 PPG, 1.5 BPG

Dennis Kramer, 11.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG

LIVESTREAM (Subject to blackout) *brought to you by thew.tv:

KEYS TO THE GAME

Portland

Contain Dee: Bryce Pressley has the size to guard Dee, but Johnny Dee has shown in his three years donning a Toreros uniform that he doesn’t mind going up against bigger shooting guards.  If Pressley cannot contain Dee, expect defensive specialist Korey Thieleke to come off the bench to try to fluster Dee.  Whoever it is someone has to contain Johnny Dee, who scored 26 points on 8/10 shooting against Gonzaga.

San Diego

Scoring help outside the big 4: A problem all season.  Mike Davis was supposed to be the go-to scorer off the bench but he has missed all of this season with an injury. Chris Sarbaugh showed flashes against Gonzaga, but maybe that was just because he was hyped up to play his former team.  When guys like Anderson and Sandaze have to take bad shots, it is often because there aren’t many other scoring options available.

KEY MATCHUP

Johnny Dee vs. Bobby Sharp:  Both players are coming into this game on fire.  Bobby Sharp was 8/13 from beyond the arc against BYU, while Dee has gone 7/11 from beyond the arc in the last two games.  The better shooter in Saturday’s game will open up opportunities inside for their team’s players, and allow the offense to become much more spread out.

PREDICTION

San Diego played really good defense against Gonzaga, but they will need another good effort against the Pilots, who score 79 points per game as a team.  For Portland, the only issue coming off their triple overtime win against BYU is tired legs.  But the Pilots can go 10 deep, and they’ll have enough energy to muster out a 70-62 victory over the Toreros.