By Jeff Trousdale
Three seasons ago, men's basketball Head Coach Eric Reveno was brought in to resuscitate a struggling program known as one of the doormats of the WCC. Two seasons ago, UP struggled in losses against teams such as Oregon State and finished with only nine victories, and last season the Pilots lost their opening exhibition game against Division II Western Oregon and went on to finish seventh of eight in the WCC. But as Bob Dylan once sang "The times they are a changing."
Portland opened their season on Friday with a stunning 80-74 victory over perennial Pac-10 powerhouse University of Washington, causing the students to rush the floor in a scene that Pilots hope will become familiar. Was it the biggest win of Reveno's time here so far?
"Yeah, I think so," Reveno said. "It's hard to say because it's the beginning of the season and we have so much work to do from here."
The Pilots' season opener was a rough and tumble affair, especially against the Huskies' Jon Brockman, a bruising center/forward and pre-season All-American. Brockman scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 14 boards in the game, but UP was able to counter with size of their own, as their trio of towers, junior Robin Smeulders, sophomore Kramer Knutson and sophomore Luke Sikma combined for 34 points of their own, led by Smeulders' team high of 20 points. Junior guard Nik Raivio also chipped in 19 points of his own.
"He's All-American, really strong, really quick," Smeulders said of Brockman. "But he wasn't good enough because we won."
According to Reveno, Brockman was the focal point for the Pilots' defense, a strategy that made sense with only two other Huskies scoring in double figures.
"He's a beast and you've got to guard him with more than one guy," Reveno said. "We switched to a zone at halftime and that seemed to work pretty well."
The game was tied at 7-7 just a few minutes into the first half when junior T.J. Campbell and junior Ethan Niedermeyer hit back-to-back threes to put the Pilots up 13-7, followed by two free throws by Raivio after a Huskies turnover.
Washington turned the ball over five times before they were able to score again in the half, and the Pilots were able to maintain a comfortable lead, up by as much 12, until 8:51 left in the half when Brockman scored his first basket of the game and led the Huskies on a 20-7 run. The Pilots were able to respond though and left the half clinging to a 37-34 lead.
The second half began with the same back and forth scoring that had ended the first half, but the Pilots took a 49-39 lead with 16 minutes to go when they went on an 8-1 run, capped by a three from Smeulders that sent an already electrified crowd into hysteria.
The Huskies, led by Brockman, stormed back over the next 10 minutes and took a 64-60 lead with 6:43 remaining when Elston Turner was fouled on a fast break after stripping Sikma of the ball.
The Pilots remained down until Smeulders made a shot inside with 3:41 remaining and was fouled in the process. He made his free throw to put the Pilots up 67-66. Niedermeyer hit another three on the following possession and the Pilots were able to hang on from there.
UP was aided in part by Brockman, who missed three free throws in the closing minutes. Some of his frustration appeared to come out with 00:58 left in the game when Brockman shoved Smeulders to the ground in the midst of a scrum for a loose ball. Smeulders and Brockman were both assessed technical fouls, it was Smeulders' second of the game
Reveno said that he was proud of the way his team played, and he credited the hard work they had put in during the offseason for the victory.
"I thought we had a chance to win, but I didn't want to burden the players with that," Reveno said.
According to Smeulders, winning their season opener was the only thing that had been on his team's mind for the last few months.
"We've been waiting for this since the end of last season," Smeulders said. "We were working, working, working, and now we pulled it off."
The Pilots' next home game will be Friday against Yale at 7 p.m.
