Zags look to right ship when they face Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. – Not much was expected from the University of Portland men’s basketball team this winter.

And so far, the Pilots (6-14 overall, 2-2 in the West Coast Conference) have lived up – or down, depending on one’s preference – to those modest preseason expectations.

That might, indeed, sound like faint praise. But there is much more to consider about Portland than its lackluster record under first-year head coach Eric Reveno, a former assistant at Stanford, who has been forced to deal with a steady stream of personnel problems since taking over on The Bluff.

Darren Cooper, a sixth-year senior guard and UP’s leading returning scorer, has missed nine games with an assortment of injuries ranging from knee problems to a strained hamstring, and is listed as questionable for tonight’s WCC game against Gonzaga (12-7, 3-1) in the Chiles Center because of turf toe.

In addition, freshman point guard Taishi Ito has missed seven games while dealing with family health problems; two promising sophomores, point guard Brian McTear and forward Alex Tiefenthaler, have left the team because of academic and disciplinary issues, and freshman forward Robin Smeulders has been ruled ineligible for the 2006-07 season because of his previous association with a German club team that reportedly compensated some of its players with money.

All of which leaves the Pilots dreadfully short of able bodies heading into tonight’s nationally televised matchup (on ESPN) against a Gonzaga team that is still looking to establish an identity, particularly on the road, where the Bulldogs are 1-3.

Still, GU coach Mark Few is well aware of the dangers that await in another sold-out, hostile arena where Portland has posted all six of its wins.

“They’ve held serve at home pretty good,” Few said, in reference to UP’s 6-3 record in the Chiles Center. “And, again, we’ll probably see a crowd – and an effort – that we haven’t seen out of them all year.

“You can watch tape on them all you want, but you’re going to see a different animal when we get in there.”

Few also suggested the Pilots’ record is a bit deceiving, considering the prolonged absences of Cooper, a returning WCC honorable mention selection, who is averaging a team-high 12.2 points per game since overcoming his early season health problems, and Ito, a bug-quick perimeter sniper, who is averaging 5.2 points and 3.2 assists despite making only five starts.

“They just got Cooper back, and he’s their best guy,” Few said, noting the 6-foot-3 Portland native, who started his college career at Eastern Washington University and scored a career-high 28 points in an 81-65 rout of WCC rival Loyola Marymount earlier this month.

“They went through most of those (losses) without him. And their point guard took off for a while, too, but now he’s back.”

The Pilots also have a pair of senior wide bodies available on the low blocks in Ben Sullivan, a 6-10, 245-pounder, and Kevin Fields, a 6-11, 265-pounder, who are averaging a combined 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds. And their second-best overall player might be Jamie Jones, a 6-7 sophomore forward, who is averaging 10.4 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds.

Gonzaga will counter with a three-guard look featuring senior Derek Raivio, the WCC’s top scorer with an average of 19.3 points per game, and sophomore Jeremy Pargo, who is averaging 12.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

The Bulldogs are coming off an 80-75 road loss to Saint Mary’s, but have won six straight and 20 of their last 21 games against Portland.