GAME NOTES: The Pilots of the University of Portland shoot for just their second win of the new calendar year tonight, as they host the San Diego Toreros in a West Coast Conference showdown at the Chiles Center. On Saturday night, the Pilots allowed San Francisco and head coach Eddie Sutton to snap a lengthy road losing streak with a 60-59 win in this building. The loss was the second in a row for Portland and the fourth in five games overall, the lone win coming against a slumping Pepperdine group on the road. As for the Toreros, they were squeezed by conference-leading Gonzaga two nights ago in an 80-70 outing in Spokane. The setback was the third in four games for San Diego, a team that is currently just 2-5 on the road in 2007-08. San Diego leads the all-time series with the Pilots by a count of 39-22, winning the most recent affair at home a season ago, 82-76.

Turning the ball over 18 times and shooting just 11-of-18 at the free-throw line was enough to doom the Toreros in their loss to Gonzaga two nights ago. Nevertheless, Brandon Johnson tried to keep San Diego in contention with a game-high 26 points and seven steals, while De'Jon Jackson added 15 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting effort from behind the arc. Gyno Pomare contributed eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Johnson has boosted his scoring output to 17.3 ppg, shooting just under 40 percent from three-point range. He also leads the team with 55 assists and 39 steals and is clearing better than three and a half rebounds per game to try and give the squad a lift in the paint as well. Pomare chips in with 14.4 ppg and a team-high 7.5 rpg, but teammates know that once the ball gets into his hands the chances of ever seeing it again are slim, considering he has just 12 assists over the course of 19 games.

Down by as many as 11 points in the first half, the Pilots refused to give up and battled back following the break, but in the end it was a couple of free throws by USF that doomed the home team. Sherrard Watson tossed in a team-high 15 points in 24 minutes of work for the Pilots, followed by Luke Sikma with 10 points and six rebounds, but with just 24 boards overall Portland didn't stand a chance. Shooting just 4-of-21 behind the three-point line didn't help matters either. Watson, the top scorer in three of the last four games for the Pilots, is second on the team with his 11.6 ppg, trailing only Nik Raivio and his 12.9 ppg. Backup Robin Smeulders accounts for 10.1 ppg, but his 22.7 percent shooting behind the three-point line as well as his feeble eight assists over 18 games does little to impress opponents.

As long as Johnson can continue to knock down shots for the Toreros and Pomare is there to clean up the misses, the visitors should have a decent chance at logging a rare road win tonight.