Monday, March 3rd, 10:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Chiles Center (5,000) -- Portland, Oregon. Television: None. Home Record: Saint Mary's 15-1, Portland 5-7. Away Record: Saint Mary's 5-4, Portland 2-12. Neutral Record: Saint Mary's 4-0, Portland 2-1. Conference Record: Saint Mary's 11-2, Portland 3-10. Series Record: Saint Mary's-CA leads, 46-26.

GAME NOTES: The Saint Mary's Gaels will attempt to complete the regular season sweep of the Portland Pilots this evening when the two meet in West Coast Conference action. Saint Mary's faced Gonzaga on Saturday in a highly-anticipated battle of league leaders, and the result of that road clash was an 88-76 setback. The Gaels have now lost two of their last three outings, and despite the fact that they are 24-5 overall, they may need to win the upcoming WCC Tournament to earn a trip to the "Big Dance". As for Portland, it halted a four-game losing skid with a 64-58 victory over Santa Clara on Saturday. The Pilots are just 3-10 against West Coast Conference opposition and clearly enter tonight's tilt as home underdogs. Saint Mary's crushed Portland by an 86-49 final back on February 2nd, and the Gaels own a commanding 46-26 lead in the all-time series with the Pilots.

Diamon Simpson scored 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead Saint Mary's against Gonzaga on Saturday, and Patrick Mills pitched in 20 points. Carlin Hughes added 10 points off the bench for the Gaels, who hit 17-of-19 free throws and only turned the ball over eight times. Unfortunately, they struggled at the defensive end, permitting the Zags to connect on 51.6 percent of their field goal attempts. Overall this season, Mills is scoring 14.5 ppg to go along with 53 steals and 3.6 apg. Simpson is netting 13.2 ppg while ripping down 9.5 rpg, and he has blocked 50 shots. The Gaels are generating 76.7 ppg while surrendering 63.2 ppg to the opposition.

Through 29 games, Portland is led in scoring by Nik Raivio's 12.8 ppg. The only other double-digit scorer in the mix is Robin Smeulders, who is netting 10.0 ppg to go along with his 6.2 rpg. The Pilots are generating a modest 64.1 ppg while surrendering 69.7 ppg to the opposition. In the much-needed victory over Santa Clara on Saturday, Smeulders scored 12 points, while Jared Stohl finished with 11 points. The key to the win for Portland was strong defense, as the club limited Santa Clara to 32.6 percent shooting from the field. Because of that outstanding performance, the Pilots were able to overcome a 25-10 deficit in points from the foul line.

Go with Saint Mary's in this contest, as it simply can not afford to suffer an upset this evening. The Gaels are a far better team than the Pilots and will win easily.

Predicted Outcome

Saint Mary's-CA 78, Univ. of Portland 59