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GAME NOTES: The University of Portland Pilots begin a three-game homestand to close out the 2009-10 regular season as they challenge West Coast Conference foe San Francisco tonight at the Chiles Center.

Portland, which closes out against Lewis & Clark on March 2nd, is coming off a 77-68 overtime loss to Loyola Marymount last Saturday, a decision that halted a three-game win streak and dropped the team to 8-4 in conference.

As for the Dons, who are right behind the Pilots in the WCC standings at 7-5, they've won three straight and five of the last six. Saturday night saw USF take care of Santa Clara, 71-68, in overtime, which means the squad has played three overtime games in the last six outings.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Dons hold a 45-24 advantage even though Portland has taken three straight meetings. The Pilots captured a 74-58 victory at War Memorial Gym in the first meeting of the season last month.

Dior Lowhorn sank a couple of free throws in the final moments of overtime to ensure that the Dons would come out on top in their meeting with Santa Clara last weekend. Lowhorn finished with 28 points, shooting 10-of-17 from the floor, while Angelo Caloiaro also played a crucial role with his 20 points. Off the bench Blake Wallace tacked on 12 points as he made 4-of-5 shots behind the three-point line. Lowhorn, the leading scorer in five of the last six games, is responsible for 18.9 ppg overall thanks in large part to his 81.9 percent accuracy at the free-throw line. However, Lowhorn's game is not without criticism because he has made just 27.8 percent behind the three-point line and has delivered on a mere 17 assists against 51 turnovers. Needless to say, once the ball finds Lowhorn at the offensive end of the floor it rarely makes its way to anyone else.

From out of nowhere the Lions of Loyola Marymount have become a threat to the rest of the WCC and the Pilots found that out first hand on Saturday in their overtime loss to LMU on the road. T.J. Campbell accounted for a team-best 17 points and seven assists for the visiting Pilots, but he also turned the ball over nine times, while Jared Stohl and Ethan Niedermeyer checked in with 16 and 11 points, respectively. Making a statement off the bench again was Luke Sikma with his nine points and team-best 13 boards. Even though Campbell has put up solid numbers this season with his 13.8 ppg and team-best 142 assists, while shooting 44.0 percent behind the three-point line, there's no doubt Portland is still suffering from the loss of Nik Raivio (14.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg) who continues to sit on the sidelines with a strained right Achilles. Stohl (11.7 ppg) has stepped up in a big way in his absence and leads the program with a staggering 47.4 percent (82-of-173) behind the three-point line.

Lowhorn always has the potential to blow up for the Dons on offense, but often his high-scoring efforts mean that he is taking shots away from the rest of the team and that will probably be an issue tonight as well.