CLAREMONT, Calif. (Interstat) — Willamette will visit Pomona-Pitzer on Sunday for a men’s NCAA Division III basketball game at Rains Center. The Bearcats enter the matchup with an 0-1 record, while the Sagehens are 0-0 and set to open their season.

Willamette is looking to bounce back from an 80-79 loss at Whittier in its most recent game. Anujan Tennathur led the Bearcats with 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and one block in 30 minutes. Dra Uperesa-Thomas added 15 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes, and Kellen Sande finished with four points, four rebounds and seven assists in 21 minutes. Uperesa-Thomas and Sande each played 21 minutes. The Bearcats’ opener was decided by one point. Tennathur, a guard, is the player to watch for Willamette after that performance.

Pomona-Pitzer most recently dropped a 75-74 decision at La Verne. The Sagehens will play their first game of the new season against Willamette and will do so at home at Rains Center. Pomona-Pitzer’s upcoming schedule includes a home game against Ottawa (AZ), road games at Whitworth, a home matchup with George Fox, a game against Pacific (Ore.) in Claremont, and later contests involving La Verne, Whittier, UC Santa Cruz, Bowdoin and Caltech. Pomona-Pitzer will begin its season with a home game before heading into a stretch that includes several road tests.

Willamette’s schedule after Sunday includes road games at La Verne and Claremont Mudd Scripps before home contests against Evergreen St., Colorado College, Schreiner, Hardin-Simmons, Cal Prestige and Puget Sound. The Bearcats also are set to visit Western Ore. and George Fox. The early-season stretch gives Willamette several opportunities to build around Tennathur and the rest of its rotation.

Pomona-Pitzer will counter with a home setting and a fresh start as it begins its campaign. The Sagehens will aim to establish their pace early against a Willamette team that already has one game behind it. The matchup at Rains Center will be the first meeting of the season for the programs and the first home appearance for Pomona-Pitzer.

The game will be part of a busy opening stretch for both teams. Willamette is scheduled to play several nonconference contests before moving deeper into its slate, while Pomona-Pitzer will mix home games with road trips during the early weeks. Both teams will use the matchup as an early measure of their rotations and depth.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Willamette 78, Pomona-Pitzer 74, and Interstat’s ELO system gives Willamette a 54.4 percent probability to win.