PORTLAND — Road trips to the Chiles Center, a 4,800-seat arena on the University of Portland’s campus, are turning into a losing proposition for the Oregon basketball team.

Despite trailing for most of the first half and a portion of the second, the Portland Pilots (3-0) rallied for an 88-81 victory over the Ducks on Saturday. It was Portland’s third home-court victory in four tries over its in-state rival since the 2001-02 season.

After being a pushover for years, the Pilots are now a force to be dealt with, and it’s created a different feeling for Portland coach Eric Reveno and his players.

“Hopefully this team can help me grow into being a better winner instead of just being a bad loser,” Reveno joked after the game. “And (the players) really deserve to enjoy this win.”

The Pilots looked like anything but losers on Saturday. They did it despite some occasional rocky moments in the first half when the Ducks (3-1) employed a tenacious defense to build two 10-point leads in the final six minute of the first half.

In past years, when things weren’t going well for the Pilots, a 10-point first-half deficit easily could have turned into a 20-point loss against a good team. This time, though, Reveno made some simple adjustments at halftime and the changes helped turn the game around.

“Rebounding was a big thing (in the first half),” Reveno said.

“(Oregon’s) guys were flying all over the place. So, I told our guys, ’Blocking out is not the objective. Going and getting the ball is the objective.”’

And the Pilots heeded their coach’s advice, turning a 21-16 halftime rebounding deficit into a 37-33 advantage by the end of the game.

In the second half, the Pilots also did a better job distributing the ball to players who were in scoring position. The result was 62 percent shooting in the second half and a 53-percent mark for the game.

Portland senior guard Nik Raivio was the biggest beneficiary of that increased ball movement. He led all scorers with 24 points, 14 of them in the second half.

Robin Smeulders added 17 points and eight rebounds and T.J. Campbell chipped in 16 points for the Pilots, who now have a nationally televised Thanksgiving Day game against UCLA to prepare for.

After trailing 44-37 at halftime, the Pilots turned the momentum around with a 15-1 run to start the second half. That run included 3-pointers by Campbell, Ethan Niedermeyer and Raivio and gave the Pilots a 52-46 lead with 16:30 left in the game.

The Pilots pushed their lead to 66-56 when Raivio turned an Oregon turnover into a layup. But the Ducks bounced back with three unanswered baskets including a pair of 3-pointers by Malcolm Armstead, who came off the bench to lead Oregon with 21 points.

Oregon had its last lead when Armstead sunk another 3-pointer a short time later to give the Ducks a 72-70 advantage with 5:19 left. But an 11-2 run, which was capped by Campbell’s three, pushed Portland’s lead back to 81-74.

The Ducks then responded with back-to-back baskets by Teondre Williams and Armstead to cut their deficit to 81-78. But Portland scored seven straight points, including six by Campbell, to put the game away.

Does that mean that Portland now has the best Division I basketball team in the state of Oregon?

“Ask me that in April and then I’ll try to give you my best answer,” Reveno quipped.

In the meantime, Portland’s athletic department is doing its best to convince the Ducks to renew a home-and-away contract between the schools that expires this year.

“I’m very appreciative of Oregon playing us,” Reveno said. “And when our reputation gets better, it won’t be such a bad loss (for the Ducks). Then it will become a good rivalry and I think the onus is on us to become that team.”