Complete Game Notes And Stats In PDF
The city of Portland's two Division I men's basketball programs meet this Saturday night at the Stott Center in their annual on-court clash. Game time for the Portland State Vikings and the Portland Pilots is 7:05 p.m. as PSU attempts to extend its winning streak over UP to five games.
   
This year's contest will air on 750 AM KXL and www.kxl.com as the stronger radio signal will reach a larger audience for the game (all of PSU's remaining games will be on Freedom 970 AM). The pregame radio show begins at 6:30 p.m. with Tom Hewitt. Saturday's game is not televised, but it is available on a live video stream at www.b2tv.com with the radio play-by-play. Live stats are also available at www.GoViks.com.
   
The two schools come into the contest with a combined 14-6 record. Portland State is 6-3 after a road loss at Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday night (92-77). The Pilots are 8-3 and have had the week off from games.
   
Portland State is 4-0 at home this year and has won six straight home games overall. The Vikings have also won the last four meetings with the Pilots, including an 86-82 decision at the Chiles Center last December. Portland comes into the game having won five of their last six and are 3-1 on the road this year.

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (6-3) vs. PORTLAND PILOTS (8-3)
Saturday, December 18, 2010, 7:05 p.m. @ Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR
Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.970.am • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6:30 p.m.
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com
Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: UP 31-17
Series Since PSU reinstated program (1996-97): Tied 7-7
Streak: Portland State has won four in a row.

STORYLINES
• The series: Portland holds a 31-17 all-time lead in the series. However, the series is tied at 7-7 since Portland State brought back basketball and joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. The two schools have met at least once every year since the 1999-2000 season... PSU has won the last four meetings between the schools.
• Last Year: PSU's Dominic Waters scored 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, including 16 in the final nine minutes as the Vikings came from a 12-point deficit to win, 86-82, at the Chiles Center. The Pilots had been ranked 25th in the nation just days earlier, but the Vikings pulled off the upset... PSU shot .527 from the field and .600 from three-point range (15-25)... Waters had 23 points and nine assists. Melvin Jones added 17 points... Portland shot .589 from the field, but made nine fewer three-pointers. Robin Smeulders scored 20 points and Nik Raivio had 17.
• West Coast Killers: With the Vikings' 83-81 win over Pepperdine of the West Coast Conference (11/12), Portland State is now 3-1 against WCC teams in Tyler Gevings' two seasons as Head Coach. PSU is 6-1 against the WCC dating to the start of the 2007-08 season, including 3-0 vs. Portland, 2-0 vs. Pepperdine, 1-0 vs. Gonzaga and 0-1 vs. Saint Mary's. Wins over #7 Gonzaga (2008-09) and #25 Portland (2009-10) came against nationally-ranked teams.
• The Pilots: Portland matched a school record at the Division level winning 21 games last season (21-11). The Pilots went 10-4 in the West Coast Conference, placing third. One starter and six letterwinners return from that team.
• Pilots start 8-3: With the loss of four starters from last year's 21-win team, a dropoff for the Pilots might have been expected. That a hasn't been the case as Portland has started this year 8-3. Moreover, the three losses have come to talented programs in Kentucky, Washington and Washington State... the Pilots had a 58-54 win at Montana of the Big Sky Conference on Dec. 3.
• Nationally-Ranked Attack: Three-point specialist Jared Stohl leads the Pilots in scoring at 14.8 per game. He has hit 37-74 from three-point range (.500). He ranks 13th in the nation in three-point percentage and three-pointers made. Stohl is also second in the nation in free throw percentage (.966)... forward Luke Sikma ranks fifth in the nation in rebounding at 11.9 per game and averages 12.2 points... Nemanja Mitrovic is averaging 12.1 points and has nearly matched Stohl from long range, hitting 30-60 three-pointers... Portland leads the nation in three-point percentage (.456) and, behind Sikma, has outrebounded opponents by an average of 5.2 per game.
• Head Coach Eric Reveno: In his fifth season at Portland, Reveno has compiled a 66-72 record. Reveno is 0-4 against the Vikings.
• Hello, Old Friend: Portland assistant coach Joel Sobotka was an assistant coach for the Vikings (1996-98), then the Head Coach (1998-2002) for four seasons. Sobotka had a 53-59 record on the Park Blocks.

COMING UP: TWO MORE, A HOLIDAY, THEN THE BIG SKY
Portland State travels to face Nevada on Monday evening in Reno. Game time is 7:30 p.m. and the game is available at Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am. The pregame radio show with Tom Hewitt begins at 7 p.m.    
   
PSU hosts Utah Valley next Thursday at the Stott Center in a 7:05 p.m. game. It will be the Vikings' sixth home game of the preseason.
   
Following a six-day break for the Christmas holiday, Portland State will open the 2010-11 Big Sky Conference schedule on Dec. 29 against Northern Colorado. The Vikings host the Bears at the Stott Center at 7:05 p.m.
   
PSU was 7-9 in the Big Sky in 2009-10, placing sixth in the conference. The Vikings won a Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal game at Montana State, then lost in the semifinals to host Weber State.

VIKING HEAD COACH TYLER GEVING
Tyler Geving is in his second season as Head Coach and sixth season overall with the Portland State program. Geving has a 19-22 record with the Vikings. He was 13-19 in 2009-10 and led PSU to the Big Sky Tournament semifinals. Geving is a 1996 graduate of Central Washington and has been in collegiate coaching for 16 years.
   
Geving will face Portland for the second time. He picked up an 86-82 win at Portland last season. Geving is 11-12 all-time in non-conference games, 3-1 against West Coast Conference teams.
   
The second-year Head Coach is assisted by Andy McClouskey (1st year, Oregon State, 1982), Eric Harper (6th year, Central Washington, 1995) and Anthony Owens (2nd year, Great Falls, 2006). Former Viking player Mickey Polis is the Director of Operations (2nd year, Portland State, 2009).

VIKINGS REWIND: CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD 92, PORTLAND STATE 77
In a first-ever meeting between CSUB and Portland State, the Vikings will remember it as the one that got away. PSU was playing well and held an 11-point advantage over the Roadrunners with 16:27 left in the game, but it all went bad from there. The Runners rallied behind Stephon Carter's 30 points, and then ran away from the Vikings. It was an ironic twist for Portland State as the Vikings had come back from an 11-point, second-half deficit in its previous game to beat Cal State Fullerton.... PSU built a 21-14 lead through the first 10 minutes of the game. Solid shooting, led by juniors Nate Lozeau and Charles Odum allowed the Vikings to maintain that lead. Senior Paul Guede hit a three-point bomb as the halftime buzzer sounded to give the Vikings a 45-40 lead... PSU shot 17-28 from the field in the half (.607), including 6-11 from three-point range (.545). Lozeau was 4-5 from the field and had nine points, while Odum hit 3-3, including a pair of threes, and had 10 points... a Melvin Jones layin with 16:27 to play pushed the Viking lead to 56-45. Soon though, the Runners got back in the game with an eight-point run... PSU still led 67-64 at the 10:10 mark. A conventional three-point play by De'Aundray Robinson finally got CSUB the lead with 9:39 to go, 69-67, and the Roadrunners never trailed again... the Vikings went a six-minute span without scoring and were outscored 19-4 over the final eight-and-a-half minutes... for the game, the Vikings gave up 27 points on 16 turnovers. They also allowed the Roadrunners to shoot .597 from the field (37-62)... “We went into a scoring drought down the stretch... and then we made some stupid turnovers,” said PSU Coach Tyler Geving. “You just can't win when you give up 27 points off turnovers, giving up layins on the other end.”... Odum led PSU with 18 points. Chris Harriel scored 13 for a Viking team that shot an even .500 from the field. Chehales Tapscott had a team-high 11 rebounds and Melvin Jones handed out seven assists... Carter finished with 30 points, hitting 14-18 shots from the field. Rashad Savage had a game-high 17 rebounds... Portland State lost for the first time when leading at halftime (3-1)... the Vikings also gave up a season-high shooting percentage to Bakersfield (.597), including .677 in the second half.

FAST BREAKS
WINNING LINES 
• PSU is 4-0 at home this year... the Vikings have won six straight home games dating to last season.
• The Vikings are 2-3 on the road this season, including 2-0 in neutral site games... PSU was 5-15 in road games in 2009-10, including 2-6 in Big Sky road games.
• Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Portland State is 37-6 at home, including 22-4 in Big Sky Conference games.
• PSU has gone 105-33 in 138 games at the Stott Center since the 1996-97 season. Including home games at Memorial Coliseum (12-6) and the Rose Garden (19-9), the Vikings are 136-48 at home over the past 15 seasons.
• PSU is 32-16 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 37-17 including tournament games.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Through nine games, Portland State has built a 6-3 record. The six wins already betters last year's total for non-conference wins (5-9)... the most non-conference wins for Portland State since joining the Big Sky Conference is 10 (10-5 in 2008-09). PSU has five non-conference games remaining this season.

GEVING VS. THE WEST: Viking Coach Tyler Geving is now 3-0 all-time against teams from the Big West Conference in his two seasons. Geving also has a 3-1 record vs. teams from the West Coast Conference… Geving is 0-4 vs. the Pac-10, 0-1 vs. the WAC, and 1-3 vs. western independents (Seattle, Cal State Bakersfield).

FREE IS A GOOD PRICE: The Vikings are making frequent trips to the free throw line thanks in part to the slashing styles of SO G Chris Harriel, JR F Chehales Tapscott, JR G Charles Odum, and the physical play of SR F Tree Thomas. The Vikings have shot 217 free throws, making 168, an average of 18.7-24.1 shooting per game for a .774 mark (last year PSU averaged 14.4-20.1, .717)... meanwhile opponents have attempted fewer FTs than the Vikings have made (103-154), an average of 11.4-17.1 per game for a .669 mark.

THE RANKING: Portland State was 16th in the nation in free throw percentage through last Sunday's games at .772 as a team (the Vikings are now at .774)... SO G Chris Harriel ranked 26th in the nation at the line with a .900 mark (though he is now shooting .857). SR G Melvin Jones ranked 53rd in the nation with an .875 mark (21-24).

BACK WHERE THEY BELONG: Portland State is back on top of the Big Sky Conference in team scoring at 77.9 points per game. It comes after scoring 92 and 93 points in a pair of wins last week. The Vikings also led the Big Sky in scoring in 2009-10 at exactly 78.0 per game... Portland State has improved its shooting as well with three straight games at 50% or better from the field. PSU shot 95-186 (.511) in those three games to improve to .463 from the field overall, second-best in the conference.

AND THEN THERE WERE NINE...: Portland State has dressed just nine healthy players for the last five games. JR G Terry Coleman has not suited up due to a lower left leg injury. Without Coleman, the Vikings are thin at point guard, needing SR G Melvin Jones to handle a lot of the duty... SR F Phil Nelson has missed the entire season with a left foot injury. Both will be out until after Christmas.

THREE STRAIGHT FOR CHUCK: JR G Charles Odum has led the Vikings in scoring for three straight games despite not starting. Last week, Odum had career-high scoring efforts in back-to-back games. He had a career high of 20 points (6-11 FG, 1-2 3-pt FG, 7-10 FT), six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in the win over George Fox (12/9). He followed that with a 21-point night against Cal State Fullerton (6-10 FG, 1-4 3-pt FG, 8-8 FT) and a career-high five assists (12/12). That included the Vikings' last nine points and seven straight free throws in the final 32 seconds of the game. It capped a comeback from 11 points down in the second half. On Wednesday, Odum posted 18 points (5-7 FG, 3-3 3-pt FG, 5-6 FT)... he has averaged 19.7 points over his last three contests.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
• Odum had 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the Vikings three games at SMU, hitting 13-23 FGs, 3-8 3-pt FGs and 11-15 FTs while playing less than 25 minutes per game.
• Odum scored the last nine points for the Vikings in the final 32 seconds of 93-89 win over Cal State Fullerton (12/12).
• He ranks 15th in scoring (13.2) and ninth in field goal percentage (.507) in the Big Sky Conference.

KEEPING UP WITH MELVIN JONES: With the loss of SR F Phil Nelson for the time being, the play and leadership of SR G Melvin Jones has become even more important for the Vikings. Jones has answered the call, averaging 13.1 points per game, 2.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He also has a team-high 23 three-point field goals and is shooting .875 at the line.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
• Melvin is averaging 17.5 points in four home games.
• He has seven 20-point games in his career, two this season.
• Jones ranks 16th in the Big Sky in scoring, ninth in assists and third in three-point field goals (2.6 pg).

CHRIS-TMAS COMES EARLY: The play of SO G Chris Harriel has been an early Christmas present for Vikings Head Coach Tyler Geving. While the coach knew his talented sophomore was much improved, he probably didn't count on quite this much production. Harriel has already set two new career scoring highs (now 23) and two new career rebounding highs (now 9). Harriel leads the Vikings with 15.2 points per game while averaging 4.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
• Harriel was named All-Tournament at the SMU Invitational after averaging 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, shooting 13-26 from the field, 7-13 from three-point range and 13-15 at the line. He also had six assists and five steals.
• Chris ranks seventh in scoring, 15th in rebounding, seventh in free throw percentage and seventh in steals in the Big Sky Conference.

GREAT TAP-SCOTT!: JR F Chehales Tapscott has been as big an impact player as Head Coach Tyler Geving expected. The former NWAACC Player of the Year from Clackamas CC is averaging 11.2 points, a team-high 8.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
• Chehales leads the Vikings and the Big Sky Conference with three double-doubles.
• The junior forward ranks third in the Big Sky in rebounding (8.1) and has led the team seven times.
• Tapscott was named All-Tournament at SMU with 31 points, 21 rebounds and seven assists in three games.

LOZEAU = HIGH PERCENTAGE: JR C Nate Lozeau has shot 60% or better in six of his last seven games. During that span, Lozeau has made 34-47 shots (.723). For the season, he is shooting a team-best .650 from the field to rank third in the Big Sky Conference... Lozeau has been a solid addition to the team this season after being a redshirt in 2009-10. He is averaging 9.2 points per game in 21 minutes per night

A TREE GROWS IN PORTLAND: The other half of the post tandem for the Vikings this season has been SR F Phillip “Tree” Thomas. In just 16 minutes per game, Tree is averaging 7.3 points per game while shooting .440 from the field and .786 at the line. That is a big upgrade from last year's 3.1 points per game.

DANE'S DIMES: A bit of surprise as the starting point guard this season, JR G Dane Johnson has proven his worth, leading the Vikings in assists with 3.8 per game. Johnson had 16 assists in last week's two wins, including a career-high nine against George Fox. Moreover, he has just 13 turnovers in nine games, giving him a 34/13 assist to turnover ratio.

PHIL'S FOOT: For the second time since last January, SR F Phil Nelson has suffered a broken left foot. The loss is a big one for the Vikings, as Nelson was the top returning scorer at 12.9 points and 48 three-point field goals through 20 games last year when he suffered the injury the first time. Nelson reinjured the foot on Nov. 8. He is not expected back until after Christmas... PSU is now 11-10 in the 21 games Nelson has missed since Jan. 30... Nelson has started all 53 games he has played in as a Viking. PSU is 31-22 in those games. The Vikings also lose much-needed size on the floor as Nelson stands 6-8.

VIKING BASKETBALL TICKETS
Adult Reserved: $15.00 • Youth (17 and under) reserved: $10.00
Adult General Admission: $10.00 • Youth (17 and under) General Admission: $7.00

Purchase tickets online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available to the Portland State ticket office, or at the Stott Center beginning 90 minutes prior to the game.

PORTLAND STATE TICKET OFFICE
Smith Memorial Union
1825 SW Broadway, Portland State campus
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday
Call 888-VIK-TIKS • 503-725-3307