Complete notes and stats in pdf

Despite the relatively close proximity, the Portland State Vikings and Nevada Wolfpack basketball teams will meet for the first time in nine years on Monday. PSU travels to Reno for a 7:30 game with the Western Athletic Conference program. Monday's game can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am. A live video stream is available for a fee at www.nevadawolfpack.com.
   
Portland State 6-4 on the season, 2-3 in road games. Both Viking wins have come in neutral site contests though. Nevada, which comes off a 21-win season, is 2-8 this year in part because of the loss of four players to the NBA (two of whom are Portland Trail Blazers). However, the Wolfpack has earned both wins at home and suffered a close loss at home to Arizona State on Friday, 78-75.
   
PSU leads the all-time series 4-2. The matchup is 1-1 since the Viking basketball program was reinstated and joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. The last meeting was a 75-53 Nevada win in Reno on Dec. 15, 2001.
   
The Vikings return home for one more pre-Christmas game, hosting Utah Valley on Thursday night at the Stott Center at 7:05 p.m.

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (6-4) vs. NEVADA WOLFPACK (2-8)
Monday, December 20, 2010, 7:30 p.m. @ Lawlor Events Center (11,536), Reno, NV
Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.970.am • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 7 p.m.
Live Video Stream: www.wolfpack.com (for a fee)
Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: PSU leads 4-2
Streak: The road team won the first three meetings in the series. The home team has won the last three meetings.

STORYLINES
• The series: Portland State leads the all-time series, 4-2, including a 2-1 advantage in Reno. However, only two of the games played in the series have come in the last decade. PSU beat Nevada, 61-56, at Memorial Coliseum on Dec. 3, 2000, then lost to the Wolfpack, 75-53, in Reno on Dec. 15, 2001... the other four games in the series occured between 1970 and 1974.
• The Wolfpack: Nevada, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, has had a powerhose program the past several years. The Wolfpack won WAC regular season titles for five straight years from 2004 to 2008... last season, the Wolfpack was 21-13 and tied for second in the WAC with an 11-5 record. Nevada reached the second round of the NIT, losing to Rhode Island.
• This year: Nevada lost four players from last year's team that went to the NBA. As a result, just one starter and six letterwinners return. That has caused a slow start for the Wolfpack, including a recent seven-game losing streak, and a 2-8 record overall. Nevada has defeated Montana of the Big Sky Conference and San Francisco State... the teams have one common opponent this year. PSU beat Pepperdine, 83-81, at home, while Nevada lost to the Waves, 76-75, in a neutral site game at Los Angeles.
• Leaders of the Pack: Dario Hunt and Malik Story are each averaging 12.9 points per game to lead the Wolfpack. Hunt, a junior forward, also averages 9.5 rebounds per game and has 11 blocked shots this season. Story, a sophomore guard, is Nevada's top three-point shooter with 24-50 (.480)... freshman guard Deonte Burton averages 11.0 points and a team-best 3.5 assists per game... expected to give the Vikings trouble is 6-7 forward Olek Czyz, who played in just his first game on Friday. Czyz, a transfer from Duke, had 10 points and seven rebounds against Arizona State.
• Head Coach David Carter: David Carter is in his second season at Nevada. He has a 23-21 record.

COMING UP: VIKINGS HOST UTAH VALLEY, THEN THE BIG SKY
Portland State hosts Utah Valley on Thursday at the Stott Center in a 7:05 p.m. game. It will be the Vikings' final preseason game. PSU plays two more non-conference games later in the year, hosting an ESPN BracketBuster contest on Feb. 19, then travels to Seattle University on Mar. 10.
   
Following a six-day break for the Christmas holiday, the Vikings 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 19-23 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 Nevada for the first time. Geving is 11-13 all-time in non-conference games, 0-1 against teams from the Western Athletic Conference.
   
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: PORTLAND 78, PORTLAND STATE 67
A team known for its long-range shooting, the Portland Pilots pulled the old switcheroo on Portland State, tearing it up in the paint and beating the Vikings, 78-67, on Saturday... the Pilots outscored the Vikings inside, 52-28, capitalizing on drives from backup guards Tim Douglas and Derrick Rogers. Those two hit 16-20 shots, mainly on dribble penetration, and combined to score 39 points. Portland forward Luke Sikma did the rest of the dirty work inside, making 8-9 shots for another 16 points... in the first half, the Vikings did a solid job of holding down the nation's top three-point shooting team (.456 on the season), allowing the Pilots just 2-7 from long range. However, Portland controlled the tempo of the contest, making it a half-court game and shot 14-24 overall (.583). With that, Douglas exploited the Vikings on the drive, hitting 6-8 shots and scoring six first half points... Portland's largest lead was 34-25 just before halftime and the Pilots went into the locker room with a 34-27 advantage. PSU, shooting just 10-29 in the first half (.345), never held a lead... a Rogers' driving layin with 14:20 to play in the game gave Portland its first double-digit lead of the night at 49-38. The Vikings never got it back within single digits... Portland finished the game shooting 34-57 from the field (.596) and remarkably, only 3-16 from three-point range (.188). The Vikings were 24-63 (.381) and just 3-17 from the arc (.176)... Douglas had 27 points on 10-13 from the field and 6-8 at the line... “We didn't stop the ball on the bounce and that's what is frustrating. I really felt we did a good job on (Portland's top three-point shooters Eric) Waterford, (Jared) Stohl and (Nemanja) Mitrovic,” said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. Those three were 2-11 from three-point range. “But then we see Douglas go for 27 and Rodgers for 12.”... for the Vikings, Chehales Tapscott turned in a career-best performance with 25 points on 10-15 from the field and 4-4 at the line. He also had nine rebounds and two steals... the Vikings' top three scorers, Chris Harriel, Melvin Jones and Charles Odum combined for just 24 points and made only 7-36 shots from the field... PSU's loss ended a six-game home winning streak.

SATURDAY NOTES: The game did not sell out, but Portland State drew a season-high 1,302 attendance against Portland even though students were not in school (holiday break)... PSU lost back-to-back games for the first time since mid-February of last season... Portland's win ended a four-year dominance by the Vikings over the Pilots... JR F Chehales Tapscott's 25 points were the most by a Viking this year... PSU shot a season-high .941 at the line (16-17).

FAST BREAKS
WINNING LINES 
• PSU is 4-1 at home this year... the loss to Portland ended a six-game home winning streak.
• 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 37-7 at home, including 22-4 in Big Sky Conference games.
• PSU has gone 105-34 in 139 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 136-49 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 10 games, Portland State has built a 6-4 record. And, despite losses in their last two games, 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 four 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 3-2 record vs. teams from the West Coast Conference, and is 0-1 vs. WAC. Geving is 0-4 vs. the Pac-10 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 234 free throws, making 184, an average of 18.4-23.4 shooting per game for a .786 mark (last year PSU averaged 14.4-20.1, .717)... meanwhile opponents have attempted fewer FTs than the Vikings have made (110-166), an average of 11.0-16.6 per game for a .663 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 .786)... SO G Chris Harriel ranked 26th in the nation at the line with a .900 mark (though he is now shooting .864). SR G Melvin Jones ranked 53rd in the nation with an .875 mark (21-24).

MISSING THE THREE: The Vikings are averaging 6.2 three-point field goals per game and shooting .335 from distance this season. The marks are down from recent years when PSU was regularly among the top long-range shooting teams in the Big Sky Conference. The 6.2 made per game is the lowest rate since 2004-05 and the .335 mark is the lowest since 2006-07. In fact, the Vikings led the Big Sky in three pointers in 2007-08 and 2008-09... PSU was just 3-17 from long range vs. Portland (.176)... a big part of what is missing is SR F Phil Nelson, who has yet to play this year due to a foot injury. Nelson averaged 2.4 three-pointers per game last year while shooting .387 from the arc.

BACK WHERE THEY BELONG: Portland State is back on top of the Big Sky Conference in team scoring at 76.8 points per game. The Vikings also led the Big Sky in scoring in 2009-10 at exactly 78.0 per game.?
A SIMPLE ANALYSIS: Portland State is 3-0 when outshooting opponents, 4-0 when outrebounding opponents... the Vikings are just 1-3 when failing to score at least 70 points, and 5-0 when scoring over 80 points.

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 high left ankle sprain. 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.

BACK ON THE GOOD FOOT?: Coleman and Nelson hope to return after Christmas. Nelson will have an x-ray of his twice-broken foot this week. If it looks good, he will likely begin working out with an eye on playing next week. Coleman should be returning after Christmas as well.