PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (6-4) vs. OREGON STATE BEAVERS (8-2)
Sunday, December 18, 2011, 7 p.m. @ Gill Coliseum (10,400), Corvallis, OR
Television: Root Sports (ch. 34/HD 734 in Portland) • Play-by-play: Rich Burk • Analyst: Lamar Hurd
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6:30 p.m.
Live Video Stream: None • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: OSU leads 11-0 • PSU in Corvallis: 0-8

Portland State will make a rare trip to Oregon State this Sunday and take on the Beavers for the first time in nine years. The game will be televised on Root Sports in the Portland area (ch. 34/HD 734 on Comcast cable systems). It also airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
    
The Vikings, 6-4, will be playing their fourth game in nine days and second against a Pac-12 school. PSU is 2-4 away from home, with the two wins being neutral site games. The Vikings lost 79-70 at Oregon on Monday.
    
PSU comes off an exciting 91-87 home win over CSU Bakersfield on Thursday night. JR G Michael Harthun led five Viking players in double figures with a career-high 22 points.
    
CSUB is the only common opponent between the schools as Oregon State beat the Roadrunners, 86-62, on Nov. 12.
    
Oregon State is 8-2 this season following a Thursday win, 93-72, over Howard.
     
A game at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 22) wraps up the preseason schedule for the Vikings. After Christmas Portland State steps into Big Sky Conference play. The Vikings also have two non-conference games later this season: at an ESPN Bracketbuster opponent to be named (Feb. 18) and at Seattle (Mar. 10). PSU opens conference play on the road at Montana (Dec. 28) and Montana State (Dec. 30).

STORYLINES
• The series: PSU and Oregon State have met 11 times previously but not since a Dec. 17, 2002 contest at Gill Coliseum. OSU has won all 11 games, with eight of those games played in Corvallis. Since Portland State reinstated basketball for the 1996-97 season and joined the Big Sky Conference, the two schools have met just four times despite their relative close proximity. OSU has won all four - three in Corvallis and one in the Rose Garden... the last three meetings have been very close with the Beavers winning by a combined 12 points (67-63 in 1997-98, 51-46 in 2001-02, and 53-50 in 2002-03).
• PSU vs. the Pac-12: Portland State is 4-45 all-time against current members of the Pac-12 Conference. The Vikings have beaten Oregon (2-9) and Arizona State (2-3) twice each. Otherwise, PSU has been whitewashed: 0-1 vs. Arizona, Cal, USC and UCLA; 0-2 against Stanford; 0-7 against Washington State; 0-9 against Washington; and 0-11 against Oregon State... the Vikings lost at Oregon last Monday, 79-70.
• The Beavers: Oregon State is a long-time member of the Pac-12 Conference. The Beavers were 11-20 last season, 5-13 and tied for ninth in the Pac-12. Four starters and 11 letterwinners return from that team... the dynamic Jared Cunningham leads OSU with 17.2 points and 3.0 steals per game.... Devon Collier averages 13.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting .630 from the field... Ahmad Starks is averaging 12.0 points and has made 20 three-point field goals.
• Maintaining Control: Portland State better be ready to hang on to the ball against the Beavers, something they struggled with against CSU Bakersfield. Despite shooting 67% from the field, the Vikings commited 17 turnovers that the Roadrunners converted into 25 points and that kept the game close to the end. So far this year, Oregon State is forcing opponents into more than 20 turnovers per game (20.3).
• Head Coach Craig Robinson is in his fourth season at Oregon State and has compiled a 51-58 record... in six years as a collegiate head coach, Robinson is 81-86. He has never faced the Vikings.

VIKING HEAD COACH TYLER GEVING
Tyler Geving is in his third season as Head Coach and seventh season overall with the Portland State program. Geving has a 33-39 record with the Vikings. He was 13-19 in 2009-10 and led PSU to the Big Sky Tournament semifinals. In 2010-11, his Vikings were 14-16 overall.
    
Geving is a 1996 graduate of Central Washington and has been in collegiate coaching for 17 years.
    
The third-year Head Coach is assisted by Andy McClouskey (2nd year, Oregon State, 1982), Eric Harper (7th year, Central Washington, 1995) and Anthony Owens (3rd year, Great Falls, 2006). Former Viking player Mickey Polis is the Director of Operations (3rd year, Portland State, 2009).
    
Geving's record breakdown:
    • 20-18 all-time in non-conference games, 13-21 all-time against Big Sky Conference opponents.
    • Geving is 22-9 at home. He is 11-30 on the road, including 4-2 in neutral site games.
    • Geving has never faced Oregon State. He is 0-5 all-time against Pac-12 teams.

GAME WEEK ACTIVITIES
VIKINGS ON THE RADIO: All Portland State basketball games can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. The Viking Pregame Show begins one-half hour prior to kickoff each week. Tom Hewitt does the play-by-play.
VIKINGS ON TELEVISION: Currently, Portland State has four games that are scheduled to be televised in the Portland area. They are: Nov. 11 against Denver (tape delay at 10:30) on Root Sports; Dec. 12 at Oregon on CSN; Dec. 18 at Oregon State on Root Sports; and Jan. 29 vs. Montana on Altitude/CSN. Other televised games are TBA.
VIKINGS ON THE INTERNET: Live streaming video of all Portland State home and Big Sky Conference games can be seen free at www.b2tv.com... Live stats for Portland State home games are at www.GoViks.com.

RECENT GAME: VIKINGS SHOOT 67%, BEAT ROADRUNNERS BEHIND HARTHUN'S 22
    Portland, OR - Apparently, a moment to think about it was all Michael Harthun needed to have his best game.
    After starting the first nine games of the season, the junior guard from South Medford High School came off the bench and the result was career-high 22 points in leading Portland State to a 91-87 victory over Cal State Bakersfield.
    Harthun made 9-11 shots from the field and 3-5 at the line to lead all scorers. He added four rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes.
    The Vikings stopped a two-game losing streak, improving to 6-4 overall. They needed some positive momentum as they head back out to play a Pac-12 opponent on the road. The Vikings are at Oregon State on Sunday night.
    In reality, Harthun had a a lot of help. Portland State shot a remarkable .673 from the field on 33 of 49 shots. The Vikings also outrebounded the Roadrunners, 32-22.
    “I'm surprised we didn't win by 20 with those kind of numbers,” said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. “We took good shots and executed what we needed to do.”
    Seven Vikings scored eight or more points with five in double figures. Chehales Tapscott had his Big Sky-leading fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Lateef McMullan scored 15, including 14 in the second half, and had a season-high six assists. Charles Odum added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists.
    Portland State shot well in the first half, hitting 18-26 shot for a .692 mark. The Roadrunners shot 15-28 (.536). PSU, which led by 10 at one point in the opening half, was up 44-40 at intermission.
    Harthun hit 5-7 shots and had 12 first-half points in 11 minutes.
    A Harthun layup at the 14:44 mark of the second half had PSU up 60-48, its largest advantage of the game. But five different players scored for Bakersfield in a 14-1 run over the next four minutes, as the Roadrunners took the lead at 62-61. The Vikings committed five turnovers during that stretch.
    PSU pumped the lead back up to a dozen at 83-71 with 2:51 left. Harthun had six points in the rally.
    Bakersfield wouldn't go away though. A full-court press that forced 10 second-half turnovers by the Vikings. When Rashad Savage made a layin with 42 seconds to play, the Roadrunners were within 86-85.
    CSUB had the ball with 29 seconds left and the Vikings ahead 89-87. That's when Odum made one of the biggest plays of the game, stealing the ball from Stephon Carter with nine seconds to play. Odum made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left and the Vikings hung on for the win.
    For all the good shooting from the field, PSU kept Bakersfield in the game by making just 21-33 at the line (.636) and making 17 turnovers.
    “We made four sloppy turnovers in the last three minutes. When you get up on a team like that you need to put them away. We've got to learn from it. The good thing was we were up 12,” said Geving.
    Issiah Grayson and Robert Hayes each had 17 to lead Bakersfield. The Roadrunners dropped to 5-4 on the season.

THE VIKINGS ON TELEVISION
Portland State is 17-33 in games televised in the Portland area since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. That includes a 9-5 home record and 8-28 road record. PSU is 0-2 on TV this year losing close games to Denver (69-61) and Oregon (79-70).
    
The Vikings are 7-2 in the Altitude/Big Sky Conference Game of the Week over the last four seasons, including 4-1 at home, 3-1 on the road. PSU will play a Big Sky Game of the Week on Jan. 29 against Montana.

FAST BREAKS
WINNING LINES  
• The Vikings are 4-0 at home this year and have won five straight home games overall... PSU was 10-5 at home in 2010-11, 4-4 in Big Sky home games... over the last five seasons, PSU is 59-14 at home, including 29-11 in Big Sky Conference games.
• The Vikings are 2-4 on the road this season... the Vikings were 4-11 on the road in 2010-11, including 2-0 in neutral site games... PSU was 1-7 in Big Sky road games.
• PSU has gone 115-38 in 153 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 146-53 at home over the past 16 seasons.

BIG SKY BEST: The Viking team leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage (.476)... JR F Chehales Tapscott leads the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (9.4)... SR G Charles Odum ranks second in scoring (17.2) and leads in free throw percentage (.898)... SR C Nate Lozeau ranks second in field goal percentage (.653).

FREE IS A GOOD PRICE: For the second year in a row, Portland State is doing a great job of getting to the free throw line. So far, PSU has made 37 more free throws than its opponents have attempted (PSU 187-253, .739; Opponents 114-150, .760).

LIGHTS OUT: Portland State's .673 (33-49) shooting performance against CSU Bakersfield was easily its best of the season. It was also the best shooting by a Viking team in 66 games. The last time PSU shot better was a 33-48 (.688) performance against Eastern Washington on Dec. 5, 2009.

PERILOUS PERIMETER: On the other hand, Portland State has been struggling mightily from three-point range this season (although the Vikings were a respectable 4-10 against CSUB). And, considering how well the Vikings have done in virtually every other facet of the game, imagine where they might be with some solid three-point shooting. The Vikings made a season-worst 1-14 (.071) from three-point range in a six-point loss at Utah Valley. The Vikings were just 5-19 at Oregon (.263). For the year, the Vikings are only 41-167, .246. Making just 4.1 threes per game, PSU is way down from a team that has averaged between seven and nine per game over the last four years, while shooting .352 or better each year (and leading the Big Sky in scoring each year)... the most the Vikings have made in any game this season is seven, and the highest game percentage prior to Thursday had been only .318.

GUARD GAME: Are the Viking guards emerging?.... PSU's four guards (SR Charles Odum, JRs Lateef McMullan and Michael Harthun, FR Gary Winston) had their best combined effort of the season against CSUB. The foursome hit 21-30 field goals (.700), 4-8 three-pointers (.500) and 14-22 free throws  (.636) for 60 points, an average of 15.0 per man. In addition, they had 14 rebounds, 16 assists and three steals.

D-ING UP: Portland State has not been a strong defensive team the past few seasons. The caveat is the Vikings have always been a strong offensive team, leading the Big Sky Conference in scoring the last four years. This season, Head Coach Tyler Geving has placed an emphasis on defense and, prior to the last three games, it had been paying off. The Vikings were allowing just 61.0 points through seven games to rank first in the Big Sky, and the most any opponent had scored was 69 points. Aiding the effort was a +10.0 rebounding margin - which led the Big Sky as well... however, the Vikings have given up 86.3 points per game over the last three (Utah Valley 93 points, Oregon 79 points and CSUB 87 points)... the Vikings still allow a respectable 68.6 points per game, .424 field goal shooting and .268 three-point shooting.

FULL HOUSE: The Vikings finally have their full complement of players available for the 2011-12 season. JR F Martin Whitmore played briefly in his first game against CSU Bakersfield. He had been out with an elbow injury suffered in a preseason exhibition game... JR F Renado Parker became eligible when fall term ended due to his transfer status (arriving for winter term last year). The 6-5 post has made a big impact in his first three games, averaging 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting a team-best .750 from the field... the Vikings had gotten NCAA clearance for FR G Gary Winston in game three. He averages 7.0 points and shoots 46% from three-point range to lead the Vikings... Parker, Winston and Whitmore will likely be the first three off the bench for the Vikings this season.

CHUCK WAGON: SR G Charles Odum has been the Vikings' offensive leader this season, averaging a team-high 17.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals. He is shooting a stellar .496 from the field and .898 at the line. Odum's shooting would be even better if he could find the range from three-point distance. After hitting .395 from three-point range in 2010-11, Odum is just 5-36 (.139) so far this year. That means he is shooting 52-79 on two-point attempts, a remarkable .658 percentage. Season highlights:
• Odum has scored in double figures in nine games this season and has three 20-point games.
• Odum ranks second in scoring, first in free throw percentage, and fifth in steals in the Big Sky.
• In his last four road games, Odum is averaging 22.0 ppg.
• He was at his best at the Wyoming Jim Thorpe Classic, earning All-Tournament honors. Odum scored a career-high 27 points in a win over Louisiana Tech, then followed it with 25 points in a win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. He shot 16-28 from the field (.571) in those two games and 18-20 at the line (.900).

INSIDE PRESENCE: Portland State's big men have been very good through 10 games this season. SR C Nate Lozeau, SR F Chehales Tapscott and JR F Renado Parker have combined to average 35.6 points, 21.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 2.2 steals per game. They are shooting 104-176 from the field (.591). Tapscott (9.4) leads the Big Sky Conference in rebounding. Lozeau ranks second in field goal percentage (.653).
 
TAP-INS: SR F Chehales Tapscott is a double-double waiting to happen. He is averaging 13.7 points and 9.4 rebounds this season with a Big Sky best five double-doubles... Tapscott also leads the Vikings with 10 blocked shots and 18 steals. Highlights this year:
• Tapscott is shooting .506 from the field and .750 at the line.
• Tapscott has five double-doubles this year to lead the Big Sky, and 11 in 34 career games at Portland State.
• Tapscott ranks first in rebounding, fourth in blocked shots, sixth in scoring and eighth in field goal percentage in the Big Sky.
• Tapscott was named to the Wyoming Jim Thorpe Classic All-Tournament team (11.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, five assists, four blocks, four steals).
• The 6-5 forward scored six of the final eight points in a win over Seattle (11/15), bringing PSU back from a seven-point deficit with 1:39 to play. He hit the game-winning shot with 4.6 seconds to play.

NATE'S NOTES: SR C Nate Lozeau scored a career-high 19 points at Denver. He followed that with 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the win over Seattle... Lozeau then had another career high with 12 rebounds against Linfield. Highlights this year:
• Lozeau is shooting .653 from the field (49-75) to rank second in the Big Sky Conference and seventh in the nation. He is averaging 12.2 points and 7.2 rebounds (14th and 5th, respectively, in the Big Sky). Those numbers are up dramatically from 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds last year.
• Lozeau has posted three double-doubles (four career).

COMING ON: JR G Lateef McMullan started slow but has come on of late, averaging 12.8 points and 3.3 assists  while shooting .436 from the field over his last four games. He had been averaging 5.7 points and 2.0 assists  while shooting .200 from the field in the six games prior to that.

2011-12 SEASON HIGHLIGHT REEL
• SR C Nate Lozeau posted a career-high 19 points in the Vikings' 69-61 loss at Denver (11/11).
• SR F Chehales Tapscott hit a short jump shot in the lane with 4.6 seconds left to beat Seattle, 66-65 (11/15). Tapscott brought PSU back from a 65-58 deficit with 1:39 to play. He scored six of the final eight points, and had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the game. SR C Nate Lozeau added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• Five Vikings scored in double figures as PSU reached 100 points for the first time in 30 games, downing Linfield, 101-64 (11/21). SR F Chehales Tapscott had a game-high 19 points (8-10 FG), while SR C Nate Lozeau scored 14 with a career-high 12 rebounds.
• SR G Charles Odum scored a career-high 27 points (9-14 FG, 9-9 FT) and SR F Chehales Tapscott had a career-high 14 rebounds in leading the Vikings to a 66-48 win over Louisiana Tech (11/26). It was the fewest points allowed by the Vikings in 77 games.
• SR G Charles Odum had 25 points, while JR G Michael Harthun scored a career-high 15, and SR C Nate Lozeau added a double-double in a 79-69 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore (11/27).
• SR G Charles Odum (19.7, 3.7 rpg) and SR F Chehales Tapscott (11.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg) were both named to the Wyoming Jim Thorpe Classic All-Tournament team after leading the Vikings to a 2-1 record.
• PSU routed Walla Walla, 102-47, for its third straight win (12/3), shooting .566 from the field. SR C Nate Lozeau had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the way. SR G Charles Odum added 17 points, four rebounds and four assists.
• JR G Michael Harthun scored a career-high 22 points (9-11 FGs) in leading the Vikings to a 91-87 win over Cal State Bakersfield. Five players scored in double figures and the Vikings shot .673 from the field (33-49), the best by a PSU team in more than two seasons.