complete notes and stats in pdf

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (6-7, 0-1) vs. MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (5-7, 0-1)
Friday, December 30, 2011, 6:05 p.m. @ Worthington Arena (7,250), Bozeman, MT
Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6 p.m.
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: MSU leads 25-18 • PSU in Bozeman: 4-18
Big Sky Series: MSU leads 19-15 • PSU in Bozeman: 3-13

Portland State will try to pick up a split on its' most difficult Big Sky Conference road trip when the Vikings play at Montana State this Friday. The Vikings and Bobcats meet in a 6:05 p.m. PT game at Worthington Arena in Bozeman.  The game can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. Live video streaming is available for free at www.b2tv.com.
    
PSU dropped its Big Sky opener at Montana on Wednesday, 75-64. The Vikings are now 6-7 on the season and have lost five of six games. The Vikings are also 0-7 on the road this season. With the loss at Montana, the Vikings have lost eight Big Sky road games in a row.
    
MSU also lost its Big Sky opener at home against Eastern Washington, 82-66, on Wednesday. The Bobcats are 5-7 overall, including 3-3 at home.

GETTING A WIN IN THE TREASURE STATE ISN'T EASY
Winning a Big Sky basketball game in the state of Montana has been tough to say the least for the Vikings. The trip through the Treasure State has always been the most difficult for the Vikings since joining the Big Sky in 1996. PSU is 3-13 at Montana and 3-12 at Montana State all-time in Big Sky games (6-25) on the Montana trip. The Vikings have accomplished a sweep of the two schools just one time in 15 previous seasons. For comparison, PSU is 12-18 all-time on the Northern Arizona/Sacramento State trip and 9-21 on the Weber State/Idaho State road trip (also 3-2 in Greeley and 5-11 in Cheney).

PORTLAND STATE IN THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE
Portland State begins its 16th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. PSU won the 2004-05 and 2007-08 Big Sky Conference regular season titles and won the 2008 and 2009 Big Sky Conference Tournament titles, advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Vikings have had six winning records in conference play and earned nine Big Sky Tournament berths in 12 seasons eligible. The Vikings are 7-7 all-time in the tourney.
    
The Vikings have been picked to place fifth in both the Big Sky Conference media poll and coaches poll this season.

STORYLINES
• The series: Montana State leads the all-time (25-18) and Big Sky (19-15) series with Portland State... MSU leads 13-3 in Big Sky games in Bozeman... Portland State has won all three meetings between the schools in Big Sky Tournament play... in 2009, PSU beat Montana State, 79-77, in the Big Sky Tournament championship played in Ogden, UT... in 2010, PSU won a quarterfinal round game at Bozeman, 68-65.
• Last year: The teams split the season series with each winning on its home court... MSU won in Bozeman on Jan. 13, 74-65, despite making only 6-22 free throws... the Vikings won in Portland on Feb. 26, 69-64.... Charles Odum scored 31 points in the two games against the Bobcats, hitting 11-18 FGs, 4-7 3-pt FGs, and 4-4 FTs.
• The Bobcats: Montana State was 13-18 overall in 2010-11. The Bobcats were 7-9 in Big Sky play, tying for fifth... MSU has won four Big Sky season championships and two Big Sky Tournament championships during its history. The Bobcats have made three NCAA Tournament appearances... one starter and five letterwinners return from last season... Xavier Blount is the Bobcats' leading scorer at 11.1 points per game... Tre Johnson averages 10.0 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game... Christian Moon is averaging 10.3 points and has a team-high 24 three-pointers... Mohammed Fall leads the Big Sky in blocked shots (1.6)... as a team, Montana State leads the Big Sky in blocked shots (4.0) and steals (8.3).
• Head Coach Brad Huse is in his sixth year at Montana State and has a 73-90 record... in 14 seasons overall, Huse has a 257-150 record... Huse is 5-8 all-time against Portland State.

VIKING HEAD COACH TYLER GEVING
Tyler Geving is in his third season as Head Coach and seventh season overall with the Portland State program. 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:
    • Geving is 33-42 all-time at Portland State.
    • 13-22 all-time against Big Sky Conference opponents, 20-20 all-time in non-conference games.
    • Geving is 22-9 at home. He is 11-33 on the road, including 4-2 in neutral site games.
    • Geving is 2-3 all-time against Montana State.

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.
TICKETS: Tickets for all home games are available for $15 (reserved) and $10 (general admission). Youth prices are $10 and $7. Groups of 15 or more get special admission prices. To purchase tickets by phone, call 1.888.VIK.TIKS or 503.725.3307. Tickets are on sale at the PSU Ticket Office, located in Smith Memorial Student Union. Tickets are also available at the Stott Center beginning 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

FAST BREAKS
BIG SKY BEST: The Viking team leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage (.470) and rebounding margin (+5.6)...SR F Chehales Tapscott leads the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (9.0)... SR G Charles Odum ranks third in scoring (17.5) and leads in free throw percentage (.904)... SR C Nate Lozeau leads the league in field goal percentage (.596).

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 26 more free throws than its opponents have attempted (PSU 224-300, .747; Opponents 153-198, .773).

PERILOUS PERIMETER: Portland State is the best shooting team in the Big Sky (.470) but has been struggling mightily from three-point range this season, hitting 58-216 (.269). PSU was 4-17 at Montana on Wednesday (.235). The Vikings had been 17-42 (.405) in the previous three games... this came after the Vikings made a season-worst 1-14 (.071) from three-point range in a six-point loss at Utah Valley, then were just 5-19 at Oregon (.263)... currently, PSU is making 4.5 per game. That is way down from a team that has averaged between seven and nine per game over the last four years, while shooting between .352 and .393 each year (and leading the Big Sky in scoring each year).

IF/THEN...: Portland State is easily the best two-point shooting team in the Big Sky at .551 from two-point range. The only other Big Sky team shooting better than .500 from two-point range is Sacramento State (.509). Northern Colorado shoots .490 from two-point distance.

DEFENSIVE DIVISION: Through the first seven games of the season, the Vikings were allowing just 61.0 points to rank first in the Big Sky. 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 88.1 points per game over the last six (186-357 opp FG, .521), losing five. The level of competition has been admittedly much tougher in those games including a pair of Pac-12 opponents and the Big West favorite (CSF), but the Vikings will have to put the clamps back on to get back in the win column.

“BIGS” BASKETS: Every member of Portland State's “big guys” is currently shooting .500 or better, all the way down the roster: JR F Renado Parker (.628), SR C Nate Lozeau (.596), FR F Kidus Ephrem (.538), SR F Chehales Tapscott (.509) and FR C Brandon Cataldo (.533)... the result is PSU shoots a Big Sky-best .470 from the field as a team... PSU's three main big men, Tapscott, Lozeau and Parker combine to average 34.5 points, 20.3 rebounds and have 20 blocked shots. They shoot a combined 137-247 (.563) from the field and 95-130 (.731) from the line.

CHUCK WAGON: SR G Charles Odum has been the Vikings' offensive leader this season, averaging a team-high 17.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals. He is shooting a stellar .503 from the field and .904 at the line... Odum tied his career-high with 27 points in the Big Sky opener at Montana (8-13 FG, 2-4 3-pt FG, 9-9 FT).

TAP-INS: SR F Chehales Tapscott is a double-double waiting to happen. He is averaging 13.4 points and 9.0 rebounds this season with a Big Sky best five double-doubles... Tapscott also leads the Vikings with 13 blocked shots and 21 steals... he handed out a career-high six assists at Cal State Fullerton… Tapscott is shooting .509 from the field and .741 at the line.

SIXTH MAN: JR F Renado Parker has been making the impact hoped for when he became eligible for the Vikings at the end of fall term. Though only 6-5, Parker is a powerful post player who has performed well as the Vikings' sixth man. Parker averages 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in his first six games. He shoots .628 from the field and .750 at the line.