Complete notes and statistics in pdf

Portland State will be challenged to get things going in the right direction this Wednesday when it travels to Weber State for a Big Sky Conference game. The Vikings, losers of three in a row, face the Wildcats in a 6:05 p.m. PT game at Dee Events Center. It can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am.
   
PSU (11-13, 4-8) has had a rough go of it the last few weeks, losing seven of its last nine games. Making matters worse, the Vikings travel to a place they have only won once in 15 seasons in the Big Sky: Ogden, UT. Portland State is 1-9 on the road this year, 1-5 in Big Sky road games.
   
A glimmer of good news comes in the form of the return of JR F Chehales Tapscott. After missing six games following knee surgery, the Vikings' leading rebounder is expected to be back on the court this week. Tapscott tore cartilage in his right knee on Jan. 20, in the Vikings' 71-69 win over Weber State at the Stott Center. He had surgery to repair the injury on Jan. 26, and after sitting out three weeks, should be ready to go. The Vikings are 1-5 without Tapscott in the lineup.
   
Weber State (14-9, 8-4) stands in third place in the Big Sky Conference. The Wildcats will try to avenge their earlier loss to the Vikings. Since that time, WSU has won five straight games. Weber State is 9-1 at home this year.
   
Portland State returns to the Stott Center on Saturday for a non-conference game with Loyola Marymount. The Vikings host the Lions in a 4:05 p.m. game as part of the ESPN BracketBuster series. The game will not be televised. It is the second game of a Viking doubleheader (PSU women vs. Northern Arizona, 1 p.m.) that day.

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (11-13, 4-8) vs. WEBER STATE WILDCATS (14-9, 8-4)
Wednesday, February 16, 6:05 p.m. PT @ Dee Events Center (12,000), Ogden, UT
Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.970.am • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 5:30 p.m.
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: WSU leads 26-11 • PSU in Ogden: 1-17
Big Sky Series: WSU leads 22-11 • PSU in Ogden: 1-15

STORYLINES
• The series: Weber State leads the all-time series 26-11 and the Big Sky series 22-11... the Vikings are just 1-17 all-time in Ogden, including 1-15 in Big Sky Conference games... PSU has won the last two years in Portland, but got its only win in Ogden in 2006... Weber State owns a 4-0 lead in Big Sky Conference Tournament games... the Wildcats have won four of the last six and eight of the last 11 in the series.
• Jan. 20: Portland State came back from six-point second-half deficit to win. Dane Johnson sparked a 12-0 run in the comeback with two big steals, two assists and a basket... Charles Odum's 16 points led four Vikings in double figures... Portland State committed just seven turnovers in the game... WSU's Scott Bamforth scored a game-high 20 points (6-9 FG, 6-7 3-pt, 2-2 FT) with six assists.
• Three At A Time: Wildcat guard Scott Bamforth leads the Big Sky Conference in three-point field goals made (2.6 per game) and three-point percentage (.542). He also leads the nation in three-point percentage...the Wildcats lead the Big Sky in three-pointers made (8.5) and rank fifth in the nation in three-point percentage (.429).
• The Wildcats: Weber State was 20-11 last season. The Wildcats went 13-3 in the Big Sky Conference, winning the regular season. Although they hosted the Big Sky Tournament, they lost to Montana in the championship... WSU has two starters and six letterwinners back from that squad... WSU has won regular season titles three of the last four years under Head Coach Randy Rahe. However, they have lost in the Big Sky Tournament in Ogden the last two years... Rahe is in his fifth season at Weber State and has compiled a 91-56 record. He is 8-3 all-time against the Vikings.
• This year: Weber State is 14-9 this year, 8-4 in the Big Sky Conference... WSU is on a five-game winning streak... the Wildcats have had to overcome the loss of 2009-10 Big Sky Player of the Year Damian Lillard who suffered a broken right foot earlier in the season. Lillard had been averaging 19.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists... guards Lindsey Hughey and Scott Bamforth each average 12.4 points  and 2.9 assists per game... forward Kyle Bullinger averages 10.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game... Weber State leads the Big Sky in scoring (73.5) and three-pointers made (8.5). WSU is fifth in the nation in three-point percentage (.429).

VIKINGS FACE LOYOLA MARYMOUNT IN ESPN BRACKETBUSTER
This Saturday, PSU hosts Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference in an ESPN BracketBuster game. Eleven BracketBuster games will be televised by ESPN, but the PSU/LMU game will NOT be televised. The Vikings will play a return game with the Lions within the next two seasons.   
   
PSU's game with LMU will take place at 4:05 p.m. as the second game of a doubleheader with the Portland State women (vs. Northern Arizona).
   
PSU is 1-1 against WCC teams this year, beating Pepperdine and losing to Portland. The Vikings are 3-2 against WCC teams in Head Coach Tyler Geving's two seasons. PSU is 6-2 against the WCC dating back to the start of the 2007-08 season, including 3-1 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.
   
Portland State leads the all-time series with Loyola Marymount, 2-1 (1-0 in Portland), but the teams have not met since the 2001-02 season.
   
Portland State will be playing its fifth ESPN BracketBuster game in the last seven seasons. The Vikings are 1-3 in the previous four with the home team winning every game. PSU is 2-2 in the return games.
    Feb. 19, 2005: at Middle Tennessee State 83, Portland State 62
    Feb. 17, 2007: at Cal Poly 92, Portland State 87
    Feb. 23, 2008: at Cal State Fullerton 85, Portland State 69
    Feb. 21, 2009: at Portland State 93, Boise State 81

GAME WEEK ACTIVITIES
VIKINGS ON RADIO: All Portland State basketball games can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am. The Viking Pregame Show begins one-half hour prior to tipoff with Tom Hewitt calling all the action.
INTERNET STREAMING: 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: Portland State Basketball tickets are priced from $10-$15 for adults and $7-$10 for juniors and seniors. Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com. They are also available to the Portland State ticket office, or at the Stott Center beginning 90 minutes prior to the game. The Portland State Ticket Office is located Smith Memorial Union, 1825 SW Broadway on the Portland State campus or call 888-VIK-TIKS/503-725-3307.

VIKING BASKETBALL TAKES PART IN FOOD DRIVE MONTH
February is the annual Governor's State Employees Food Drive Month, and Portland State University is participating by placing food barrels throughout the campus during the entire month. The drive kicked off Monday, Jan. 31, and will run through Monday, Feb. 28.
   
Any fan bringing a food item for donation to the Food Drive for the Feb. 24 Montana game and/or Feb. 26 Montana State game will receive a discounted $7 ticket.
   
Hunger in Oregon continues to hover above the national average, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Due to the impacts of the current national recession, we are now amongst the hungriest states in the nation,” wrote then-governor elect John Kitzhaber in a Dec. 8 letter to food drive coordinators.
   
Non-perishable food items especially needed are canned foods, canned and boxed meals, peanut butter (plastic jars only please), pasta, rice, cereal, powdered milk and fruit juices. Monetary donations are also needed. Checks should be made payable to the Oregon Food Bank and will be collected by Amy Ross, Executive Assistant, President's Office (341 Cramer Hall). For more information, go to http://www.oregon.gov/FOODDRIVE/

FAST BREAKS
WINNING LINES 
• PSU is 8-4 at home this year, 3-3 in Big Sky home games... since the start of the 2007-08 season, Portland State is 41-10 at home, including 25-7 in Big Sky Conference games.
• The Vikings have now come back to win three times when trailing at halftime this year. They are 3-10 when trailing at half, 8-3 when leading or tied.
• The Vikings are 3-9 on the road this season, including 2-0 in neutral site games... PSU is 1-5 in Big Sky road games.
• PSU has gone 109-37 in 146 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 140-52 at home over the past 15 seasons.
• PSU is 36-24 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 41-25 including tournament games.

ROAD WEARY IN THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE, ONE AND ALL: With as challenging a travel schedule as any league in the country, the Big Sky Conference proves how hard it is to win on the road - just by looking at records.
    • The bottom five teams in the league are an unbelievable 5-56 in road games.
    • The Vikings, currently in seventh in the conference, are only 1-9 on the road.
    • The top four teams (all with records over .500) are a mediocre 18-31.
    • In league play, the top two teams - Montana and Northern Colorado are 7-6 on the road. The other seven teams are 8-35 on the road. That makes 15-41 overall for road teams.

THE SHOT WON'T FALL: Portland State has lost five of six games, and in all five losses shot poorly... in the five losses PSU was 101-262 from the field (.389).

MISSING THE GLASS MAN: With leading rebounder JR F Chehales Tapscott (8.2 pg) out, the Vikings have been outrebounded by their last five opponents by an average of 10.8 boards per game.

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE: Despite losing seven of the last nine games, the 11-13 Vikings are still a game ahead of last year's pace (10-14). PSU was 13-19 overall last season. 

INJURIES PLAGUE VIKINGS IN 2010-11: The Portland State Vikings have lost 33 games to injuries to four different players this year. The Vikings hope to get back JR F Chehales Tapscott, who ranks second in the conference in rebounding, this week. Tapscott has missed six games due to a knee injury. The Vikings have lost five of those games... PSU was without SR F Phil Nelson for the first 14 games of the season because of a broken left foot. Nelson is just now rounding into form after being on the court for about one month. He also missed the last 12 games of last year... JR C Nate Lozeau missed four games with a bad ankle sprain and just returned to action last week... JR G Terry Coleman struggled with ankle and lower leg injuries in the first half of the season and missed nine games as a result... PSU has played 13 games this season with just nine available players.

GIVING HIS BIG SKY BEST: JR G Charles Odum has been tearing up the Big Sky. In 12 Big Sky games, Odum averages a team-best 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. He is shooting .574 from the field, .563 from three-point range and .712 at the line in Big Sky games. Odum has led the team in scoring six times and twice set a new career-high. He has career-high 24-point games at Montana (1/15) and against Idaho State (2/10), and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds against Northern Arizona (1/22)... Odum was averaging 12.7 points in non-conference games... Odum now averages a team-leading 14.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, shoots .530 from the field, .459 from three-point range and .736 at the line for the season.

HE'S GOT A HANDLE ON IT: Moving JR G Charles Odum into the starting lineup meant moving SR G Melvin Jones over to the point from his more comfortable shooting-guard role. Jones has responded by committing just 10 turnovers in 13 games... in the Jan. 29 win over Sacramento State, Jones put up one of his best shooting lines in two seasons as a Viking. He made 6-9 field goals, including 5-7 from three-point range. The shot that will be most remembered though was the 5-10 guard's driving dunk after the Hornets had closed the Viking lead to five inside the final minute... Jones is averaging 11.1 points, 2.4 assists and has team-bests of 57 three-point field goals and an .810 free throw percentage.

TOWERING TREE: SR F Tree Thomas went for a career-high 29 points in the Vikings' win over Sacramento State on Jan. 29. He made 9-16 from the field and 11-13 at the line. The last time a Viking scored more points was 49 games ago (32 by Dominic Waters on Nov. 21, 2009 against Cal Poly)... Thomas has scored 116 points (40-74 FG) in his last eight games and raised his scoring average to 9.7 per game this year. Thomas is now shooting .500 from the field and .806 at the line. He averages 11.9 points and shoots .538 in Big Sky Conference games.

LOOKING FOR A SLUMP BUSTER: SO G Chris Harriel has gone through a shooting slump in the last eight games, averaging just 8.6 points and shooting 27% from the field. Prior to that, his play made him the easy choice for Most Improved Viking this season while averaging 16.2 points... Harriel has already set three new career scoring highs (now 25) and three new career rebounding highs (now 12)... Harriel averages 13.8 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals.

STARTING TO PHIL IT UP: SR F Phil Nelson has scored 34 points with 24 rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots in his last four games as he is getting more comfortable on the floor following a long injury layoff. Nelson started for the first time this year at Northern Colorado... prior to that, Nelson had averaged 3.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in six games... Nelson's long-awaited return came on Jan. 8 against Eastern Washington. Nelson had missed 26 straight games after breaking his left foot twice. Nelson broke his foot late last January, missing the final 12 games of the season. He had been averaging 12.9 points and had 48 three-point field goals through 20 games. Nelson reinjured the foot on Nov. 8 and missed the first 14 games of this year. PSU went 13-13 in the 26 games Nelson had missed since Jan. 30... Nelson has started 55 games in his Viking career. PSU is 31-24 in those games and 34-29 overall in games he plays.

GREAT TAP-SCOTT!: A knee injury for JR F Chehales Tapscott put his season on hold for three weeks. But it is expected that he will return to action this week. The Vikings have missed their leading rebounder and shot-blocker as they have been out-boarded by 10.9 per game over the last five contests... the former NWAACC Player of the Year from Clackamas CC is averaging 11.7 points, a team-high 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He is shooting .463 from the field and has 13 blocked shots.

DANE'S DIMES: Coach Tyler Geving has gone back to using JR G Dane Johnson almost exclusive as backup point guard. He has averaged 19 minutes per game over the last five contests and handed out 18 assists during that span... in the last two games, Johnson has 19 points and has not missed a shot (5-5 FG, 4-4 3-pt, 5-5 FT), and has seven assists... Johnson leads the Vikings this year with 68 assists while starting 12 games and averaging 18 minutes per game... Johnson had a career-high 12 points at Northern Colorado (3-3 3-pt FG, 3-3 FT), four assists and two steals... he shoots .538 from the field, .400 from three-point range and has a remarkable 68/29 assist-to-turnover ratio.