complete notes and stats in pdf

MONTANA GRIZZLIES (14-6, 7-1) vs. PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (10-10, 4-4) 
Sunday, January 29, 1:05 p.m. @ Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR
Television: Altitude TV/CSN (ch. 37/HD 737 in Portland) • Play-by-play: Rich Winter • Analyst: Jay McMillin
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 12:30 p.m.
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: UM leads 28-20 • PSU in Portland: 14-9 
Big Sky Series: UM leads 20-11 • PSU in Portland: 8-7

Portland State and Montana meet this Sunday afternoon at the Stott Center in the Altitude TV/Big Sky Conference Game of the Week. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. as the teams meet in a game televised on Altitude and Comcast SportsNet in the Portland area. The game also airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com and can also be seen on www.b2tv.com.

The Vikings will try to recover, regroup and reload for the second-place Grizzlies after a disheartening loss on Thursday night to Montana State. PSU led the Bobcats by 15 points with 11:39 to play in the game, but gave it all back, losing 70-65. That dropped Portland State to 10-10 on the season, 4-4 in the Big Sky Conference, and ended a three-game winning streak. However, the Vikings remain in fourth place - now tied with Idaho State. PSU is 6-2 at home this year.

Montana comes into Sunday's game red-hot, having won three in a row and nine of its last 10. The Grizzlies beat Eastern Washington on Thursday, 74-60. That makes them 14-6 this season, 7-1 in the Big Sky. Montana is 5-4 on the road, including 3-1 in Big Sky road games.

It gets no easier for the Vikings after third-place Montana State and second-place Montana, they travel to first-place Weber State (8-0) next Thursday. After that, PSU plays its' last six games against teams currently in fourth through ninth place in the Big Sky (Northern Arizona, Idaho State, Sacramento State (twice), Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado).

STORYLINES

• The series: Portland State and Montana will meet for the 32nd time in a Big Sky Conference game and 49th time in history. Montana leads the all-time series, 28-20, and Big Sky series, 20-11... the Grizzlies have won six straight in the series, including the last two in Portland - though by just a combined six points.

• Dec. 28: Montana won the conference opener over the Vikings in Missoula, 75-64... the Grizzlies shot .532 from the field, and made 9-13 from three-point range (.692), while the Vikings were at just .377 and 4-17 (.235)... Charles Odum scored 27 points for the Vikings and Renado Parker came off the bench for 16 points and eight rebounds.... Kareem Jamar scored 17 points with four assists for the Grizzlies.

• The Grizzlies: Montana was 21-11 last season, 12-4 in the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies placed second in the league and advanced to the post-season College Basketball Invitational... throughout history, Montana has won five Big Sky Conference season titles, and seven Big Sky Tournament titles... Montana has played in the NCAA Tournament eight times... four starters and eight letterwinners return from last year's team... the Grizzlies are leading the Big Sky Conference in scoring defense (62.6) and field goal percentage defense (.409)... Will Cherry is the team leader in scoring (14.9), assists (3.6) and the Big Sky leader in steals (2.3)... Kareem Jamar is averaging 13.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and shooting .424 from three-point range... Mathias Ward averages 10.0 points and shoots .571 from the field.

• Head Coach Wayne Tinkle, a Montana alum, is in his sixth year as head coach for the Grizzlies. He has a 105-70 record... Tinkle is 6-3 all-time against Portland State. 

COACHES VS. CANCER

In recognition of the Coaches vs. Cancer program, Portland State Basketball Coach Tyler Geving will donate $100 to the Doernbecher Children's Hospital at OHSU for every three-pointer made by the Vikings in their game vs. Montana.  Fans will also have the opportunity to donate to Doernbecher Children's Hospital by visiting the marketing table at the game in the lobby of the Stott Center.

VIKINGS ON KUIK NEXT THURSDAY 

Due to radio scheduling conflicts, Portland State basketball will have one game next week air on AM 1360 KUIK. PSU's game at Weber State will air on KUIK and www.kuik.com at 6 p.m. PT. All other Viking basketball games remain on the flagship station Freedom 970 AM.

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 37-45 all-time at Portland State.

• 17-25 all-time against Big Sky Conference opponents, 20-20 all-time in non-conference games.

• Geving is 24-11 at home. He is 13-34 on the road, including 4-2 in neutral site games.

• Geving is 0-5 all-time against Montana - the only Big Sky school he has not beaten.

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: Portland State has four televised games this year in the Portland area. They are: Nov. 11 against Denver 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.

RECENT GAME: VIKINGS GIVE BACK SECOND-HALF LEAD, LOSE 

Portland, OR - The Portland State Vikings let one get away Thursday night, giving up a 15-point second half lead and falling to Montana State, 70-65, in a Big Sky Conference game at the Stott Center.

The Vikings were up 58-43 with 11:39 to play, but fell into an eight-minute scoring drought, allowing the Bobcats to rally back for the victory. Still, PSU led 65-62 with 1:45 to go but missed a shot and committed three turnovers down the stretch. Meanwhile, Shawn Reid made a clutch three-pointer with 28.6 seconds to play giving MSU a 67-65 lead, and a moment later his two free throws sealed the game.

Portland State was playing MSU for a share of third place in the Big Sky, but instead remain in fourth place, tied with Idaho State at 4-4. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Vikings who are now 10-10 overall.

Montana State improved to 11-8, 6-2. The Bobcats have won four in a row and six of their last seven.

The first half was a shootout as Montana State made 18-30 from the field (.600) and the Vikings hit 15-27 (.556), including seven three-pointers. PSU's Lateef McMullan hit a midcourt bomb at the halftime buzzer, but the Bobcats led 41-39.

McMullen gave the Vikings the lead with a driving three-point play two minutes into the second half. That started a 19-2 Viking run. With a 58-43 lead at the 11:39 mark, PSU appeared to have the game in hand. But they went 8:06 without scoring, missing 11 straight shots. 

The Bobcats closed to 58-54 before Charles Odum hit a driving laying and was fouled with 3:33 to play. His three-point play gave the Vikings a 61-54 advantage. But MSU went on a 16-4 binge in the closing moments to get the win.

MSU made just 9-28 second-half shots (.321), but made them when they counted at the end. Reid and Xaiver Blount led the Bobcats with 15 points each. Reid also had a game-high eight rebounds.

The Vikings made only 10-30 shots in the second half and finished at 25-57 for the game (.439). Odum led the Vikings with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Gary Winston and Michael Harthun each scored 11 for the Vikings.

GAME NOTES: With the win, Montana State sweeps the season series from the Vikings… McMullan set a new career high with seven assists… the Vikings had 17 turnovers to just nine for the Bobcats.

FAST BREAKS

WINNING LINES  

• PSU was also 10-10 after 20 games last season.

• The Vikings are 6-2 at home this year, 2-2 in Big Sky games... over the last six seasons, PSU is 61-16 at home, including 31-13 in Big Sky Conference games.

• The Vikings are 4-8 on the road this season, including two neutral site wins... the Vikings are 2-2 in Big Sky road games... Portland State ended a nine-game Big Sky Conference road losing streak with the win at Northern Colorado and has now won two in a row.

• PSU has gone 117-40 in 157 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 148-55 at home over the past 16 seasons. 

• PSU is 41-31 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 46-32 including tournament games.

BETTER THAN EVEN: Portland State is now two games over .500 all-time against current members of the Big Sky Conference (148-146). Here are the all-time records: PSU has winning records vs. Idaho State (26-15), Northern Arizona (20-17), Northern Colorado (12-3), Sacramento State (22-10) and Eastern Washington (19-18). PSU has losing all-time records against Montana (20-28), Montana State (18-27) and Weber State (11-28)... And approaching even: PSU is 125-127 all-time in Big Sky Conference games against current Big Sky schools.

BIG SKY BEST: The Viking team leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal shooting (.483) and ranks second in scoring (76.8), free throw percentage (.748) and rebounding margin (+3.5)... SR F Chehales Tapscott leads the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (8.8), is second in blocked shots (1.3) and steals (1.9)... SR G Charles Odum ranks second in scoring (18.2) behind the nation's leader Damian Lillard (24.8). He is third in free throw percentage (.846)... SR C Nate Lozeau ranks third in field goal percentage (.576)... in Big Sky Conference only games, Tapscott leads the Big Sky in rebounding (8.9), steals (2.4) and blocked shots (1.9)... Odum averages 20.4 points to rank second.

LIGHTS OUT: The Vikings have shot over .500 seven times this season and are 5-2 in those games... PSU has shot over .600 three times this year and are 3-0 in those games... PSU shot .673 (33-49) in a win over CSU Bakersfield (12/15). That was 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.

2 VS. 3: Portland State is the league's best overall shooting (.483) and two-point shooting team (.552), while shooting just .317 from three-point range... the only other Big Sky team shooting better than .500 from two-point range is Northern Colorado (.501). 

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SHOOTING: The Vikings are 10-1 when shooting a higher percentage than their opponents, 0-9 when opponents outshot them.

SCORING IN BUNCHES: SR G Charles Odum has scored 20 or more points eight times this season - with seven of those coming on the road. 

• Odum has scored 20 in five of the last eight games, including a career-high 29 against Idaho State (1/16). 

• In Odum's eight 20-point games, he is 61-105 from the field (.581), averaging 24.2 points and the Vikings are 5-3.

• Odum is averaging 20.4 points in league games.

GAME-WINNERS: Portland State has had two game-winning shots coming inside the final five seconds of games this season. On Nov. 15, SR F Chehales Tapscott hit a short jumper in the lane against Seattle with 4.6 seconds to play, giving the Vikings a 66-65 win... last Saturday, SR G Charles Odum made a 12-footer in the lane with two seconds left in overtime to beat Eastern Washington, 78-76.

TOP 10 GUY: SR F Chehales Tapscott ranks first in rebounding (8.8), sixth in field goal percentage (.542), seventh in scoring (13.9), second in blocked shots (1.3) and steals (1.9) in the Big Sky. Alas, he is only 14th in free throw percentage (.738).

EMERGING: JR G Lateef McMullan's game is getting better as the season progresses. He scored a career-high 20 points and along with six assists in the win at Northern Colorado (1/12)... McMullan handed out a season-high seven assists against Montana State (1/26)... over the last four games, he has averaged 14.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds, making 16-33 shots (.485)... averaging 7.0 points and 2.3 assists after eight games, McMullan has scored in double figures in nine of the last 12 contests to improve to 10.3 points and 2.8 assists per game.

THUN-ING UP: JR G Michael Harthun is getting more and more comfortable at shooting guard for the Vikings as the season goes along. “Toon” is now shooting .469 from the field, .429 from three-point range, averages 9.4 points and has a team-high 30 three-pointers made... over the last 12 games, he has made 21-43 from three-point range (.488).

THE VIKINGS ON TELEVISION: Portland State is 17-34 in games televised in the Portland area since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. That includes a 9-5 home record and 8-29 road record. PSU is 0-3 on TV this year losing at Denver (69-61), Oregon (79-70) and Oregon State (101-68)... 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.