PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (10-11, 4-5) vs. WEBER STATE WILDCATS (16-4, 8-1) 
Thursday, February 2, 6:05 p.m. PT @ Dee Events Center (11,500), Ogden, UT
Television: None
Radio: AM 1360 KUIK, www.kuik.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6 p.m. PT
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: WSU leads 28-11 • PSU in Ogden: 1-18 
Big Sky Series: WSU leads 24-11 • PSU in Ogden: 1-16

Portland State goes on the road this week for a pair of challenging games and with the knowledge that they have a long way to go to reach the Big Sky Conference post-season. PSU entered last week in fourth place and with a pair of home games on the docket. After two close home losses to the league's third- and co-first-place teams, the Vikings are now tied for fifth with Eastern Washington in the league standings.

This Thursday, PSU travels to league co-leader Weber State for a 6:05 p.m. PT game. On Saturday, the Vikings play at Northern Arizona in a 5:35 p.m. PT game. The Thursday game will air on AM 1360 KUIK and the Saturday game airs on the PSU flagship station Freedom 970 AM. Both games are available via live video stream at www.b2tv.com.

Portland State is now 10-11 on the season after last week's two losses. The Vikings gave up a 15-point second half lead to Montana State on Thursday, losing 70-65. Then, PSU fell just short in a 69-67 loss to Big Sky co-leader Montana on Sunday. Those two losses were disappointing as the Vikings moved down in the standings into a fifth-place tie at 4-5. 

Idaho State has passed the Vikings at 5-4, winning four of its last five games (with the lone loss to PSU). The Bengals had a shocking upset of the Big Sky's top team Weber State, 64-62, on Saturday. WSU had won 10 in a row before that loss and is now 16-4 overall this year, 8-1 in the Big Sky. The Wildcats, 11-0 at home this year, will host Portland State on Thursday. WSU beat the Vikings, 88-81, in Portland on Jan. 7 behind 38 points from the nation's leading scorer, Damian Lillard.

Northern Arizona, which hosts Northern Colorado on Monday night, is 5-16 this season, 1-8 in the Big Sky and tied for eighth place. NAU has lost eight in a row, including an 82-62 decision to the Vikings on Jan. 5 in Portland.

Portland State's remaining Big Sky games in February include at Idaho State (Feb. 9, 5-4), Sacramento State (Feb. 15, 1-8), at Sacramento State (Feb. 23, 1-8), Eastern Washington (Feb. 25, 4-5) and Northern Colorado (Feb. 28, 3-5).

VIKINGS ON KUIK ONE TIME ONLY THIS THURSDAY 

Due to radio scheduling conflicts, Portland State basketball will have one game this 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.

STORYLINES

• The series: Weber State has won 10 of the last 13 meetings and seven straight in Ogden... the Wildcats lead the Big Sky series, 24-11, and the all-time series, 28-11... the Wildcats hold the best record against Portland State of any Big Sky school... WSU is 4-0 all-time against the Vikings in Big Sky Tournament games.

• Jan. 7: The teams combined to shoot over 65% with just five turnovers in the first half... Lillard scored 23 of his game-high 38 in the first half, hitting 7-8 three-pointers. He had 15 and Scott Bamforth added 19 in the second half to bring WSU all the way back from a 15-point deficit... Chehales Tapscott had a season-high 26 points with eight rebounds and three steals for the Vikings.

• The Wildcats: Weber State has won 20 Big Sky Conference regular season titles, the most of any school in the 49-year history of the league. The Wildcats have won eight Big Sky Tournament Championships and made 14 appearances in the NCAA Tournament... last year, WSU was 18-14 overall, 11-5 and third in the Big Sky Conference... three starters and eight letterwinners return from that team... Damian Lillard averages 24.8 points per game to lead the nation in scoring. His .902 free throw percentage and 3.4 three-pointers per game also lead the Big Sky and rank in the nation's top 10. Lillard also gets a team-best 3.7 assists per game... Scott Bamforth averages 15.6 points and has made 55 three-pointers... WSU leads the Big Sky in scoring (78.1), scoring margin (+10.7) and free throw percentage (.799)... the Wildcats are first in the nation in free throw percentage, seventh in three-pointers made (9.1) and eighth in fewest turnovers (10.7).

• Head Coach Randy Rahe is in his sixth year at Weber State and has a 111-65 record.... he is 10-3 all-time against the Vikings. 

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (10-11, 4-5) vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA L'JACKS (5-16, 1-8)
Saturday, February 4, 5:35 p.m. PT @ Rolle Activity Center (1,000), Flagstaff, AZ
Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 5 p.m. PT
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: PSU leads 20-17 • PSU in Flagstaff: 6-10 
Big Sky Series: PSU leads 18-16 • PSU in Flagstaff: 5-10

STORYLINES

• The series: Portland State leads the all-time series, 20-17, and the Big Sky series, 18-16... NAU leads 2-1 in Big Sky Tournament meetings.... the Vikings broke a four-game losing streak to the Lumberjacks with an 82-62 win on Jan. 5. 

• Jan. 5: Portland State shoots 62% from the field, including 7-14 from three-point range in the win... PSU's full-court trapping pressure forces 23 NAU turnovers and allows the Vikings 22 points on the fast break... Charles Odum leads four Vikings in double figures with 18 points and five assists... Michael Dunn scored 16 points to lead Northern Arizona.

• The Lumberjacks: Northern Arizona has won four Big Sky regular season titles and two Big Sky Tournament titles during its history... the Lumberjacks have made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament... NAU was 19-13 last season, 9-7 and fourth in the Big Sky Conference... three starters and seven letterwinners return from that team... James Douglas leads the Lumberjacks in scoring at 12.0 points per game. He has made 36-86 three-point field goals (.419)... Stallon Saldivar averages 5.4 assists per game... Northern Arizona ranks last in the Big Sky Conference in scoring (62.0) while shooting just .411... opponents shoot .507 from the field.

• Interim Head Coach Dave Brown took over in December after previous coach Mike Adras abruptly resigned. Since taking over, Brown has led the Lumberjacks to a 3-9 record.

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 37-46 all-time at Portland State.

• 17-26 all-time against Big Sky Conference opponents, 20-20 all-time in non-conference games.

• Geving is 24-12 at home. He is 13-34 on the road, including 4-2 in neutral site games.

• Geving is 2-3 all-time against Weber State and 1-4 all-time against Northern Arizona.

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. 

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.

GEVING CONTRIBUTES $1000 TO DOERNBECHER

In recognition of the Coaches vs. Cancer program, Portland State Basketball Coach Tyler Geving pledged $100 to Doernbecher Children's Hospital at OHSU for every three-pointer made by the Vikings in their game against Montana.  The Vikings made 6-12 in the game, but afterward, Geving said he would donate an even $1,000. Adding in fan donations at the game that day, $1,400 will be donated to Doernbecher's for cancer research.

FAST BREAKS

WINNING LINES  

• PSU was also 10-11 after 21 games last season.

• The Vikings are 6-3 at home this year, 2-3 in Big Sky games... over the last six seasons, PSU is 61-17 at home, including 31-14 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 117-41 in 158 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 148-56 at home over the past 16 seasons. 

• PSU is 41-32 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 46-33 including tournament games.

BETTER THAN EVEN: Portland State is still one game over .500 all-time against current members of the Big Sky Conference (148-147). 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 (18-28) and Weber State (11-28)... And approaching even: PSU is 125-128 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 (.480) and ranks second in scoring (76.4), free throw percentage (.746) and rebounding margin (+4.0)... SR F Chehales Tapscott leads the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (9.1) and double-doubles (8), is second in blocked shots (1.3) and steals (2.0)... SR G Charles Odum ranks second in scoring (18.2) behind the nation's leader Damian Lillard (24.4). He is third in free throw percentage (.846)... in Big Sky Conference only games, Tapscott leads the Big Sky in rebounding (9.7), steals (2.7) and blocked shots (1.8)... Odum averages 20.2 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 (.480) and two-point shooting team (.545), while shooting just .324 from three-point range... the only other Big Sky teams shooting .500 from two-point range are Northern Colorado (.501) and Weber State (.500). 

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

NATIONAL RANKINGS: In NCAA statistics released on Monday, Portland State maintained some high rankings among the 338 Division I schools:

• 35th in scoring (76.4)

• 26th in field goal percentage (.480)

• 25th in free throw percentage (.746)

• SR G Charles Odum ranks 38th in scoring (18.2)

• SR G Charles Odum ranks 56th in field goal percentage (.525)

• SR G Charles Odum ranks 57th in free throw percentage (.846)

• SR F Chehales Tapscott ranks 41st in rebounding (9.1)

• SR F Chehales Tapscott ranks 50th in steals (2.0)

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 more free throws than its opponents have attempted (PSU 373-500, .746; Opponents 264-357, .739), which is pretty good considering the Vikings have played more road games (12) than home games (9).

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 nine games, including a career-high 29 against Idaho State (1/16). 

• In Odum's 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... on Jan. 21, SR G Charles Odum made a 12-footer in the lane with two seconds left in overtime to beat Eastern Washington, 78-76.

CHUCK WAGON: SR G Charles Odum has been the Vikings' offensive leader this season, averaging a team-high 18.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He is shooting a stellar .525 from the field and .846 at the line. Odum is shooting 105-166 on two-point attempts, a remarkable .633 percentage. Season highlights:

• Odum is averaging 20.2 points and shooting .571/.429/.806 in Big Sky Conference games.

• Odum has scored in double figures in 19 games this season. He has eight 20-point games.

• Odum ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in scoring, third in free throw percentage and seventh in field goal percentage.

• He was at his best at the Wyoming Jim Thorpe Classic, earning All-Tournament honors. Odum scored a 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). 

• Odum was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week after scoring 22 points (7-9 FGs, 4-6 3-pt, 4-5 FT) with five assists and four rebounds in a road win at Northern Colorado (1/12)... he followed that with a second Big Sky POTW honor after wins over Idaho State (1/16) and Eastern Washington (1/21). Odum averaged  24.5 points, shot .517 from the floor, had a career-high against ISU (29) and hit the game-winner with two seconds left in overtime at EWU.

• Odum had a career-high 29 points in the win over Idaho State (1/16).

TOP 10 GUY: SR F Chehales Tapscott ranks first in rebounding (9.1), sixth in field goal percentage (.531), seventh in scoring (13.9), second in blocked shots (1.3) and steals (2.0) in the Big Sky. Alas, he is only 14th in free throw percentage (.731).

TAP-INS: SR F Chehales Tapscott is a double-double waiting to happen. He is averaging 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds this season with a Big Sky best eight double-doubles... Tapscott also leads the Vikings in steals, rebounds and blocked shots... Highlights this year:

• Tapscott tied a career-high with four blocks and set a career high with five steals against Idaho State. He has 13 blocks in his last five games and 21 steals in his last seven games.

• Tapscott grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds against Montana (1/29) - the most by a Viking in five seasons.

• Tapscott is shooting .531 from the field and .731 at the line.

• Tapscott has eight double-doubles this year to lead the Big Sky, and 14 in 45 career games at Portland State. He has been the team's leading rebounder in 34 of 45 career games.

• 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.

• Tapscott scored a season-high 26 points (10-15 FG, 1-2 3-pt, 5-6 FT), with eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block against Weber State (1/7).

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)... averaging 7.0 points and 2.3 assists after eight games, McMullan has scored in double figures in nine of the last 13 contests to improve to 9.9 points and 2.7 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 .470 from the field, .440 from three-point range, averages 9.4 points and has a team-high 33 three-pointers made... Harthun ranks fifth in the Big Sky Conference in three-point percentage (along with teammate FR G Gary Winston)... over the last 13 games, he has made 24-48 from three-point range (.500).

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 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds through 14 games. He shoots .535 from the field and .750 at the line. 

THE VIKINGS ON TELEVISION: Portland State is 17-35 in games televised in the Portland area since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. That includes a 9-6 home record and 8-29 road record. PSU went 0-4 on TV this year losing at Denver (69-61), Oregon (79-70), Oregon State (101-68) and Montana (69-67)... the Vikings are 7-3 in the Altitude/Big Sky Conference Game of the Week over the last four seasons, including 4-2 at home, 3-1 on the road.