complete notes and stats in pdf

PORTLAND STATE AT #20 OKLAHOMA STATE
Sunday, November 25, 2012, 11 a.m. PT • Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611), Stillwater, OK

PORTLAND STATE: 1-2 • Big Sky: 0-0 • Home: 1-0 • Road: 0-2
OKLAHOMA STATE: 4-0 • Big 12: 0-0 • Home: 1-0 • Road: 3-0

Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 10:30 a.m. PT
Live Video: None
Live Stats: www.okstate.com/multimedia/gametracker-events.html

All-Time Series: 1st meeting


THE OPENING TIP
Portland State plays its third straight road game this Sunday when it travels to 20th-ranked Oklahoma State for a non-conference game.

It will be a first-ever meeting between the two schools when they square off in an 11 a.m. PT game. It will air on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. Tom Hewitt has the pre-game show at 10:30 a.m.

The game is the third of four straight on the road for the Vikings. PSU lost on Nov. 12 at Oregon, 80-69, then Nov. 21 at Portland, 81-60. The four-game road stretch concludes on Dec. 1 with a game at Loyola Marymount. 

PSU rounds out its preseason schedule with home games against Oregon State (Dec. 12) and George Fox (Dec. 15).

THE SERIES: This will be the first meeting between Portland State and Oklahoma State in men's basketball history. Portland State is 0-4 all-time against current members of the Big 12 Conference.

THE COACHES: Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving has a 45-52 record in his fourth season. Geving has a 21-24 record against non-conference opponents. He has never faced Oklahoma State... Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford is in his fifth year with the Cowboys. He has an 84-55 record and has never faced the Vikings. Ford is 274-201 in 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

THE COWBOYS: Oklahoma State was 15-18 last year, 7-11 and seventh place in the Big 12 Conference. Four starters and nine letterwinners return from that team... The Cowboys have gotten out to a 4-0 start this season with wins over UC Davis, Akron, Tennessee and North Carolina State and are currently ranked 20th in the nation... sophomore forward Le'Bryan Nash leads four players in double figures with a 19.0 scoring average. He also grabs 6.8 rebounds per game... freshman guard Marcus Smart is averaging 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.5 assists per game... the Cowboys have been stellar on defense, holding opponents to .333 shooting from the field and 57.8 points per game.

THE RANKING: Oklahoma State will be Portland State's first nationally-ranked opponent since the 2009-10 season. PSU last played a ranked opponent on Dec. 2, 2009 when it beat #25 Portland, 85-82... Head Coach Tyler Geving is 1-1 against ranked opponents... the Vikings are 2-14 against nationally-ranked opponents in the Big Sky era (1996 to present).

FAST BREAKS
WINNING LINES 
• Portland State is 1-2 this season. The Vikings are 1-0 at home, 0-2 on the road.
• PSU has won five straight home games dating to last season.
• The Vikings have lost their last four road games dating to last season.
Stott Stuff
• Over the last six seasons, PSU is 66-17 at home, including 35-14 in Big Sky Conference games.
• PSU has gone 122-41 in 163 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 153-56 at home over the past 17 seasons. 
Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 132-130 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the tournament (8-8).
• PSU is 88-39 in home games, 41-87 in road games and 4-4 in neutral site games.
• PSU is 47-33 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 53-35 including tournament games.
In 2011-12
• Portland State was 17-15 - its best season since 2008-09 (23-10). 
• The Vikings were 10-6 in the Big Sky Conference, placing third, also its best finish since 2008-09 (2nd)
• PSU was 10-3 at home, 5-11 on the road and 2-1 in neutral site games.
And The Trivial
• Portland State is 23-22 all-time in overtime.
• Coach Tyler Geving is 1-2 all-time in overtime, including a 78-76 win last Dec. 21 at Eastern Washington.
• Portland State is 17-37 in games televised in the Portland area since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. That includes a 9-6 home record and 8-31 road record.
• PSU is 0-1 on TV this year, losing at Oregon (80-69).

THE COACH: Head Coach Tyler Geving begins his fourth season in 2012-13. The Vikings have improved each year he has been at the helm from 13-19 to 14-16 to 17-15. Most significant, the Vikings were 10-6 in the Big Sky Conference in 2011-12, placing third. PSU has twice reached the semifinals in the Big Sky Tournament under Geving (2010 and 2012)... in 2011-12, Geving set personal marks for most wins (17), most Big Sky wins (10), best Big Sky finish (3rd) and best home winning percentage (.769)... Geving spent four seasons as an assistant at PSU before being named Head Coach... the fourth-year Head Coach is assisted by Andy McClouskey (3rd year, Oregon State, 1982), Eric Harper (8th year, Central Washington, 1995) and Anthony Owens (4th year, Great Falls, 2006). Former Viking player Mickey Polis is the Director of Operations (4th year, Portland State, 2009).

ALL ABOUT THE SHOOTING: Portland State was shooting .505 from the field, .391 from distance and .804 at the line after two games, but stumbled at Portland hitting only .357 from the field and a mere 2-15 three-pointers... traditionally, Portland State has been prolific on offense. PSU led the Big Sky in scoring each season from 2007-08 to 2010-11. Last year, the Vikings were second in scoring at 76.0 points per game, and led the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.483). The Vikings ranked 13th in the nation in field goal percentage and 26th in scoring last season. However, after the Portland loss, PSU is at .452 from the field, .289 from three-point range and averaging only 68.7 points. The Viks shoot .809 at the free throw line.

GREAT START FOR DRE: SO G Dre Winston Jr. has gotten his Portland State career off to a great start. Winston Jr. transferred to Portland State from Washington State where he played as a freshman in 2010-11, then sat out last season as a redshirt at PSU... through three games, Winston Jr. is the Vikings' leading scorer at 14.7 points per game, while shooting .577 from the field, .444 from three-point range and .667 at the line. He has been PSU's leading scorer in each game with 16, 15 and 13 points.

PARKER'S PART: Though he has been touted as one of the Vikings' top returning players, if not the top player, SR F Renado Parker has only now made his first career starts in the opening three games. Parker is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points and second in rebounding at 4.7 per game. He also has a team-high eight steals.

MOORE, MOORE, MOORE: Another new Viking off to a good start is JR F Aaron Moore. The 6-8 JC transfer has a silky smooth jump shot that has led to 9.3 points per game and a .500 shooting mark. Moore also averages a team-best 5.0 rebounds in 23 minutes per game. 

LOCAL ANGLE: For just the third time in history, Portland State will play the other three in-state Division I schools in the same season. The Vikings played at Oregon on Nov. 12, losing 80-69. PSU also lost at Portland on Nov. 21, 81-60. The Vikings host Oregon State on Dec. 12... the other two seasons in which that triple occured were 1996-97 and 2002-03. PSU is 2-10 against Oregon since reinstating basketball in 1996-97, 7-9 against Portland and 0-5 against Oregon State.

BALANCED ATTACK: Portland State does not have a freshman on the roster in 2012-13. But, the Vikings do have a balanced roster with five sophomores, five juniors and five seniors... every player on the Viking roster is 20 or older... there are only six schools in the nation that do not have a freshman on the roster - true or redshirt. They are: Portland State, Ohio, Southern Illinois Edwardsville, Savannah State, Alabama-Birmingham, and Valparaiso.

VIKINGS SIGN BENTON DURING EARLY NLI PERIOD: Portland State basketball signed Kyle Benton, a senior forward at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach, CA, to a national letter of intent on Nov. 16. 
Benton, a 6-6, 220-pounder, will join the Viking program as a freshman in 2013-14. He is just beginning his senior year at St. Anthony. In 2011-12, Benton played at Gahr High School in Cerritos, CA where he averaged 12.0 points and 9.8 rebounds. He shot 42% from the field, 36% from three-point range and 71% at the line for an 18-11 team.
“The thing we like about Kyle the most is physically he is ready to go,” said Geving. “He has a good frame on him and is physically mature, which you often don't get with high school kids.
“Kyle is an all-around good player. He can step out and shoot the three-pointer and post up as well. He has a versatile inside-outside game. On defense, he moves his feet well and is a good rebounder.”
Benton will join a Viking team that will be losing five seniors at the conclusion of this season, three of whom are forwards. 

RECENT GAME: PILOTS SHOOT LIGHTS OUT EARLY, RUN AWAY
Portland, OR (Nov. 21) - Portland's Tanner Riley had a perfect performance in an 81-60 Pilot win over Portland State at the Chiles Center.

Despite being pulled from the starting lineup, Riley came off the Pilot bench to ignite the offense in the first half. Riley hit four straight three-point field goals and by halftime had a career-high 16 points. Riley finished the night perfect from the field, hitting 8-8 shots, 4-4 three-pointers and 3-3 at the free throw line for a game-high 23 points in 23 minutes. 

His effort was part of a hot shooting start by Portland, including 13 of 15  from the field over the first 10 minutes. The Pilots jumped to a 32-15 lead and the Vikings did not have enough offense to get back into it.
Early double-team pressure all over the floor got Portland State out of its offense. The Vikings had trouble getting good shots and the inside game was almost non-existent.

The Pilots carried the momentum all the way to halftime, making 21 of their first 27 shots and leading 49-25 with 2:31 to play. They went into the locker room ahead, 51-30.

Portland's offensive outburst was a surprise as the Pilots came into the game averaging only 55.7 points and shooting 24% from three-point range. On the other end, the Vikings made only 10 of 31 first-half shots.
Portland State briefly pulled within 15 in the second half, but never seriously threatened. Portland's largest lead was by 25 points on three occasions in the second half.

For the game, PSU was outshot by the Pilots, .517 to .357. Portland also won the rebounding battle, 40-30.
“Not great effort, not great energy to start the game for us,” said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. “Portland came out with it, and it showed. They were ready to go and more prepared than us, so that falls on me to get the team better prepared.

“It didn't really matter what defense we were in in the first half. If you don't have the energy to defend that is the result you are going to get.”

In addition to Riley's 23, Kevin Bailey scored 14 points for Portland. Ryan Nicholas added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Dre Winston led Portland State with 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Michael Harthun added 11 points and Renado Parker scored 10 for the Vikings.

GAME NOTES: Portland leads the all-time series, 32-17. Since PSU reinstated basketball in 1996-97, the Pilots lead the series, 9-7, including 6-2 at the Chiles Center.