complete notes and stats in pdf

PORTLAND STATE AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
Saturday, December 1, 2012, 5 p.m. • Gersten Pavilion (4,156), Los Angeles, CA

PORTLAND STATE: 1-3 • Big Sky: 0-0 • Home: 1-0 • Road: 0-3
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: 3-3 • WCC: 0-0 • Home: 1-0 • Road: 2-3

Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 4:30 p.m.
Live Video: http://www.lmulions.com/allaccess/?media=343603
Live Stats: http://www.lmulions.com/gametracker/universe/

All-Time Series: PSU leads 3-1
1997-98: LMU 88-84 at LMU (ot)
2000-01: PSU 66-62 at LMU
2001-02: PSU 90-78 at PSU
2010-11: PSU 84-75 at PSU

THE OPENING TIP
Portland State will wrap up a four-game road stretch and try to end a three-game losing streak this Saturday in a non-conference game at Loyola Marymount, 3-3. The Vikings, 1-3, have lost games at Oregon, Portland and #20 Oklahoma State over the past two weeks. The LMU game will be the final non-conference road game of the season.

Saturday's game tips off at 5 p.m. in Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles. The pre-game radio show begins at 4:30 p.m. on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com.

Loyola Marymount will host a game against Long Beach State on Thursday prior to facing the Vikings. 

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 fifth meeting in history between Portland State and Loyola Marymount. The Vikings lead the all-time series, 3-1, including an 84-75 win over LMU on Feb. 19, 2011. That was part of the ESPN Bracketbuster series. Saturday's game will be the return game... PSU is 1-1 all-time at LMU.

THE COACHES: Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving has a 45-53 record in his fourth season. Geving has a 21-25 record against non-conference opponents. He is 1-0 against Loyola Marymount... Loyola Marymount Coach Max Good is in his fifth season with the Lions. He has a 56-78 record. In 21 seasons as a collegiate coach, Good is 298-301. Good is 0-1 against Portland State.

THE LIONS: Loyola Marymount comes off a 21-13 season in 2011-12. The Lions were 11-5 and fourth in the West Coast Conference. It was LMU's first 20 win season since 1989-90. The Lions went on to win two games in the College Insider post-season tournament, reaching the quarterfinals... this season, the  Lions are off to a 3-3 start with wins over Pacifica, Cal State Bakersfield and Texas State... 5-10 junior guard Anthony Ireland has been the dynamic leader of the Lions, averaging 23.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game... 6-7 senior forward Ashley Hamilton averages 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds for a strong rebounding team. The Lions have out-boarded their opponents by an average of 8.6 per game this season.

VIKINGS vs. THE WCC: Portland State is 33-64 all-time against current members of the West Coast Conference. However, the Vikings are 8-4 against WCC teams since the start of the 2006-07 season... PSU lost to WCC member Portland on Nov. 21, 81-60. Viking Coach Tyler Geving is 4-3 all-time against members of the WCC.

RIGHTING THE SHIP: Portland State has lost three straight games, all on the road. The last time the Vikings lost four in a row was a stretch between Dec. 18-30 of last season... PSU's road losing streak extends to five games dating to last season... the good news? Portland State plays four in a row, and 13 of the final 23, at home after the Loyola Marymount game.

FAST BREAKS
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 1-3 this season. The Vikings are 1-0 at home, 0-3 on the road.
• The Vikings are on a three-game losing streak.
• PSU has won five straight home games dating to last season.
• The Vikings have lost their last five 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.
• PSU is 2-15 against nationally-ranked opponents since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97
• Head Coach Tyler Geving is 1-2 all-time against ranked opponents.
• 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 local TV this year, losing at Oregon (80-69).

THE COACH: Head Coach Tyler Geving is in 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 and .391 from distance after two games, but has gone cold in the last two. The Vikings shot just .357 from the field and a mere 2-15 on three-pointers against Portland. Then, PSU shot .396 against Oklahoma State, including 7-21 from distance. That leaves the Vikings at .438/.305 and averaging 66.0 points on the season... 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. 

FREE IS A GOOD PRICE: The Vikings have maintained a solid free throw percentage to start the season, hitting at .780 as a team to lead the Big Sky Conference. JR F Aaron Moore (8-9, .889), SR F Renado Parker (13-15, .867) and SR G Michael Harthun (13-15, .867) lead the way.

THE DEFENSE SHOULD NOT REST: Head Coach Tyler Geving touted an improved defensive team for 2012-13, and that may come to fruition. But so far the Vikings are allowing opponents to shoot .502 from the field and .443 from three-point range. The 75.0 points allowed is slightly above last year's 73.3 by opponents... on a positive note, the Vikings are forcing 16.0 turnovers per game, up from 11.4 forced last season.

BUMP IN THE ROAD: SO G Dre Winston Jr. had gotten his Portland State career off to a great start, leading the Vikings in scoring in the first three games and averaging a team-high 14.7 points. However, he was shut out in 23 minutes of play against Oklahoma State, shooting 0-5 from the field... Winston 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... currently, Winston averages 11.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and has a team-high seven assists.

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 only became a starter this season. Parker leads the team in scoring at 11.3 points and is second in rebounding at 4.0 per game. He also shoots .485 from the field, .867 at the line and has a team-high eight steals.

THUN-ING UP: One thing the Viking team needed going into the 2012-13 season was a more consistent SR G Michael Harthun. Although he had some big games for Portland State last season, Coach Tyler Geving wanted more consistency in three-point production and scoring. Harthun, who averaged 8.6 points in 2011-12, is now averaging 10.3 points for the Vikings. It is a step in the right direction as Harthun has scored in double figures in three of four games. 

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. 

BRACKETBUSTER BREAKDOWN: Portland State will play a BracketBuster return game on Dec. 1 when it travels to Loyola Marymount. PSU will host a 2013 ESPN BracketBuster game on Feb. 23 at the Stott Center.

Portland State's game at the University of Idaho last year marked PSU's sixth appearance in a BracketBuster game. On one occasion the game was televised - a 93-81 win over Boise State on Feb. 21, 2009. PSU is 2-4 all-time in BracketBuster matchups, including an 84-75 win over Loyola Marymount last year at the Stott Center.

PSU'S BRACKETBUSTER HISTORY: Portland State is 2-4 in ESPN BracketBuster games. The home team has won every time. PSU is 2-2 in the return games. Idaho will return a game to PSU some time over the next two seasons.

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 67
Feb. 21, 2009: at Portland State 93, Boise State 81 (televised on ESPNU)
Feb. 19, 2011: at Portland State 84, Loyola Marymount 75
Feb. 18, 2012: at Idaho 77, Portland State 68