complete notes and stats in pdf

OREGON STATE AT PORTLAND STATE
Wednesday, December 12, 7:35 p.m. • Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR

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

Television: Comcast SportsNet Northwest (Ch. 37/HD 737) • Play-by-play: Bob Akamian • Analyst: Jordan Kent
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 7 p.m.
Live Video: www.BigSkyTV.org • Live Stats: http://vikslive.statb.us
All-Time Series: OSU leads 12-0
Most recent meeting (Dec. 18, 2011 at Gill Coliseum): OSU 101-68 

THE OPENING TIP
Portland State will play one of the biggest preseason home games in its history when it faces Oregon State at the Stott Center on Wednesday, Dec. 12. The 7:35 p.m. game marks the first time a Pac-12 school has ever played at the Peter W. Stott Center. 

PSU has hosted Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State in past seasons, but all games were at either the Rose Garden or Memorial Coliseum. 

The non-conference game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Northwest in the Portland area and around the region. It will also air on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com.

Tickets for the game are available and can be purchased by calling the Portland State Box Office at 503.725.3307. Reserved seats are $25.

The Vikings (1-4) will try to stop a four-game losing streak against a formidable Beaver team (4-2) that is coming off a 21-win season. The game also marks PSU's first home contest in a month and three days. Oregon State hosts Grambling State this Saturday, prior to facing the Vikings.

Portland State wraps up its non-conference schedule on Saturday, Dec. 15, hosting George Fox.

THE SERIES: PSU and OSU meet for the second year in a row after a nine-season hiatus in the series. The Beavers lead the all-time series 12-0, including a 101-68 win last year in Corvallis (series summary on page 3).

THE COACHES: Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving has a 45-54 record in his fourth season. Geving has a 21-26 record against non-conference opponents. He is 0-1 against Oregon State... OSU Head Coach Craig Robinson is in his fifth season with the Beavers. Robinson has a 68-73 record with OSU, including 1-0 against the Vikings. In seven years as a collegiate head coach, Robinson is 98-101.

THE BEAVERS: Oregon State comes off a 21-15 record in 2011-12. The Beavers were 7-11 and tied for eighth in the Pac-12. OSU returns four starters and 12 letterwinners from that squad... The Beavers are 4-2 on the season heading into a Saturday home game against Grambling State... guard Ahmad Starks leads OSU in scoring at 16.3 points per game and has made 19 three-point field goals... Devon Collier (13.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Eric Moreland (11.3 rpg, 2.3 bpg) have also been top players... OSU lost center Angus Brandt to injury earlier in the season... the Beavers have held opponents to .398 shooting and hold a +5.5 rebounding advantage per game. 

VIKINGS vs. THE PAC-12: Portland State is 4-47 all-time against Pac-12 schools, including 0-12 against Oregon State. With their 13th meeting, PSU will have faced OSU more than any other Pac-12 school (the Vikings are 2-10 all-time against Oregon).

LAST SEASON: The Beavers shot a season-best .597 against the Vikings, including 13-21 from three-point range, in a 101-68 win in Corvallis. Portland State was within nine midway through the second half, but Oregon State went on a 35-11 run to close out the game. Ahmad Starks led six Beavers in double figures with 17 points. Eric Moreland grabbed 13 rebounds. For the Vikings, Lateef McMullan led the way with 19 points and three assists.

MAC'S MINUTE: Viking assistant coach Andy McClouskey has a history with Oregon State University, playing for Ralph Miller and graduating from the school in 1982. He was an OSU women's assistant coach from 1982-85, then a men's assistant coach from 1988-95 under Miller and Jimmy Anderson.

FAST BREAKS

WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 1-4 this season. The Vikings are 1-0 at home, 0-4 on the road.
• The Vikings are on a four-game losing streak.
• PSU has won five straight home games dating to last season.
• The Vikings have lost their last six road games dating to last season.

Stott Stuff
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 66-17 at home, including 38-14 in Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament games.
• Portland State has lost only three non-conference home games since the start of the 2006-07 season (28-3).
• 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).

RIGHTING THE SHIP: Portland State has lost four 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 six games dating to last season... the good news? Portland State plays its next four in a row, and 13 of the final 23, at home.

ALL ABOUT THE SHOOTING: Portland State was shooting .505 from the field and .391 from distance after two games, but has gone cold since. The Vikings have shot just .357, .396 and .407 over the last three games. As a result the point totals have dwindled each game this season, from 77 to 69 to 60 to 58 to 56. That leaves the Vikings at .431 from the field and averaging 64.0 points on the season. That is well below the norm for Viking basketball... 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... PSU has not averaged less than 72.0 points per game since the 2003-04 season.

THE DEFENSE SHOULD NOT REST (OR THE REBOUNDING): 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 .484 from the field and .383 from three-point range. The 73.2 points allowed is virtually the same as last year's 73.3 by opponents... one area the Vikings can improve to aid the defense is rebounding. The Vikings have a -7.2 rebounding deficit so far this season. Opponents have 51 offensive rebounds through five games to just 37 offensive boards for the Vikings. That has given opponents a 49-30 edge in second chance points... on a positive note, the Vikings are forcing 15.7 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 11.6 points. However, he was shut out in 23 minutes of play against Oklahoma State, shooting 0-5 from the field. Winston came back to get 14 points and three steals at Loyola Marymount, but left the game with a left hand injury... 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 11.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and shoots .513 from the field.

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 averages 10.4 points, is second in rebounding at 4.4 per game and has a team-high eight steals.

HALL MONITOR: JR G Marcus Hall got a slow start to the season, suffering a calf contusion that prevented him from playing in the preseason exhibition and the first game. After scoring just two points in his first two games, Hall seems to be getting his wheels back. The 6-4 transfer posted a game-high 16 points in 23 minutes off the bench at Loyola Marymount (12/1). That came after six points, two rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes at #20 Oklahoma State (11/25). Also expected to be one of the team' top defenders, Hall's role and minutes should continue to expand. Hall was the Northern California Player of the Year last season at Fresno City College.

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 10.0 points for the Vikings. It is a step in the right direction as Harthun has scored in double figures in three of five games. 

LOCAL ANGLE: For just the third time in history, Portland State plays 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 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.

SLOW START: At 1-4, Portland State is off to a slow start. But, around the Big Sky Conference, teams are only 23-47 overall through Dec. 5, including 14-47 against other Division I conferences.

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.

NO RELATION: They are both from the state of Washington, had All-State credentials on their respective high school teams, and share the same last name. But SO Gs Gary Winston and Dre Winston Jr. are not related - it's just a happy coincidence.

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 host a 2013 ESPN BracketBuster game on Feb. 23 at the Stott Center, marking their seventh appearance in the series and third time hosting.

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, with the home team winning every time. Following a 66-56 loss at Loyola Marymount on Dec. 1, PSU is 2-3 in the return games. Idaho will return a game to PSU some time over the next two seasons.

ESPN BRACKETBUSTER 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 (televised on ESPNU)
Feb. 19, 2011: at Portland State 84, Loyola Marymount 75
Feb. 18, 2012: at Idaho 77, Portland State 68