complete notes and stats in pdf

SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (9-15, 4-9) vs.
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (12-12, 6-6)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 7:05 p.m. @ Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR
Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.970.am • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6:30 p.m.
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: PSU leads 22-10 • PSU in Portland: 15-1
Big Sky Series: PSU leads 21-9 • PSU in Portland: 14-1

There are just two weeks left in the Big Sky Conference season but Portland State and Sacramento State will be meeting for the first time this Wednesday. In fact, the teams play twice in the span of eight days, with the Vikings returning to Sacramento on Feb. 23. This week's game will be played at the Stott Center on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. It airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. A live video stream is available at www.b2tv.com.
    
Beginning with the game against the Hornets, the Vikings will play three of their final four conference games at home (PSU also has two non-conference games remaining this year; a BracketBuster game at Idaho this Saturday and a Mar. 10 game at Seattle). Portland State is 12-12 on the season having won its last two games. At 6-6 in the Big Sky Conference they are in fourth place and the Vikings can still move as high as third. Most important is to get into the tournament first as the three teams behind the Vikings are all within one-and-a-half games.
    
While the Vikings have won four of their last five on the road, they did lose their last two home games in late January. For the year, PSU is 6-3 in the Stott Center.
    
Sacramento State has won four of its last five games overall, including two on the road. The Hornets are 4-9 in the Big Sky, 9-15 overall. Currently in eighth place, Sacramento State is battling for a Big Sky Tournament berth. The Hornets are a game-and-a-half out of sixth place and face a near must-win situation.
    
Portland State's final Big Sky Conference games are at Sacramento State (Feb. 23, 4-9), Eastern Washington (Feb. 25, 5-7) and Northern Colorado (Feb. 28, 5-8).

STORYLINES
• The series: Portland State holds a 22-10 advantage in the all-time series, and 21-9 lead in the Big Sky series... the Vikings had won eight in a row over the Hornets prior to a loss last year in Sacramento... PSU is 15-1 all-time at home against Sacramento State. The Vikings have won five straight at the Stott Center against the Hornets.
• Last year: The teams split the season series with each winning on their own home court... behind a career-high 29 points from Tree Thomas, the Vikings beat Sacramento State, 86-80, at the Stott Center... PSU led the entire game, including a double-digit advantage until the closing moments... Charles Odum and Melvin Jones each had 17 points as the Vikings hit 12 three-pointers in the game... PSU shot only .353 and was outrebounded 48-32 in a 63-55 loss at Sacramento State... John Dickson led all scorers with 16 points. Sultan Toles-Bey had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Hornets... a key element of last year's meetings was the absence of Viking Chehales Tapscott, who missed both games while recovering from arthroscopic surgery.
• The Hornets: Sacramento State, which joined the Big Sky Conference the same year as Portland State (1996-97), has never won a Big Sky Conference championship... the Hornets were 7-21 last season, 4-12 and tied for eighth in the Big Sky Conference... three starters and seven letterwinners return from that team... Dylan Garrity leads the Big Sky in assists (6.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4). He ranks fifth in the nation in assists... John Dickson is the team's top scorer (12.1), while Joe Eberhard averages 11.1 points, a team-best 6.3 rebounds and shoots .458 from three-point range.
• Head Coach Brian Katz is in his fourth year at Sacramento State. He has a 27-84 record. Katz is 1-5 all-time against Portland State.

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 39-47 all-time at Portland State.
    • 19-27 all-time against Big Sky Conference opponents, 20-20 all-time in non-conference games.
    • Geving is 24-12 at home. He is 15-35 on the road, including 4-2 in neutral site games.
    • Geving is 3-1 all-time against Sacramento State, 1-1 in Sacramento.

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 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.

VIKINGS WILL TRAVEL TO IDAHO FOR BRACKETBUSTER GAME
Portland State will be traveling to take on the University of Idaho this Saturday for an ESPN BracketBuster matchup. The game will not be televised by ESPN.
    
The date marks 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 2-3 all-time in BracketBuster matchups, including an 84-75 win over Loyola Marymount last year at the Stott Center.
    
Portland State and Idaho will meet for the first time since a pair of games during the 2005-06 season. The Vikings won both of those contests. Prior to that, the teams had not met since the 1978-79 season. PSU leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1965-66, 10-8.
    
Idaho is a member of the Western Athletic Conference and is 15-11 on the season, 7-4 in league play. The Vandals have played three Big Sky Conference schools this year, losing to Montana (57-52) and Eastern Washington (73-66) and beating Montana State (76-67). Other common opponents include Oregon State (UI won 74-60), Seattle (UI won 73-62 and 70-69), CSU Bakersfield (UI won 72-44) and Louisiana Tech (UI won 90-88 in overtime, and 73-64). The Vandals are 7-2 against those schools, while the Vikings are 4-5 against the common opponents. PSU's one other game against a WAC school this year was a 66-48 win over Louisiana Tech.
    
As part of the BracketBuster program, Idaho will have to return the game at Portland State within the next two seasons.
    
PSU'S BRACKETBUSTER HISTORY: Portland State is 2-3 in ESPN BracketBuster games in the last seven seasons. The home team has won every time. PSU is 2-2 in the return games and still must return a game to Loyola Marymount in 2012-13.

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

FAST BREAKS

WINNING LINES  
• THE BROOM: Portland State has been swept by Weber State, Montana and Montana State this season. However, the Vikings have swept Idaho State and Northern Arizona. The other three Big Sky Conference series' will be determined in the next two weeks.
• 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 6-9 on the road this season, including two neutral site wins... the Vikings are 4-3 in Big Sky road games - their most Big Sky road wins since 2008-09, and second-most in history.
• 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 42-33 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 47-34 including tournament games.

ROAD RECOVERY: Portland State began the season with some real struggles on the road, losing eight straight road games (but winning two neutral site games). However, in the last month, the Vikings have won four out of five on the road, improving to 4-9 overall, 6-9 including the neutral site games.
• Now at 4-3 in Big Sky Conference road games, Portland State has its most Big Sky road wins since 2008-09.
• Only once in 16 seasons have the Vikings won more Big Sky road games (6-2 in 2007-08).
• In addition, at 6-9, Tyler Geving has his most away-from-home wins in three years as head coach (5-15 in 2009-10, 4-11 in 2010-11).

BETTER IN THE BIG SKY: Portland State's win at Idaho State makes it 6-6 in Big Sky Conference play with four games remaining. That is already better than last year's 5-11 Big Sky mark. The next targets on the horizon are bettering the 7-9 Big Sky mark in 2009-10, and the 14-16 overall record of last season... PSU is 12-12 overall.

BIG SKY BEST: The Viking team leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal shooting (.482), and ranks second in scoring (76.1) and free throw percentage (.743)... SR F Chehales Tapscott leads the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (9.3) and double-doubles (9), is second in blocked shots (1.3) and steals (1.8)... SR C Nate Lozeau leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal shooting percentage (.579)... SR G Charles Odum ranks second in scoring (18.6) behind the nation's leader Damian Lillard (25.1). He is third in free throw percentage (.846)... in Big Sky Conference only games, Tapscott leads in blocked shots (1.6) and rebounding (9.8)... Odum averages 20.5 points to rank second.

LIGHTS OUT: The Vikings have shot over .500 eight times this season and are 6-2 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.

SHOOTING IS EVERYTHING FOR THIS TEAM: The Vikings are 12-1 when shooting a higher percentage than their opponents, 0-11 when opponents outshot them.

2 VS. 3: Portland State is the league's best overall shooting (.482) and two-point shooting team (.547), while shooting just .326 from three-point range... the only other Big Sky teams shooting .500 from two-point range are Weber State (.500) and Sacramento State (.501).

NATIONAL RANKINGS: In NCAA statistics released on Monday, Portland State maintained some high rankings among the 338 Division I schools:
• 32nd in scoring (76.5)
• 20th in field goal percentage (.483)
• 34th in free throw percentage (.741)
• SR G Charles Odum ranks 30th in scoring (18.6)
• SR G Charles Odum ranks 42nd in field goal percentage (.537)
• SR G Charles Odum ranks 54th in free throw percentage (.847)
• SR F Chehales Tapscott ranks 41st in rebounding (9.0)

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. PSU has made more free throws than its opponents have attempted (PSU 420-565, .743; Opponents 297-400, .743), which is pretty good considering the Vikings have played more road games (15) than home games (9).

SCORING IN BUNCHES: SR G Charles Odum has scored 20 or more points 10 times this season - with nine of those coming on the road.
• Odum has scored 20+ in seven of the last 11 games, including a career-high 29 against Idaho State (1/16).
• In Odum's 20-point games, he is 76-128 from the field (.598), averaging 24.0 points and the Vikings are 6-4.
• Odum is averaging 20.5 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 18.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He is shooting a stellar .534 from the field and .846 at the line. Odum is shooting 120-189 on two-point attempts, a remarkable .635 percentage. Season highlights:
• Odum is averaging 20.5 points and shooting .577/.432/.816 in Big Sky Conference games.
• Odum has scored in double figures in 22 games this season. He has 10 20-point games.
• Odum ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in scoring, third in free throw percentage and sixth 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 (9.3), fifth in field goal percentage (.541), eighth in scoring (13.8), second in blocked shots (1.3) and steals (1.9) in the Big Sky. Alas, he is only 15th in free throw percentage (.726).

TAP-INS: SR F Chehales Tapscott is a double-double waiting to happen. He is averaging 13.8 points and 9.3 rebounds this season with a Big Sky best nine 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 (1/16). • Tapscott grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds against Montana (1/29) - the most by a Viking in five seasons... he matched that with 16 rebounds at Idaho State (2/9).
• Tapscott is shooting .541 from the field and .726 at the line.
• Tapscott has nine double-doubles this year to lead the Big Sky, and 15 in 48 career games at Portland State. He has been the team's leading rebounder in 36 of 48 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).

WINSTON IS SMOKIN' OUTSIDE: FR G Gary Winston hit 4-5 from three-point range at Weber State (2/2), totaling a career-high 14 points with two assists in 23 minutes... for the season, he leads the team and ranks ninth in the Big Sky Conference with a .441 three-point shooting mark (26-59)... Winston averages 7.1 points in 22 minutes per game off the bench.

NATE'S NOTES: SR C Nate Lozeau scored a career-high 19 points at Denver. He followed that with 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the win over Seattle... Lozeau then had another career high with 12 rebounds against Linfield. Highlights this year:
• Lozeau is shooting .579 from the field to lead the Big Sky Conference. He is averaging 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds, up dramatically from 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds last year.
• In his last two games, Nate has made 8-10 FGs (.800) and scored 20 points (10.0).
• Lozeau has posted three double-doubles (four career).

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 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds through 17 games. He shoots .549 from the field.