MONTANA AT PORTLAND STATE
Thursday, January 31, 7:35 p.m. • Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR

PORTLAND STATE: 5-12 • Big Sky: 3-7 • Home: 5-2 • Road: 0-10
MONTANA: 14-4 • Big Sky: 10-0 • Home: 9-1 • Road: 5-3

Television: None
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: UM leads 30-20 • PSU in Portland: 14-10
Big Sky Series: UM leads 22-11 • PSU in Portland: 8-8
Jan. 5 in Missoula: UM 62, PSU 55

THE OPENING TIP
This Thursday night Portland State plays at home for the first time in 19 days. The Vikings (5-12/3-7) will play no less an opponent than first-place University of Montana (14-4/10-0) in a Big Sky Conference game. Tip-off comes at 7:35 p.m. as the Vikings try to hand the Grizzlies their first conference loss of the season. The game airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. A live video stream is available at www.BigSkyTV.org.

The game with Montana begins a much-awaited, long-anticipated home stretch for the Vikings. PSU will play seven of its next nine games at home, including five straight between Feb. 14 and Mar. 2. It is a welcome return as PSU has played six of its previous eight on the road. And, following a Monday night loss at Eastern Washington, PSU is 0-10 on the road, including losing four in a row over the past two weeks.

Portland State is 5-2 at home this season, with wins in its most recent home games over Sacramento State (Jan. 10) and Northern Arizona (Jan. 12).

Montana will come into the Stott Center on Thursday as the Big Sky's best team. The Grizzlies' 76-74 win over second-place Weber State (8-2) last Saturday confirmed that fact. UM has won 10 in a row - all in league play - including a 62-55 win over the Vikings in Missoula on Jan. 5. 

The Grizzlies are 5-3 in road games this season, 4-0 in Big Sky road games.

Thursday is also Viking Mixer night with a free pre-game meal for all fans, sponsored by Old Spaghetti Factory, Coca-Cola products, and a no-host bar at the Stott Center. Festivities begin at 6 p.m.

Portland State will host third-place Montana State (9-9/6-4) on Saturday night at the Stott Center. MSU plays at Eastern Washington on Thursday.

TIGHTER THAN A BAD PAIR OF SHOES: Despite another road loss on Monday, Portland State continues to be in the thick of the Big Sky standings at the mid-point of the schedule.

The Big Sky is a two-horse race with Montana at 10-0 and Weber State at 8-2. The next best record is Montana State at 6-4 in third place. The distance between the Bobcats and PSU - in a four-way tie for eighth place - is three games. The Vikings are two games out of fourth and one game in back of seventh. 

The top seven teams qualify for the Big Sky Conference Tournament in March. With a host of home games coming up, including  six of the next eight conference games, the Vikings have a chance to climb.

Remarkably, only three of 11 teams have winning conference records and only three have winning season records.

Road teams (other than Montana and Weber State) have really struggled. The combined road record of the third- through 11th-place teams is 11-75, 13-82 including neutral site games. Those teams are 8-37 in Big Sky road games. So, though the Vikings are 0-10 on the road this year, they aren't alone in road futility. 

JAN 5 @ UM 62, PSU 55: Will Cherry scored 16 points and handed off seven assists in leading the Grizzlies over the Vikings in Missoula. Kareem Jamar scored 14 points with seven rebounds... PSU trailed by 17 points in the second half, but closed it to five in the late-going... Aaron Moore had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Vikings. Renado Parker added 12 points and seven rebounds... the Vikings shot just .377 from the field.

THE GRIZZLIES: Montana, last year's Big Sky Conference Champion, seeks a seventh regular season title, ninth tournament title and 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament in its history... Montana leads the Big Sky Conference in free throw percentage this season (.765)... forward Mathias Ward is leading the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game, while shooting .513 from the field and .831 at the line... guard Kareem Jamar is the team's top all-around player, averaging 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and has a team-high 28 three-point field goals... guard Will Cherry averages 12.8 points and 4.5 assists per game... off the bench, Mike Weisner shoots .524 from three-point range to lead the Big Sky... Cherry and Jamar were both first team All-Big Sky Conference selections in 2011-12.

THE COACHES: Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving has a 49-62 record in his fourth season. Geving has a 27-35 Big Sky Conference record and is 0-7 against Montana... Montana's Wayne Tinkle is in his seventh season with the Grizzlies. The UM alum and former player has a 130-75 career record. He is 9-4 against Portland State. Tinkle has taken two teams to the NCAA Tournament (2010 and 2012).

FAST BREAKS

WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 5-12 this season. The Vikings are 5-2 at home, 0-10 on the road.
• PSU has won nine of 11 at home dating to last season.
• The Vikings have lost their last 12 road games dating to last season.

Stott Stuff
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 70-19 at home, including 41-15 in Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament games.
• PSU has gone 126-43 in 169 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 156-58 at home over the past 18 seasons.
• Portland State has lost only four non-conference home games since the start of the 2006-07 season (29-4). PSU is 17-4 against Division I schools, and 12-0 against lower division schools over that span.

Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 135-137 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the tournament (8-8).
• PSU is 91-40 in home games, 41-93 in road games and 3-4 in neutral site games.
• PSU is 50-40 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 56-42 including tournament games.

HOT SHOTS: 
• JR F Aaron Moore set a new career-high for scoring (20) and blocked shots (4) at Eastern Washington. With 10 rebounds, Moore posted his fourth double-double of the season. He has averaged 19.0 points and 8.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots over the last three games.
• SR PG Lateef McMullan has 58 assists and only 18 turnovers in the last 13 games.
• SO G Gary Winston is 11-18 from three-point range (.611) since moving into the starting lineup six games ago.
• SR G Michael Harthun leads the Big Sky Conference in three-point percentage in conference-only games: 19-35 (.543). Over the last six games, Harthun has made 13-20 threes (.650).
• Prior to Monday's game, Portland State ranked 27th in the nation in free throw shooting (.746) and 23rd in three-point shooting (.386) among 345 Division I schools.
• The Vikings shoot .523 from the field, .495 from three-point range, in the Stott Center.

NOT SO HOT: 
• As a team, the Vikings shoot .395 on the road, .317 from three-point range.
• SR G Lateef McMullan (0-6) and SR F Renado Parker (1-9) had their worst shooting games of the season at Eastern Washington, combining for only seven points.
• Portland State is 0-10 on the road this season.

ALL ABOUT THE SHOOTING: The Vikings have been a good-shooting home team, and a bad-shooting road team this season. The difference in home and road shooting statistics for the Vikings mirrors Portland State's home (5-2) and road (0-10) records. The Vikings shoot .523 from the field and .495 from three-point range at home. On the road, they shoot just .395 from the field and .317 from three-point range. The free throw shooting numbers are consistent at .746 at home and .754 on the road... the Vikings shot only .360 from the field at Southern Utah and .393 at Eastern Washington... not surprisingly, PSU has shot .565, .492, .532, .561 and .500 in its five wins this season... only once have they shot better than .456 in a loss.

FIRST-HALF TREND CONTINUES: Portland State fell behind 28-17 in the first half at Eastern Washington and never led in the game. That continued the Vikings' habit of getting off to slow starts in games this season, then playing much better in the second half. The numbers prove it. PSU has been outscored 612-515 in the first half this year (36.0-30.3), but outscored opponents 624-590 in the second half (36.7-34.7).

WINSTON JR. OUT: SO G Dre Winston Jr. missed Monday's game at Eastern Washington with a left ankle sprain. Winston suffered the injury in the final minute of last Thursday's loss at Southern Utah. Winston is expected to miss the games with Montana and Montana State as well.

GOOD HANDLE: JR PG Lateef McMullan has turned in a remarkable stretch of ball handling over the last six weeks, highlighted by his career-high nine assists with no turnovers against Sacramento State (1/10). In his last 13 games, McMullan has 58 assists against just 18 turnovers, a 3.2/1 ratio. For the season, his ratio is 63/27 (2.3 ast/to). That ranks third-best in the Big Sky Conference. He is fourth overall in the Big Sky in assists... for the year, the 5-11 ball-handler averages 10.3 points and 3.7 assists. 

MOORE, MOORE, MOORE: JR F Aaron Moore has likely been the Vikings' MVP this season, leading the team in scoring (12.3), rebounding (6.9), blocked shots (12) and shooting .517 from the field and .775 at the line...  once again he is in the midst of a hot stretch. In his last eight games, Moore has posted four double-doubles and averaged 16 points... currently, Moore is sixth in field goal percentage, fourth in rebounding and 13th in free throw percentage in the Big Sky Conference...  Moore is one of only two Vikings in PSU's Big Sky history to post three straight double-doubles (Seamus Boxley)... he has led the team in scoring six times and rebounding 11 times.

THUN-ING UP: SR G Michael Harthun has made 13-20 three-pointers (.650) in his last six games... Harthun is averaging 10.8 points per game, up from 8.6 last year. Harthun is shooting .478 from the field, .448 from distance, and .811 at the line... he ranks 13th in field goal percentage and sixth in three-point percentage in the Big Sky Conference... in conference-only games, Harthun leads the Big Sky in percentage at .542 (19-35)... Harthun currently maintains the fifth-best career three-point shooting percentage in school history at 74-171 (.431).

NICE COMEBACK: SO G Gary Winston has made a nice comeback from a nightmare shooting game at Montana State on Jan. 3. Winston was 0-9 in that game, 0-8 from three-point distance. In the six games since, he is 24-47 from the field (.511) and 12-20 from three-point range (.600)... his .434 career three-point shooting ranks fourth in PSU history, his .460 three-point shooting for the season ranks second... Winston is fifth in the Big Sky in three-point shooting... Winston has moved into the starting lineup for the last six games, averaging 9.2 points per game.

6TH MAN MOMENTS: Against Sacramento State (1/10), SR F Martin Whitmore scored a career-high 11 points (3-3 3-pt FG). Whitmore scored five points with a career-high six rebounds at Northern Colorado (1/17)... JR C Lamont Prosser responded when SR F Renado Parker was injured at Northern Colorado (1/17) with career-highs of six points and eight rebounds. He matched his career-high with six points at Eastern Washington (1/28)... SO C Brandon Cataldo had seven points, four rebounds and a blocked shot in a career-high 23 minutes at North Dakota (1/19), starting in place of SR F Renado Parker.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT REEL

• SO G Dre Winston Jr. starts his Viking career off right, scoring 16 points (5-6 FG, 3-4 3-pt, 3-4 FT) with three assists in Portland State's season opening win over Pacific (11/9), 77-58.

• Portland State signed 6-6, 220-pound forward Kyle Benton to a National Letter of Intent (11/16). Benton is a senior at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach, CA.

• Portland State sells out the Stott Center against Oregon State (12/12), marking the first sellout since the 2008-09 season.

• JR F Aaron Moore was perfect against Oregon State (12/12), hitting 7-7 from the field for 14 points. That 7-7 mark matched a PSU record since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97 (also accomplished by Anthony Washington vs. Eastern Washington, Mar. 4, 2006).

• SR G Lateef McMullen dished out a career-high eight assists to go with 14 points as the Vikings beat George Fox, 85-74 (12/15), ending a five-game losing streak. SR G Michael Harthun (16 pts) and SO G Gary Winston (14 pts) combined for 30 points, hitting 11-17 from the field and 6-7 from three-point range.

• SR G Lateef McMullan tied a career-high with 20 points (7-9 FG, 3-5 3-pt FG, 3-5 FT), had four assists and four steals as the Vikings opened Big Sky Conference play with a 63-49 win over Idaho State (12/20). PSU shot .532 for the game, winning its' second straight at home.

• JR F Aaron Moore posted the first double-double of the season by a Viking with career-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime loss to Weber State (12/22). Parker made 8-12 field goals and added two assists and a blocked shot.

• Despite a loss at Montana State (1/3), JR F Aaron Moore had his second straight double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. SR G Lateef McMullan scored 17 points as well, hitting a career-high 5-9 three-point field goals.

• JR F Aaron Moore posted his third double-double in a row wiht 14 points and 11 rebounds at Montana (1/5).

• Five Vikings scored in double figures as Portland State hit a season-high 12-18 three-pointers in an 87-69 win over Sacramento State (1/10). SR G Michael Harthun scored a season-high 18 points (7-11 FG, 4-5 3-pt), while SR G Lateef McMullan scored 14 points with a career-high nine assists. SR G Martin Whitmore scored a career-high 11 points and SO C Brandon Cataldo blocked a career-high four shots.

• SR F Renado Parker tied his career high with 20 points (7-13 FG, 6-8 FT) and grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds in a 79-74 win over Northern Arizona (1/12). Once again the Vikings had five players score in double figures, including 13 points and seven assists from Lateef McMullan.

• SR G Michael Harthun had his best game of the season at North Dakota (1/19) with 19 points (6-8 FG, 4-4 3-pt FG, 3-3 FT) and three rebounds.

• JR F Aaron Moore posted career-highs of 20 points and four blocked shots, while grabbing 10 rebounds at Eastern Washington (1/28). It was Moore's fourth double-double of the season.