PORTLAND STATE AT NORTHERN ARIZONA
Thursday, February 7, 2013, 5:35 p.m. PT • JL Walkup Skydome (7,000), Flagstaff, AZ

PORTLAND STATE: 5-14 • Big Sky: 3-9 • Home: 5-4 • Road: 0-10
NORTHERN ARIZONA: 7-14 • Big Sky: 4-7 • Home: 4-4 • Road: 3-10

Television: Fox Arizona Plus on satellite systems: DISH: 445 SD/9515 HD     DTV: 695 SD/695-1 HD
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 5 p.m.
Live Video: www.BigSkyTV.org • Live Stats: http://vikslive.statb.us

All-Time Series: PSU leads 22-17 • PSU in Flagstaff: 7-10
Big Sky Series: PSU leads 20-16 • PSU in Flagstaff: 6-10
Jan. 12 in Portland: Portland State 79, Northern Arizona 74

THE OPENING TIP
This week, Portland State goes after its first road win of the season against teams the Vikings beat earlier this year at home; Northern Arizona and Sacramento State.

PSU, which has lost six in a row, needs to get well and remain in the conversation for a Big Sky Tournament post-season berth. The Vikings, 5-14 overall, 3-9 in the Big Sky, will play at NAU (7-14, 4-7) on Thursday. That game tips off at 5:35 p.m. PT. The Vikings beat NAU, 79-74, in Portland on Jan. 12.

On Saturday, PSU plays at Sacramento State (10-9, 5-6) in a 7:05 p.m. game.

Both games air on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. A live video stream is available at www.BigSkyTV.org.

The Vikings have a number of things to overcome this week. First, PSU must stop a road losing streak of 12 games. PSU is 0-10 on the road this season. Next, the Vikings want to end a six-game overall losing streak - the longest by a PSU team in six years. Finally, Portland State is tied for 10th at 3-9, a game-and-a-half behind seventh place Northern Arizona. And of course, the top seven teams will go to the Big Sky Tournament.

NAU plays on Monday night at Sacramento State, prior to facing the Vikings. Win or lose, the Lumberjacks will still be in seventh - whether it be alone at 5-7 or sharing it with Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington at 4-8. Needless to say, NAU is exactly the team the Vikings need to face at this point in the season to gain ground in the standings.

Northern Arizona has lost its last two games, six of its' last eight and nine of its' last 12. The 'Jacks are 4-4 at home this season.

JAN 12 @ PSU 79, NAU 74: Renado Parker tied his career high with 20 points, and posted a season-high with 11 rebounds in leading the Vikings to the win. Five Vikings were in double figures including Lateef McMullan with 13 points and seven assists... Gabe Rogers had 17 points to pace the Wildcats, who shot .564 from the field. However, NAU also committed 18 turnovers... PSU led the entire second half, but never by more than eight points.

THE LUMBERJACKS: Northern Arizona has already bettered last year's season record (5-24) with seven wins... The 'Jacks are two-time NCAA Tournament participants with trips in 1998 and 2000... NAU, which plays Monday at Sacramento State, has lost two in a row, six of eight and nine of its last 12... the  Lumberjacks allow the most points in the league at 76.2 per game... guards Gabe Rogers (16.2 ppg) and DeWayne Russell (15.2 ppg) are the catalysts for the NAU offense. They rank third and fourth in scoring in the Big Sky... forward Max Jacobsen shoots a stellar .607 from the field... point guard Stallon Saldivar averages 4.2 assists to rank second in the Big Sky.

THE COACHES: Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving has a 49-64 record in his fourth season. Geving has a 27-37 Big Sky Conference record and is 3-4 all-time against Northern Arizona... Jack Murphy is a first-year head coach with Northern Arizona and has a 7-14 record. He is 0-1 against the Vikings.

THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT: The top seven teams qualify for the Big Sky Conference Tournament on March 14-16. The regular season champion will host the tournament and receive a first-round bye. In the quarterfinals, the number two seed will play number seven; number three will play number six; and four will meet five.

VIKINGS GET UC RIVERSIDE IN ESPN BRACKETBUSTER GAME: ESPN has announced its BracketBuster matchups for 2013 and Portland State will host UC Riverside from the Big West Conference. The BracketBuster game is on Feb. 23 and will likely have a 7:35 p.m. tip time. PSU and UCR last met in a Nov. 21, 2010 game at the SMU Invitational, with PSU winning 69-58. The Highlanders are currently 5-17, 2-8 in the Big West. The only common opponent is Northern Colorado, whom the Highlanders defeated 69-63 on Dec. 1 in Riverside.

BRACKETBUSTER BREAKDOWN: This will be Portland State's seventh appearance in the series and third time hosting. ESPN recently announced this will be the final season it sponsors the BracketBuster series.

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

FAST BREAKS

HOT SHOTS: 
• SR F Renado Parker was back in form with 18 points (8-12 FG), eight rebounds and four steals against Montana State.
• JR F Aaron Moore has 13 blocks shots in his last five games (2.6 bpg).
• SR PG Lateef McMullan leads the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio in conference games (48/18) at 2.7 to 1.
• SO G Gary Winston is 15-26 from three-point range (.576) and SR G Michael Harthun is 14-25 from three-point range (.560) over the last eight games.
• SR F Martin Whitmore scored 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-3 3-pt) with a career-high nine rebounds off the bench against Montana. He followed with eight points and four rebounds off against Montana State.
• PSU's bench was 16-25 from the field (.640) in last week's two games, scoring 36 points.
• The Vikings shoot .512 from the field, .458 from three-point range, in the Stott Center.
• Portland State ranks 20th in the nation in free throw percentage (.749).

NOT SO HOT: 
• As a team, the Vikings shoot .395 on the road, .317 from three-point range.
• Portland State is 0-10 on the road this season.
• The Vikings have lost six in a row overall.

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 (5-3) and road (0-10) records. The Vikings shoot .512 from the field and .458 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 .743 at home and .754 on the road... the Vikings shot only .360 from the field at Southern Utah and .393 at Eastern Washington in their last two road games... not surprisingly, PSU has shot .565, .492, .532, .561 and .500 in its five wins this season.

FIRST-HALF TREND CONTINUES: Portland State fell behind 10-2 in the first five minutes against Montana and trailed 39-31 at halftime. PSU trailed Montana State 26-11 early, before rallying to a 33-30 halftime deficit. 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 684-576 in the first half this year (36.0-30.3), but outscored opponents 695-669 in the second half (36.4-35.3)... a good start seems vital for the Vikings, as they are 0-13 when trailing at halftime, 4-1 when leading at halftime, 1-0 when tied.

THE DEFENSE SHOULD NOT REST: Head Coach Tyler Geving touted an improved defensive team for 2012-13, and the Vikings have had their moments this season. A strong effort against Idaho State (12/20) had the Vikings headed the right way. PSU held Idaho State to 49 points on Dec. 20, the fewest by an opponent in 34 games... the 71.2 points allowed is down from last year's 73.3 by opponents, but opponents are shooting .491 from the field and .389 from three-point range - both of which rank last in the Big Sky. 

ROUGH ROAD: Portland State's 0-10 road record is a disappointment, but the Vikings have four more games on the road during the regular season to make amends... PSU was 7-12 on the road last season... overall the Vikings have lost 12 straight on the road.

WINSTON JR. OUT: SO G Dre Winston Jr. missed both games last week with a left ankle sprain. Winston Jr. suffered the injury in the final minute of the Jan. 24 loss at Southern Utah. Winston is questionable for this week.

MOORE, MOORE, MOORE: JR F Aaron Moore has likely been the Vikings' MVP this season, leading the team in scoring (12.3), rebounding (6.7), blocked shots (16) and shooting .524 from the field and .769 at the line...  Moore has posted four double-doubles in the last 10 games... currently, Moore is 14th in scoring, fourth in rebounding, sixth in field goal percentage, and 14th 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 seven times and rebounding 11 times.

GOOD HANDLE: JR PG Lateef McMullan has turned in a remarkable stretch of ball handling this season, highlighted by his career-high nine assists with no turnovers against Sacramento State (1/10). For the season, his ratio is 69/31 (2.2 ast/to). He leads the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio in conference games (2.7/1). He is fourth overall in the Big Sky in assists... for the year, the 5-11 ball-handler averages 10.0 points and 3.6 assists. 

THUN-ING UP: SR G Michael Harthun has made 14-25 three-pointers (.560) in his last eight games... Harthun is averaging 10.3 points per game, up from 8.6 last year. Harthun is shooting .459 from the field, .429 from distance, and a team-best .821 at the line... he ranks 15th in field goal percentage and ninth in three-point percentage in the Big Sky Conference... Harthun shoots .500 from three-point range in conference games... Harthun currently maintains the fifth-best career three-point shooting percentage in school history at 75-175 (.426).

PARKER'S PART: SR F Renado Parker got back to form with an 18-point (8-12 FG), eight-rebounds, four-steal game against Montana State (2/2)... he is second on the team in scoring (10.9) and rebounding (4.9) despite being hindered by a nagging ankle injury the last several weeks... Parker played three minutes at Northern Colorado, did not play at North Dakota, then came off the bench for 24 minutes at Southern Utah... he started and played 22 minutes at Eastern Washington, but was ineffective... Parker scored eight points with seven rebounds in 31 minutes against Montana... he has scored in double figures 11 times and led the team in scoring six times this season.

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 eight games since, he is 15-26 from three-point range (.576)... his .434 career three-point shooting ranks third in PSU history, his .456 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 eight games, averaging 9.4 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 10 points with a career-high nine rebounds against Montana (1/31), then followed it with eight points and four rebounds against Montana State (2/2)... JR C Lamont Prosser responded when SR F Renado Parker was injured at Northern Colorado (1/17) with six points and eight rebounds. On Thursday, Prosser had a career-high seven points and two blocked shots... SR F Michael Harvey had a perfect shooting game against Montana (3-3 FG, 1-1 FT), scoring seven points... 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.