PORTLAND STATE AT SACRAMENTO STATE
Saturday, February 9, 2013, 7:05 p.m. • The Hornets Nest (1,200), Sacramento, CA

PORTLAND STATE: 5-15 • Big Sky: 3-10 • Home: 5-4 • Road: 0-11
SACRAMENTO STATE: 11-10 • Big Sky: 6-7 • Home: 8-3 • Road: 3-7

Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6:30 p.m.
Live Video: www.BigSkyTV.org 
Live Stats: http://www.hornetsports.com/livestats/mbball/xlive.htm

All-Time Series: PSU leads 25-10 • PSU in Sacramento: 8-9
Big Sky Series: PSU leads 24-9 • PSU in Sacramento: 8-8
Jan. 10 in Portland: Portland State 87, Sacramento State 69

THE OPENING TIP
Portland State will try to break the ice once again - this time in sunny California - when the Vikings go after their first road victory of the season Saturday at Sacramento State. PSU meets SAC in a 7:05 p.m. game at the Hornets Nest. 

The game airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. A live video stream is available at www.BigSkyTV.org.

PSU dropped a Big Sky game at Northern Arizona on Thursday, 79-72. The loss was the Vikings' seventh straight, leaving them at 5-15 on the season, 3-10 in the Big Sky Conference. Worse, PSU still hasn't earned a road win in 2012-13, moving to 0-11 away from home.

With Thursday's loss, the urgency of the season grows for Portland State. The Vikings are now 3-10 in the 20-game Big Sky schedule. With seven games remaining (3 road, 4 home), PSU trails the sixth- and seventh-place teams by three games (Sacramento State and Northern Arizona at 6-7). The top seven teams in regular season play will advance to the Big Sky Tournament, Mar. 14-16.

The Vikings will try to draw on recent history against the Hornets for inspiration. PSU has won three in a row in the series (including an 87-69 win on Jan. 10 in Portland), and 11 of the last 12 overall. Last year, PSU won 94-88 at the Hornets Nest behind a career-high 38 points from Charles Odum.

Portland State has shot 65%, 53% and 56% in its last three meetings with the Hornets.

Sacramento State comes off a 61-55 win over Eastern Washington on Thursday. The Hornets, now 11-10 overall, have not won or lost more than two in a row since opening the season 3-0.

The Hornets are 8-3 at home this season.

JAN 10 @ PSU 87, SAC 69: A run of seven straight three-point field goals made in the second half turned a close game into a Viking rout of the Hornets. PSU shot 56% from the field and made 12-18 overall from distance to win its third straight and 11th in 12 meetings against Sacramento State... five Vikings scored in double figures, led by 18 from Michael Harthun (7-11 FG, 4-5 3-pt). Lateef McMullan scored 14 points and had a career-high nine assists. Martin Whitmore scored a career-high 11 points (3-4 FG, 3-3 3-pt FG, 2-2 FT) in 10 minutes off the bench... John Dickson scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Hornets.

THE HORNETS: Sacramento State is much improved from its 10-18 campaign of a year ago. The Hornets were 5-11, tieing for seventh in the Big Sky... this year, they have already eclipsed those marks at 11-10 overall and 6-7 in conference play... Sacramento State has a balanced attack with four players averaging double figures in scoring... senior forward John Dickson is one of the better players in the league and leads the Hornets with 13.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game... sophomore guard Mikh McKinney averages 13.0 points and shoots .436 from three-point range... sophomore point guard Dylan Garrity averages 12.5 points and leads the Big Sky Conference with 5.2 assists per game... senior post Konner Veteto averages 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and leads the league in offensive rebounding (2.7 per game).

THE COACHES: Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving has a 49-65 record in his fourth season. Geving has a 27-38 Big Sky Conference record. Geving has more wins against Sacramento State (6-1) than any other school... Brian Katz is in his fifth season at Sacramento State. Katz is 39-97 overall, 1-8 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 is expected to have a 1:05 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.

UC Riverside features junior guard Chris Harriel, a former Portland State Viking. Harriel played at PSU for two years, 2009-11. Harriel averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 2010-11 for the Vikings. He then transferred to UCR. This season he averages 11.0 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Highlanders.

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 in 2013-14. The Vikings will return a game to UC Riverside some time in 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

HOT SHOTS: 
• SR F Renado Parker has averaged 18.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the last two games.  
• JR F Aaron Moore has five double-doubles in the last 11 games.
• SR PG Lateef McMullan leads the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio in conference games (53/19) at 2.8 to 1.
• SO G Gary Winston is 15-30 from three-point range (.500) and SR G Michael Harthun is 15-28 from three-point range (.536) over the last nine games.
• The Vikings shoot .512 from the field, .458 from three-point range, in the Stott Center.
• Portland State ranks 15th in the nation in free throw percentage (.752).

NOT SO HOT: 
• As a team, the Vikings shoot .397 on the road, .309 from three-point range.
• Portland State is 0-11 on the road this season.
• The Vikings have lost seven in a row overall.
• After shooting 24-45 (.533) in his first six games, SO G Dre Winston is 15-58 (.259) over his last 11.

ROAD WEARY: With three road games remaining this season, Portland State wants to avoid an ignominious feat. The Vikings stand 0-11 on the road so far. Only once in its history has PSU failed to win a road game - 0-14 in 2002-03. That year also featured PSU's poorest overall season record in history (5-22). Currently 5-15, PSU has eight remaining games to better that mark... the 2002-03 team also had an eight-game losing streak, the longest losing streak over the past 10 years. PSU currently has lost seven in a row.

FIRST-HALF TREND CONTINUES: Portland State trailed Northern Arizona 34-18 after nine minutes of play on Thursday, then 51-30 just before halftime. 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 735-611 in the first half this year (36.8-30.6), but has outscored opponents 732-697 in the second half (36.6-34.8)... a good start seems vital for the Vikings, as they are 0-14 when trailing at halftime, 4-1 when leading at halftime, 1-0 when tied.

THE DEFENSE SHOULD NOT REST: Portland State's troubles in the first half have stemmed from defense. Northern Arizona shot 63% in the first half on the way to 51 points on Thursday. The Vikings held the Lumberjacks to 33% shooting in the second half, but the damage was done. NAU shot 49% overall, exactly the average of Viking opponents this season. In fact, PSU allows .491 shooting by opponents and .395 three-point shooting. Both of those marks rank last in the Big Sky Conference. 

WINSTON JR. RETURNS, WHITMORE SITS, PROSSER SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN: SO G Dre Winston Jr. returned to play at Northern Arizona after missing three games with a left ankle sprain... SR F Martin Whitmore, who had been playing well of late as the Vikings' sixth man, missed the game at NAU after reinjuring his right elbow in practice. He is questionable for Saturday... meanwhile, JR C Lamont Prosser played only two minutes at NAU due to a bad right knee... the good news? SR F Renado Parker appears to be back - averaging 18.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the last two games - after a gimpy ankle has slowed him in recent weeks.