complete notes and stats in pdf

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS vs. NORTH DAKOTA
Saturday, February 1, 2014, 7:05 p.m. • Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR
 
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS
Record/Big Sky: 10-8, 5-4
Head Coach: Tyler Geving (62-78/5th year)
 
NORTH DAKOTA
Record/Big Sky: 9-10, 6-3
Head Coach: Brian Jones (111-124/8th year)
 
Live Video Stream: www.WatchBigSky.com
Live Audio Stream: www.GoViks.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6:45 p.m.
Live Stats: vikslive.statb.us, viksmobile.com
 
THE OPENING TIP
An opportunity to wrap up one of its most successful home stands in recent memory should have the Portland State Vikings ready to go when the face North Dakota on Saturday night. PSU has won three in a row at home over the past seven days, including an 80-57 trouncing of former first-place Northern Colorado on Thursday night. That has moved the Vikings (10-8, 5-4) into a tie for fourth in the Big Sky Conference. They will face a UND team that stands one game ahead of them (9-10, 6-3) with another chance to climb in the standings.
     
When Portland State began its home stand on Jan. 25 it was tied for seventh in the Big Sky. But inspired play in wins over Southern Utah, Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado has moved the Vikings into a tie for fourth.
     
Portland State did just about everything right in knocking off Northern Colorado (13-5, 7-2) on Thursday. The Vikings shot a season-high .547 from the field while committing only eight turnovers. Moreover, they held the best offensive team in the Big Sky to just 57 points and .393 shooting. PSU led wire-to-wire, building a 21-point lead by halftime, and leading by at least 20 the entire second half. Gary Winston scored 19 points with six assists, Marcus Hall had 17 points, and Kyle Richardson posted a career-high 16 points and eight rebounds.
     
After Thursday's win, Portland State is 9-3 at home this season. The Vikings have won five of their last six games overall.
     
North Dakota comes to the Stott Center red-hot as well. UND took a 73-61 win at Eastern Washington on Thursday and has won four games in a row. North Dakota is 2-8 in away games this season.
     
Saturday night's game tips off at 7:05 p.m. at the Stott Center. Live video, audio and stats can be found on-line at GoViks.com, starting at 6:45 p.m. Just click on the appropriate link in the Game Day box. Game night fun includes a performance by chain saw juggler Mad Chad at halftime.
 
THE SERIES: PORTLAND STATE VS. NORTH DAKOTA
• ALL-TIME SERIES: North Dakota leads 4-0. UND leads 2-0 in Portland.
• BIG SKY SERIES: North Dakota leads 2-0. UND leads 1-0 in Portland.
• LAST SEASON: North Dakota swept the season series, winning 85-76 in Grand Forks and 74-66 in Portland. Forward Troy Huff scored 43 points in the two games for UND. Huff was second team All-Big Sky Conference after leading the league in scoring (19.2).
• Viking Coach Tyler Geving is 0-2 all-time against North Dakota. UND's Brian Jones is 2-0 against the Vikings.
 
NORTH DAKOTA: Formerly a member of the Great West Conference, North Dakota is now in its second season in the Big Sky Conference. Located in Grand Forks, ND, the University of North Dakota moved up to the Division I level in 2007... currently, UND is without a mascot and will name one in 2015.... North Dakota was 16-17 last season, finishing 12-8 and placing third in the Big Sky Conference... four starters and seven letterwinners return from that team... North Dakota can score, as evidenced by its 73.9 scoring average... UND leads the Big Sky with 8.9 steals per game while forcing the most turnovers (15.6) in the league. North Dakota's +4.4 turnover margin is also the best in the Big Sky... senior forward Troy Huff ranks second in the Big Sky Conference, averaging 19.7 points per game. He is fifth in rebounding at 7.5 per game, and first in steals with 2.2 per game... Jamal Webb ranks second in steals at 1.9 per game and averages a team-best 3.0 assists... other top scorers are guard Aaron Anderson (11.0) and forward Jaron Nash (10.8).
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 10-8 this season, 9-3 at home, 1-5 on the road.
• PSU has won three games in a row and five of its last six.
• The Vikings are 5-4 in the Big Sky Conference, 4-1 at home and 1-3 on the road.
• Portland State is 45-21 at home in five seasons under Tyler Geving.
• With 10 wins this season, PSU has already bettered last year's win total (8-20) and matched last year's conference win total (5).
 
HOT SHOTS:
• PSU's 23-point victory margin over Northern Colorado was the largest over a Division I opponent since a 98-63 win over Idaho State on Feb. 26, 2010.
• SR F Kyle Richardson scored a career-high 16 points (7-9 FG, 2-3 FT) in the win over Northern Colorado.
• JR G Gary Winston has averaged 15.0 points in his last six games, making 30-58 shots (.517). Winston had  a game-high 19 points and tied his career high with six assists while grabbing five rebounds against Northern Colorado.
• SR G Marcus Hall continued his hot shooting at home. In the last five home games, he is 22-33 from the field (.667), 18-26 from three-point range (.692) and 9-10 at the line (.900).
• JR C Brandon Cataldo had nine points and nine rebounds in 12 minutes against Northern Colorado. That works out to 30 points and 30 rebounds over a 40-minute game.
 
NOT SO HOT:
• Portland State ranks last in the Big Sky in opponent field goal percentage (.489) in league games.
 
HOME/ROAD DIFFERENTIAL:
• Portland State is 9-3 at home this season, 1-5 on the road.
• PSU has shot .404 from the field, .307 from distance and .650 at the line on the road this year, averaging 12.2 turnovers.
• At home, PSU shoots .488/.412/.754 and averages 11.3 turnovers.
• The Vikings average 61.7 points on the road and 78.8 at home.
 
SHOOT IT WELL, WIN A GAME: Portland State has shot .526 and a season-high .547 from the field in its last two games, out-shooting both opponents and getting two victories. That comes as no surprise as the Vikings are 7-0 this season when they shoot a higher percentage than their opponents.
 
THE GUARDS ARE GOOD, BUT THE POSTS CAN PLAY TOO: Portland State's previous two wins against Southern Utah and Eastern Washington were inspired when Head Coach Tyler Geving went with five-guard lineups in both contests. Geving never went to five guards in Thursday's victory over Northern Colorado. Why? Because he got the best combined performance from his two posts all season. SR F Kyle Richardson (16 pts, 8 reb) and JR C Brandon Cataldo (9 pts, 9 reb) combined to score 25 points (11-15 FG, 3-5 FT), grab 16 rebounds and block two shots in 39 minutes of play.
 
FOUR GUARDS AND A GOALIE: By necessity, Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving has had to play small this season, more so than ever now with the suspension of SR F Aaron Moore. The strength of the Viking team is in its guards and Portland State is now playing more of them than ever - a little reminiscent of the Don Nelson/RUN-TMC era of the Golden State Warriors in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Google 'em). The starting lineup of four guards and one big man has produced exciting and successful play. Strategically, PSU spreads its opponents out on the floor, attacks on the drive and kicks out for three pointers when open. The "four guards and a goalie" approach has been effective offensively. Meanwhile, defending and rebounding against bigger opponents has also gone well as the Vikings are out-scrapping the competition.
 
... AND SOMETIMES FIVE GUARDS: The Vikings went with five guards down the stretch in the 67-64 win over Southern Utah (1/25). PSU trailed 56-52 with 6:03 to play when Coach Geving inserted a five-guard lineup. The Vikings outscored the Thunderbirds, 15-8, the rest of the way for the victory... Geving went to five guards again in the second half of the Vikings' win over Eastern Washington (1/27). In a 12-minute span, PSU outscored Eastern Washington, 34-18. Including a five-guard stint late in the first half, PSU outscored EWU, 43-26, with that lineup... in the five-guard lineup, the tallest Viking on the court has been either SR G Marcus Hall (6-4) or SR G Alyx Foster (6-3) with no other player taller than 6-2.
 
KEEP SHOOTING GARY: JR G Gary Winston has been on a hot streak, averaging 15.0 points, 3.3 assists and shooting 52% from the field in the last six games. Winston had a game-high 19 points and tied a career-high with six assists in the win over Northern Colorado... Winston led the Big Sky Conference in three-point percentage last season (.470), so it is no surprise he ranks second in the league right now (.467). Moreover, he hit clutch threes in two recent Viking wins. Winston made the game-winner with 2.6 seconds remaining in the third overtime of an 81-78 win against Montana (1/11). Then, with the Vikings clinging to a 61-58 lead against Sacramento State (1/16) in overtime and less than a minute to play, Winston rose up and buried a trey to make it 64-58 with 42 seconds to go. That shot essentially sealed the win for the Vikings.
• Winston is the Portland State career leader in three-point percentage (.448).
• Winston scored a career-high 21 points with five assists and hit a game-winning three-point field goal in triple-overtime against Montana (1/11).
• Posted 19 points (7-12 FG, 2-4 3-pt, 3-3 FT) with five rebounds and tied a career-high with six assists in a win over Northern Colorado (1/30).
 
WHEN YOU'RE HOT, YOU'RE HOT: ...and when you're not, you're not. SR G Marcus Hall is red-hot at home over his last five games, making 22-33 field goals (.667), 18-26 three-point field goals (.692) and 9-10 free throws (.900)... he posted a career-high 19 against Montana State (1/9), then two nights later hit another career-high in the win over Montana (1-11). Hall had 21 points in that game with seven rebounds and three assists... Hall is not hot over his last three road games, going 4-17 from the field and 2-12 from three-point range... Hall, who averaged from 5.3 points and 1.0 assists in the first eight games, has averaged 10.9 points and 2.0 assists over the last 10 games.
• Hall shoots .458 from three-point range this season to rank fourth in the Big Sky.
• Hall has a team-high 33 three-pointers for the season.
 
THE LEADER: JR G Tim Douglas is making a big impact for the Vikings this season. He is averaging team-highs of 14.1 points and 3.8 assists.
• Douglas has led the Vikings in scoring in five games and assists in 11 games.
• He has scored in double figures a team-high 14 times with a season-high 27 against Portland (12/7).
• Douglas was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 10.
• Douglas ranks 11th in scoring and fourth in assists in the Big Sky Conference.
 
WINSTON HITTING THE MARK: JR G Andre Winston Jr. had a career-game in the win over Eastern Washington (1/27). Winston scored a career-high 23 points (7-13, 8-10 FT) with six rebounds, and career-highs of six assists and three steals... Winston has been very efficient on offense this season, averaging 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He shoots .531 from the field and .789 at the line. He also has an excellent 40/27 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those are nice improvements over his numbers last year of 7.0, .391 and .705.
 
POST PRESENCE: SR F Kyle Richardson saw limited action in three seasons at Long Beach State. After graduating and transferring to Portland State for his final season this year, Big Rich has stepped up his role and his game. Richardson, along with JR G Tim Douglas (who was also a high school teammate), are the only Vikings to start every game. In 24 minutes per night, Richardson averages 6.6 points and 4.7 rebounds - both career highs.
• Richardson scored a career-high 16 points (7-9 FG) with eight rebounds against Northern Colorado (1/30).
• In the last five games, he has averaged 9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and shot .676 from the field.
• Richardson has led the Vikings in rebounding four times this season.
 
THE BIG CAT IS ON THE PROWL: JR C Brandon Cataldo has been a "project" player for the Vikings the past two seasons. This season he has begun to assert himself. Cataldo is averaging modest numbers of 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in 12.3 minutes per night. Those work out to 16.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per 40 minutes.
• Cataldo leads the team with a .593 field goal percentage. He shoots .568 from the field for his career.
• Cataldo has led the Vikings in rebounding three times this season.
 
OUR COUSIN VINNIE: If you remember the "Microwave", former Detroit Piston sixth-man Vinnie Johnson, then know that Portland State appears to have their own version in JR G DaShaun Wiggins. Wiggins has come off the bench in 13 of 18 games this season and is second on the team in scoring (12.4), third in steals (16), and three-pointers (22) in just 22.4 minutes per night. He is also the easy leader in free throw attempts, making 73-97 already this season.
• Wiggins' had a 21-point, seven-rebound, three-assist, two-steal performance in a win over UC Davis (11/24).
• He set new career-highs with 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals against Idaho (12/14).
• Scored a game-high 20 points (7-13 FG, 5-6 FT) against Montana State (1/9).
• Posted 21 points (5-11 FG, 3-7 3-pt, 8-9 FT) with five assists in the win over Eastern Washington (1/27).
• Wiggins has led the team in scoring seven times and rebounding twice.
• Wiggins ranks 17th in the Big Sky Conference in scoring.
 
FOSTERING GOOD DEFENSE: You wouldn't expect a walk-on player who almost never shoots the ball to have a big impact on your team, but SR G Alyx Foster has for the Vikings. Foster has attempted just 10 shots, scoring 10 points all season. But he has proven valuable in a defensive role, and in particular lately, playing the "4" position at only 6-foot-3. Foster has averaged 15 minutes per game over the last five contests as a backup to Marcus Hall. And though he has averaged just one point and two rebounds per game in those games, Head Coach Tyler Geving would tell you Foster has been vital to the Vikings' success.