complete notes and stats in pdf

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS vs. OREGON DUCKS
Sunday, November 30, 2014, 5 p.m. • Matthew Knight Arena (12,346), Eugene, OR
 
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS
2014-15 Record: 4-0
Head Coach: Tyler Geving (73-85/6th year)
 
OREGON DUCKS
2014-15 Record: 3-2
Head Coach: Dana Altman (19-21/2nd year/career, 60-44/4th year)
 
Television: Pac-12 Network
Live Audio Stream: www.GoViks.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 4:45 p.m.
Live Stats: www.vikslive.com, www.viksmobile.com
 
THE OPENING TIP
The Portland State men's basketball team will try to do something it has not done since the first incarnation of the program: start a season with a 5-0 record.
     
The Vikings are 4-0 as they head to the University of Oregon for a Sunday evening game against the Ducks. It will be televised on the Pac-12 Network at 5 p.m. A live audio stream will be available at GoViks.com, with live stats at vikslive.com and viksmobile.
     
PSU beat Cal State Northridge, 63-55, on Wednesday night making it a symmetrical 2-0 on the road and 2-0 at home. The Vikings' 4-0 mark is its first since the 2008-09 season. The last time PSU was 5-0 was the start of the 1976-77 season when a young shooter by the name of Freeman Williams trod the Stott Center hardwood.  Of course, PSU dropped its program in 1981 and it did not return until the 1996-97 season. So it has been 24 playing seasons since PSU reached a 5-0 record.
     
Getting to 5-0 will not be easy as the Vikings take on the Ducks. PSU is 2-10 all-time against Oregon and just 5-48 all-time against Pac-12 teams.
     
Oregon is 3-2 this season with three home wins and two road losses to nationally-ranked teams.
     
The game is the second of four in a row on the road for the Vikings. Portland State also plays at Portland (Dec. 3) and UC Riverside (Dec. 6) next week. PSU's next home game does not come until a Dec. 13 contest with Cal State Bakersfield.
     
Portland State remains the only undefeated team in the Big Sky Conference through two weeks of play.
 
THE SERIES: PORTLAND STATE VS. OREGON
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Oregon leads the all-time series, 10-2. The Ducks are 7-2 in Eugene against the Vikings. Both of PSU's wins came at old McArthur Court (1997 and 2005)... Oregon has won four in a row in the series.
• LAST MEETING, Nov. 12, 2012, Eugene, OR: The Vikings committed 10 turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game and fell behind 32-12. They outscored the Ducks by nine the rest of the way, but by then the damage was done. Oregon ended up with more turnovers than the Vikings (17 to 15), but outrebounded (35-24) and outshot PSU (.491 to .453)... Andre Winston Jr. and Renado Parker each had 15 points for the Vikings. Dominic Artis led the Ducks with 16 points.
• COACHES:  Viking Coach Tyler Geving (73-85, 6th season) is 0-3 against Oregon. Ducks Coach Dana Altman (100-49, 5th year/633-316, 30th year) is 3-0 against the Vikings
• VIKINGS vs. THE PAC-12: Portland State is 5-48 all-time against current members of the Pac-12. The Vikings played and defeated USC, 76-68, in this year's season opener. (Nov. 15)... Viking Coach Tyler Geving is 1-8 all-time against members of the Pac-12 (0-3 vs. Oregon, 0-2 vs. Oregon State, 0-1 vs. Stanford, 0-1 vs. Washington, 0-1 vs. Washington State, 1-0 vs. USC).
 
THE OREGON DUCKS
The Oregon Ducks are led by fifth-year Head Coach Dana Altman. Oregon was 24-10 last year, 10-8 in the Pac-12 and tied for third. One starter and four letterwinners return from that team... the Ducks are 3-2 this season, with three home wins and two neutral site losses to nationally-ranked Michigan and VCU... Oregon averages 78.8 points per game and hits 8.6 three-pointers per contest. The Ducks have been a strong rebounding team as well with a +7.6 rebounding margin and have held opponents to .394 shooting from the field... senior guard Joseph Young leads the team with 21.4 points and 4.6 assists per game. He is a perfect 30-30 at the free throw line this season... freshman forward Dillon Brooks averages 13.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game... junior forward Elgin Cook averages 12.4 points and 6.8 assists... junior forward Dwayne Benjamin is the team's top rebounder at 9.3 per game.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 4-0 this season, 2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road.
• The Vikings have won four straight home games dating to last season.
• Portland State was 17-15, 12-5 at home, 4-9 on the road, 1-1 in neutral site games in 2013-14.
• The Vikings went 11-9 in the Big Sky Conference, 7-3 at home and 4-6 on the road.
• With 17 wins, PSU more than doubled the previous year's win total (8-20).
And The Trivial
• Portland State is 27-24 all-time in overtime. Coach Tyler Geving is 5-4 all-time in overtime, including 1-0 this season. PSU was 3-1 in overtime last season.
• PSU is 2-15 against nationally-ranked opponents since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.
• Head Coach Tyler Geving is 1-2 all-time against ranked opponents.
• Portland State is 18-41 in games televised in the Portland area since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. That includes a 9-7 home record and 9-34 road record.
 
HOT SHOTS
• SR G Tim Douglas has missed only eight shots in the first four games. He is 18-26 from the field (.692), 11-15 on three-pointers (.733) and 6-7 at the free throw line (.867).
• SR G DaShaun Wiggins posted a career-high 32 points (12-18 FG, 3-4 3-pt, 5-10) in the Vikings overtime win against Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Monday. It was the first 30-point game by a Viking in 68 games.
• SR F Tiegbe Bamba likes playing road games. He has 37 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and six steals in two road victories. He has made 15-21 field goals in the two games (.714).
• PSU has 39 steals and a +8.5 turnover margin through four games.
• The Vikings are shooting .500 from three-point range this season (30-60).
 
NOT SO HOT
• After a 12-18 shooting performance in the win over SIUE, SR G DaShaun Wiggins was only 3-11 against Cal State Northridge.
 
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Here is where Portland State stands in the NCAA statistical rankings through games of Nov. 26:
• 2nd in the nation in three-point percentage (.500).
• 4th in the nation in turnover margin (+8.5).
• 18th in the nation in steals per game (9.5).
• SR G Tim Douglas is third in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (11-15, .733).
• SO F Braxton Tucker ranks 10th in the nation in offensive rebounding (4.67 per game).
 
POLLING NUMBERS: Portland State earned votes in the Nov. 24 Mid-Major Top-25 poll. The Vikings received 22 polling points, effectively ranking 36th in the nation among mid-major teams.
 
SHOOTING STAR: Prior to the start of this season, Head Coach Tyler Geving lauded his senior point guard Tim Douglas for how hard he worked on his outside shooting during the off-season. That work has paid off. Douglas shot .382 from the field and .331 from three-point range last season. Through four games this season, Douglas is 18-26 from the field (.692) and 11-15 from three-point range (.733)... Douglas leads the Big Sky in both field goal and three-point field goal percentage and ranks among the leaders in the nation.
• Douglas scored a season-high 17 points (5-7 FG, 3-3 3-pt 4-4 FT) in a win over SIUE (11/24). He added four steals and three assists.
 
FILLING THE VOID: SO F Braxton Tucker was not able to play at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday night due to a quad contusion. That meant the Vikings were missing their top rebounder (8.0) and second-leading scorer (13.7). Enter JR F Collin Spickerman to the starting lineup. The 6-8 big man from Portland's Jesuit High School was brought in specifically to play defense, rebound and block shots. Spickerman did just that in the Vikings' best defensive effort of the season thus far, getting seven boards, three blocks, altering several more shots and helping hold CSUN to .383 shooting and 55 points - 18 below their season average.
 
VALUE THE BASKETBALL: After four games, Portland State has forced opponents into 78 turnovers while committing only 44. The defining result is the advantage PSU has in points off turnovers, getting 98 while giving up only 49.
 
FAST HANDS: The 78 forced turnovers (19.5 per game) are in large part due to Portland State having 39  steals - 10 against USC, 14 against Willamette, seven against SIUE and eight against Cal State Northridge. SR F Tiegbe Bamba leads the team with 10 and SR Gs DaShaun Wiggins and Tim Douglas have seven each.
 
LATE-GAME HEROICS: With an overtime win against Southern Illionis Edwardsville last Monday night, the Vikings continue a trend that began last year with late-game heroics. The Vikings never led in the last four minutes of regulation against SIUE, but got a tieing basket from SO F Braxton Tucker with 8.8 seconds left to play. In overtime, DaShaun Wiggins gave the Vikings their first lead with 1:21 to play on a driving three-point play... with the overtime win PSU is now 4-1 in overtime games since the start of the 2013-14 season... last year, Portland State proved to be a team that performed well under pressure, going 10-6 in close games (seven points or less) and 3-1 in overtime... the Vikings came back to win seven games when trailing at halftime - the most by any team in the Big Sky Conference.
 
SIXTH-MAN SENSATION: SR G DaShaun Wiggins was Portland State's leading scorer last season despite not being a starter. He averaged 12.9 points per game in 22.9 minutes per night. That effort earned him Big Sky Conference co-6th Man of the Year honors... in 2014-15, Wiggins is looking better than ever. After his career performance against SIUE on Monday (32 points), Wiggins leads the team in scoring again at 16.0. He shoots .468 from the field and has made 7-10 three-pointers this season.
• Wiggins posted a career-high 32 points (12-18 FG, 3-4 3-pt, 5-10 FT) in a 90-87 overtime win against SIUE (11/24).
 
NEW PLAYERS, BIG IMPACT: Head Coach Tyler Geving inserted three new starters into his lineup for the opener at USC, and the results couldn't have been much better. SR F Tiegbe Bamba, SO G Bryce White and SO F Braxton Tucker were playing their first game as Vikings and they combined for 49 points (16-32 FG, 4-7 3-pt, 13-17 FT), 14 rebounds, four assists and six steals with only two turnovers. Each played 34 minutes... through four games, that trio has combined to average 38.2 points, 18.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.8 steals.
 
5x10: Head Coach Tyler Geving knew he had a number of players who could score going into this season. That has proven itself as five are currently averaging in double figures and a sixth is close. They are: DaShaun Wiggins (16.0), Braxton Tucker (13.7), Tim Douglas (13.3), Bryce White (13.0), and Tiegbe Bamba (11.5). All five rank in the top 20 in scoring in the Big Sky Conference... Gary Winston, who averaged 11.3 last season, is currently averaging 8.0 points, but also leads the Vikings in assists (4.3).
 
BEATING THE PAC-12: It doesn't happen often for the Vikings or members of the Big Sky Conference, but it happened on Nov. 15 when Portland State beat USC for the first time in its history, 76-68. The Vikings are 1-1 all-time against the Trojans... PSU is 5-48 all-time against Pac-12 schools (5-36 since joining the Big Sky in 1996-97), and Coach Tyler Geving can now claim his first win (1-8) over the Pac-12... Portland State also has two wins over Oregon and two over Arizona State in its history... the Vikings have never beaten two Pac-12 opponents in the same season. They will get a chance to do so on Sunday when they play at Oregon. The Ducks lead the all-time series, 10-2, with both Viking wins coming in Eugene at old McArthur Court.
 
THE TYLER GEVING BASKETBALL SHOW: The Tyler Geving Basketball Show is available on Blog Talk Radio. The show takes place each Wednesday night, 10:30-11:00 pm, PDT. The link to listen changes each week, but the weekly link can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tylergevingshow. Geving, a 10-year veteran of the Viking basketball program, is in his sixth season as head coach. He will talk Viking basketball, Big Sky basketball and review and preview games. Greg Crawford hosts the show.
 
2014-15 SEASON HIGHLIGHT REEL
• In his first game as a Viking, SR F Tiegbe Bamba led the team to a rare win over a Pac-12 school as the Vikings beat USC 76-68 (11/15). Bamba scored 19 points (8-11 FG, 3-3 3-pt), had six rebounds, four steals and two assists in the game, leading five players in double figures. It was the first win over a Pac-12 opponent since the 2006-07 season and just the fifth all-time (5-48).
• SR F Tiegbe Bamba was named Big Sky Conference co-Player of the Week (11/18) after his performance in the win over USC. Bamba had 19 points, six rebounds and four steals in a 76-68 win.
• SO G Bryce White posted 19 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Vikings routed Willamette, 84-63 (11/18). PSU shot .544 from the field, .571 from three-point range and forced 23 turnovers for the second straight game. SR G Tim Douglas scored 15 points and did not miss a shot (6-6 FG, 3-3 3-pt FG).
• SR G DaShaun Wiggins scored a career-high 32 points (12-18 FG, 3-4 3-pt, 5-10 FT) in leading the Vikings to a 90-87 overtime win against Southern Illinois Edwardsville (11/24). Wiggins made a driving three-point play to give the Vikings the lead for good with 1:21 to play in OT. His 30-point effort was the first by a Viking in 68 games.
• With a 63-55 win over Cal State Northridge, Portland State improved to 4-0 to start a season for the first time since 2008-09 (11/26). The Vikings played their best defensive game, holding the Matadors 18 points below their season average, forcing 18 turnovers and .383 shooting. SR F Tiegbe Bamba scored 18 points (7-10 FG, 4-6 FT) with eight rebounds to lead the Vikings.