complete notes and stats in pdf

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS vs. IDAHO STATE BENGALS
Saturday, March 8, 2014, 7:05 p.m. • Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR
 
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS
Record/Big Sky: 15-13, 10-9
Head Coach: Tyler Geving (67-83/5th year)
 
IDAHO STATE BENGALS
Record/Big Sky: 11-17, 8-11
Head Coach: Bill Evans (17-41/2nd 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
 
"This team has been resilient all year. And the great thing is they play for each other, which is neat, and kind of a rarity. They buy into what we are doing and play hard for each other and do a great job of sharing the basketball."
 
"I told the guys we just have to go get one more and finish the season right. We have put ourselves in a good position this late in the year. That's what you want to do. Now we need to go get one more on Saturday."      
THE OPENING TIP
One step closer to the goal. That is where the Portland State Vikings find themselves after a crucial Thursday-night home victory over first-place Weber State at the Stott Center.
 
The Vikings' 66-59 win over the Wildcats moved PSU into a tie for fifth place in the Big Sky Conference with one game to play. DaShaun Wiggins (20 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 2 st) and Gary Winston (18 pts, 4 ast) led PSU in one of its best defensive efforts of the season.
     
PSU (15-13, 10-9) now hosts Idaho State (11-17, 8-11) at the Stott Center on Saturday with an eye on the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
     
Seven of the 11 teams in the Big Sky will qualify for the tournament, beginning Mar. 13 in Ogden, UT, but only four teams have guaranteed berths so far (Weber State, Montana, North Dakota, Northern Arizona). Portland State, Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado are in a three-way tie for fifth at 10-9 and in the driver's seat for the final three spots in the tournament. However, Montana State and Sacramento State sit a game behind at 9-10 and still have a shot at the tournament. With five teams having a chance of finishing at 10-10, a multitude of tie-breaker possibilities still exist (see BIG SKY TIEBREAKER FORMAT below).
     
For the Vikings though, the math can be very simple. Win on Saturday night and they are in. Lose, and they may have to resort to tiebreakers. Most significantly, if Portland State were to lose, it must also hope that Montana State loses. The Bobcats are the only team with a 2-0 season advantage over the Vikings this year.
     
Saturday's game against Idaho State tips off at 7:05 p.m. at the Stott Center. Live video, audio and stats are available at GoViks.com by clicking on the Game Day box. Performer Myron Nudelman will provide entertainment throughout the game.
     
PSU has won two in a row and four its last five games going into its meeting with the Bengals. The Vikings are 11-5 at home this year. Idaho State is 2-13 in road games this year. However, the Bengals beat the Vikings, 87-76, in Pocatello on Jan. 2.
 
VIKINGS SENIORS
Portland State will honor two seniors playing in their final home contest prior to Saturday night's game: Kyle Richardson and Alyx Foster. Marcus Hall is also listed as a senior but will petition the NCAA for another year of eligibility after missing most of 2012-13 with injury.
     
Richardson, a 6-7 forward from Lakewood, CA, transferred to PSU after earning his degree at Long Beach State. He has started every game for the Vikings in this, his only season at Portland State. Richardson averages 9.1 points and leads the Vikings in rebounding (6.1) and blocked shots (28), while shooting .582 from the field.
     
Foster, a 6-3 guard from Phoenix, was a walk-on to the program last season. He has played a vital role for the Vikings this season as a defensive specialist, playing about 10 minutes per night against bigger opponents every game.
 
BIG SKY CONFERENCE TIEBREAKER FORMAT
      Want to try to figure out all the possibilities? Here is the Big Sky Conference tiebreaker format.
 
1. Head-to-Head Competition
a. Consider the head-to-head record during the Conference season. In double round robin play a team would have to sweep the opponent to break a tie with this method.
 
b. In the case of more than two tied teams, consider the Conference regular season record for head-to-head competition among all of the tied teams. This process is used to break ties between any of the tied teams with any remaining tied teams returning to the process at criteria 1.a. (above). (Example: Teams A, B, C, and D have identical record from a double round robin season. In head-to-head competition Team A emerges with 4-2 record against the other tied teams, team B and Team C have a 3-3 record and team D has a 2-4 record. Teams A and D can be placed in the final standings at that point while teams B and C return to criteria 1.a. If B and C have split their regular Conference season games, they will move to criteria 2. Performance against other teams in descending order.)
 
c. In the case of three or more teams having identical win-loss records, the normal tie-breaking procedure would be used. When one or more of these teams is eliminated by using the tie-breaking procedure, the remaining teams involved would then return to the criteria listed in a., above, to break the tie. This will be done until a team is established for that particular seeding position.
 
2. Performance against Conference teams in descending order of finish, beginning with the No.1 team. (Example: Teams B and C remained tied after head-to-head criteria from above. Team A has been declared the Conference Champion based on the above criteria. Team B has split the Conference season games with team A and team C has lost both of the Conference games to team A. Team B is now placed in second place ahead of team C.)
 
3. RPI rankings
 
4. Coin flip between the tied teams
 
THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The top seven teams in the Big Sky Conference regular season standings will earn berths into the conference tournament, Mar. 13-15, at Weber State University. The host will have an opening round bye, while quarterfinal games will match 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5.        
 
Thursday, March 13
#2-seed vs. #7-seed, 2 p.m. MT
#3-seed vs. #6-seed, 4:30 p.m. MT
#4-seed vs. #5-seed, 7 p.m MT
 
Friday, March 14
two highest-remaining seeds, 4:30 p.m. MT
#1-Weber State vs. lowest remaining seed, 7 p.m. MT
 
Saturday, March 15
Big Sky Conference Championship, 6 p.m. MT, televised on ESPNU
 
THE SERIES: PORTLAND STATE VS. IDAHO STATE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads 28-17. PSU leads in Portland 18-5.
• BIG SKY SERIES: Portland State leads 24-13. PSU leads in Portland 14-4.
• STREAK: Idaho State has won the last two meetings, both in Pocatello. PSU won three straight prior to that.
• LAST MEETING, JAN. 2 IN POCATELLO, ISU 87-76: Idaho State shot .667 from the field, .800 from three-point range and .800 at the line in the second half to hold off Vikings in close game. Portland State forced 21 ISU turnovers, but the Bengals shot .565 overall to just .406 for Vikings. Three Bengals scored 20+ points: Chris Hansen with 27, four rebounds and four assists; Andre Hatchett with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists; and Tomas Sanchez with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Portland State had five players in double figures, led by 13 points each for Andre Winston Jr. and DaShaun Wiggins.
• COACHES:  Viking Coach Tyler Geving is 5-4 all-time against Idaho State. ISU's Bill Evans is 2-1 against the Vikings.
 
IDAHO STATE BENGALS: Idaho State, located in Pocatello, ID, is an original member of the Big Sky Conference. The Bengals have won two regular season Big Sky titles, two Big Sky Tournament titles and have made 11 all-time appearances in the NCAA Tournament...  the Bengals (11-17, 8-11) were eliminated from tournament contention on Thursday night in a loss at Eastern Washington... junior guard Chris Hansen is the top scorer for ISU, averaging 16.5 points. He has also made 76 three-point field goals this season - second-most in the Big Sky Conference... senior guard Tomas Sanchez averages 15.1 points, 4.3 assists and has made 57 three-pointers... senior guard Andre Hatchett averages 14.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists... junior forward Jeffrey Solarin averages 10.1 points and ranks second in the Big Sky Conference with 8.6 rebounds. He shoots .586 from the field.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 15-13 this season, 11-5 at home, 4-8 on the road.
• The Vikings are 10-9 in the Big Sky Conference, 6-3 at home and 4-6 on the road.
• With 15 wins this season, PSU has bettered last year's win total (8-20) and conference win total (5).
• PSU is 8-6 in close games (seven points or less).
• The Vikings have come back to win six games this season when trailing at halftime.
• Portland State is 47-23 at home in five seasons under Tyler Geving.
Stott Stuff
• PSU has gone 140-52 in 192 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 171-67 at home over the past 18 seasons.
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 84-26 at home, including 49-22 in Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament games.
• Portland State has lost only six non-conference home games since the start of the 2006-07 season (35-6). PSU is 21-6 against Division I schools, and 14-0 against lower division schools over that span.
Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 147-154 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the tournament (8-8).
• PSU is 99-47 in home games, 45-103 in road games and 3-4 in neutral site games.
• PSU is 62-57 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 68-59 including tournament games.
 
HOT SHOTS:
• JR G DaShaun Wiggins had his team-high fifth 20-point game of the season in the win over Weber State.
• JR G Gary Winston has averaged 18.0 points, making 30-62 (.484) and 19-25 free throws (.760) in the last five games.
• SR F Kyle Richardson continues to play well. Over the last 12 games, he has made 68-103 shots from the field (.660), averaging 13.9 points and 8.0 rebounds.
• JR G Andre Winston has averaged 13.7 points and shot 64% in the last six games.
 
NOT SO HOT:
• SR G Marcus Hall was 0-14 from the field in the last three games.
• The Vikings were only 2-13 from three-point range against Weber State (.154).
 
HOME/ROAD DIFFERENTIAL:
• Portland State is 11-5 at home this season, 4-8 on the road.
• PSU has shot .442 from the field, .332 from distance and .704 at the line on the road this year.
• At home, PSU shoots .491/.391/.745.
• The Vikings average 69.4 points on the road and 75.7 at home.
 
THE NUMBERS 15 AND 10 MEAN A LOT: With Portland State's 15th win on Thursday night, the Vikings are guaranteed at least a .500 season this year. The 10th conference win also guarantees at least a .500 conference season... at 15-13, the Vikings also have their second-best mark in five seasons until Head Coach Tyler Geving. PSU was 17-15/10-6 in 2011-12; 14-16 in 2010-11... a victory on Saturday would double last year's win total (8-20/5-15). The Vikings have already doubled the conference win total.
 
CLOSE CONFERENCE, CLOSE GAMES: Portland State has played in eight conference games (out of 19) in which neither team has led by more than 10 points... 13 of the 19 games have been decided been nine points or less and three have gone to overtime (PSU is 2-1).
 
A WINNING LINEUP: The four-guard starting lineup of Tim Douglas, Andre Winston Jr., Gary Winston, and Marcus Hall and forward Kyle Richardson has gone 9-5.
 
MORE POINTS, MORE WINS: This season, the Vikings have gone 6-0 when scoring over 80 points, 11-6 when scoring 70 or more.
 
AND SOME DEFENSE: In PSU's last two wins, the Vikings have held their opponents - Weber State and Northern Colorado, two of best offensive teams in the Big Sky Conference - to 43-109 shooting (.394).
 
COMEBACK KIDS: With its comeback win at Northern Colorado last Saturday, the Vikings have now won six games in which they trailed at halftime. Only once this season has PSU given up a halftime lead to lose.
 
SHOOT IT WELL, WIN A GAME... UNTIL NOW: For the season, the Vikings are 10-1 when they shoot a higher percentage than their opponents, 5-12 when they don't.
 
5x10... ALMOST: Portland State (almost) has five players averaging double figures in Big Sky games:  Gary Winston (13.5), DaShaun Wiggins (13.1), Kyle Richardson (11.0), Tim Douglas (10.9) and Andre Winston (9.7). Meanwhile, Marcus Hall averages 8.1 in conference games.
 
KEEP SHOOTING, GARY: JR G Gary Winston has been on a hot streak, averaging 14.9 points over the past 16 games, scoring in double figures in 15 of those games. He posted a career-high 26 points at Southern Utah (2/20). That broke his previous career high (21), recorded at the start of the 16-game run in a win over Montana (1/11)... Winston averages 11.4 points and 2.6 assists this season. He was averaging just 5.0 points prior to the 16-game stretch.
• Winston ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in three-point percentage (41-88, .466). He also led last year (.470).
• Winston is the Portland State career leader in three-point percentage (.452).
• Has led the team in scoring seven times and assists 10 times this season.
 
POST PRESENCE: SR F Kyle Richardson is playing the best basketball of his career. Over the last 12 games, he has made 68-103 shots from the field (.660) and averaged 13.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots... 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 26.6 minutes per night, Richardson averages 9.1 points and 6.1 rebounds - both career highs. He also has a team-leading 28 blocked shots.
• Richardson has led the Vikings in rebounding 13 times this season and has four double-doubles.
• Ranks fifth in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.582) and ninth in rebounding (6.1).
 
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 21 of 27 games this season, leads the team in scoring (13.1) and steals (30), and is fourth in three-pointers (29) in just 23 minutes per night.
• Wiggins has led the team in scoring nine times and rebounding twice.
• Wiggins ranks 13th in the Big Sky Conference in scoring.
 
WINSTON HITTING THE MARK: JR G Andre Winston Jr. has been efficient on offense this season, averaging 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Over the past six games, Winston has averaged 14.7 points while shooting 30-47 from the field  (.638) and 22-27 at the line (.815)... for the season, Winston shoots .525 from the field and .776 at the line. He also has an excellent 64/40 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those are nice improvements over his numbers last year of 7.0, .391 and .705.
 
THE LEADER: JR G Tim Douglas is making a big impact for the Vikings this season. He is averaging 12.6 points and a team-leading 3.3 assists... he has made 10-23 three-pointers in the last four games (.435).
• Douglas has led the Vikings in scoring in five games and assists in 14 games.
• He has scored in double figures a team-high 21 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 15th in scoring and eighth in assists in the Big Sky Conference.
 
TASTY TIDBITS:
• The Vikings stopped a seven-game losing streak to Weber State with a 66-59 win over the Wildcats (3/6).
• PSU picked up back-to-back road wins (Southern Utah and Eastern Washington, Feb. 20-24) for the first time since Feb. 4-9, 2012 (Northern Arizona, Idaho State). The Vikings ended up winning three of four on the road trip (Feb. 20-Mar. 1).
• In 19 Big Sky Conference games, PSU has played eight games in which neither team led by more than 10 points. There have also been three overtime games.
• The Vikings wrapped up a 4-0 home stand on Feb. 1, having won all four games in eight days, knocking off then-first place Northern Colorado and third-place North Dakota.
• PSU knocked off first-place Northern Colorado (7-1 at the time), 80-57, with its largest margin over victory (23 points) over a Division I opponent since a 98-63 win over Idaho State on Feb. 26, 2010.
• Twice the Vikings have used five-guard lineups for come-from-behind wins, beating Southern Utah (1/25) and Eastern Washington (1/27).
• Portland State ended a 20-game road losing streak (and 14-game Big Sky road losing streak) with a 68-64 overtime win at Sacramento State (1/16). PSU's last road win had also been at Sacramento State (94-88) on Feb. 23, 2012.
• Portland State ended a nine-game losing streak to Montana with an 81-78 triple-overtime win against the Griz (1/11).
• Prior to the Jan. 4 Weber State game, SR F Aaron Moore was suspended by Head Coach Tyler Geving for conduct detrimental to the team.
• PRESEASON REVIEW: Portland State wrapped up its preseason schedule at 5-4, tied for the second-best mark in the Big Sky... PSU's 5-4 non-conference record was its first winning preseason mark in three seasons (9-5 in 2010-11)... PSU had wins over teams from the Big West, Missouri Valley, and Ohio Valley Conferences, with losses to Mountain West opponents (2), the West Coast and the WAC.
• HOME COURT HAPPINESS: With a 5-2 non-conference home record, PSU is 35-6 at the Stott Center since the start of the 2006-07 season in non-conference games (PSU is 43-19 in Big Sky home games over that span). PSU is 21-6 against Division I schools, and 13-0 against lower division schools in those non-conference games. Among the six losses are San Jose State (2007-08, in overtime), Seattle (2009-10, on a three-pointer at the final buzzer), Portland (2010-11, by 11 points; 2013-14, by 16 points), Oregon State (2012-13, by five points) and Idaho (2013-14, by one point).
• During Portland State's preseason tournament, the Vikings came back from double-digit, second-half deficits to beat both Loyola and SIUE. The win over UC Davis was a little more conventional as the Vikings went wire-to-wire, leading by double-digits throughout the second half.
• When Portland State went 0-7 from three-point range against UNLV in the season opener (11/9) it marked the first time in PSU history that a Viking team failed to make a three in a game. Since 1996-97 when basketball was reinstated on the Park Blocks, PSU had made at least one three-pointer in 495 straight games.
• The crowd of 13,148 at UNLV was the ninth-largest ever for a game in which the Portland State program has played.
• Portland State is 14-4 in home opening games since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.
• Portland State plays 17 regular season home games this year, the most ever scheduled in a single season.
• JR F Tiegbe Bamba is still rehabilitating from an achilles injury last season at Midland JC. He will not play this season.
• JR G Sebastian Suarez will redshirt this season due to complications with his transfer status. He needs to establish a year of residency and will be eligible to compete in the 2014-15 season. Also redshirting this season is JR G Kyler Shula.
• The Viking basketball program has graduated 16 of 17 players who have completed their eligibility under Head Coach Tyler Geving.
• Portland State is in its 18th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference and Division I. PSU played basketball from 1946-1981 before discontinuing the program. Basketball was reinstated for the 1996-97 season.
• Speaking of tasty, Portland State basketball fans will have the opportunity to Get Stuffed this winter at the Stott Center. Any fan purchasing a ticket for a seat at the Peter W. Stott Center will receive free concessions. That's right, all the food you can eat from the concession stand. Portland State students, with student tickets, will also take advantage of this promotion. It's just that simple. Buy your ticket and you eat for free. More than 14,000 free hot dogs have been eaten at Portland State men's and women's basketball games this season.
• And just for the heck of it, Kobayashi ate 12 hot dogs in 88 seconds at Portland State's game against Loyola on Nov. 22.
 
VIKING ONE-LINERS (and sometimes two)
• Portland State has two players from foreign countries on its roster; Tiegbe Bamba (France) and Sebastian Suarez (Chile). Since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97, Portland State has had players from England and Canada (3), Nigeria and Lithuania.
• They are both from the state of Washington, had All-State credentials on their respective high school teams, and share the same last name. But JR Gs Gary Winston and Andre Winston Jr. are not related - it's just a happy coincidence.
• FR G Zach Gengler was the Oregon 5A High School Player of the Year in 2012-13.
• SR F Kyle Richardson has already earned a degree in Communication Studies from Long Beach State. He has entered graduate school at Portland State and has one year of eligibility remaining.
• PSU has three players that competed for other Division I schools: Andre Winston, Jr. (Washington State), Tim Douglas (Portland) and Kyle Richardson (Long Beach State).
• SR F Kyle Richardson was a high school teammate of JR G Tim Douglas at Mayfair in Lakeland, CA.
• Head Coach Tyler Geving and Associate Head Coach Jeff Hironaka were both assistant coaches on the 2000-01 Seattle Pacific basketball staff.
• Special Advisor Barry Adams, a high school coaching legend in the state of Oregon, was recently elected to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. He will be inducted on March 10.
• Former Viking Ime Udoka played seven seasons in the NBA. He started 75 games for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2006-07. Udoka is now an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs.
• Julius Thomas, who holds Portland State records for games played (121), field goal percentage in a season and career (.671/.663), and career wins (78) is now the starting tight end and a Pro Bowler for the Denver Broncos. Thomas played on two Big Sky Conference Championship/NCAA Tournament teams (2007-08, 2008-09) at PSU.
• Another former Viking, Chehales Tapscott, was drafted by the Maine Red Claws of the NBA D-League on Nov. 1. He was a first team All-Big Sky selection for the Vikings in 2011-12, averaging 14.1 points and leading the Big Sky in rebounding (9.3) and blocked shots (43).
• 13 of the 16 Vikings are 22 or older. Only FR Zach Gengler and Kyle Benton are under 21 (both 19).