complete notes and stats in pdf

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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (3-6) vs. CSU BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS (7-4)
Tuesday, December 22, 7 p.m. • Icardo Center (3,880), Bakersfield, CA
Live Video: www.WACSports.com/live
Live Audio: www.GoViks.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pre-game Show: 6:45 p.m.
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com

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THE OPENING TIP
Portland State goes on the road for the final time in 2015 this week as it tries to stop a pesky four-game losing streak. The Vikings will take a 3-6 record to CSU Bakersfield for a Tuesday night game. The Roadrunners, members of the Western Athletic Conference, have had a solid start to the season with a 7-4 record.
     
PSU's losing skid has included two home games and two road games. Three of the four have been tight contests, including the last two which the Vikings have led at halftime. Portland State has been hindered alternately by either poor shooting or ball-handling mistakes.
     
The Vikings had a 40-36 halftime lead over CSUN on Thursday night after shooting 64% in the first half. But a 28% shooting second-half spelled their doom in a 77-71 loss to the Matadors. Positive signs included a career-high 21 points from JR G Calaen Robinson on seven three-pointers, and the return of JR G Bryce White (10 points, 5 assists) from injury.
     
CSU Bakersfield has seen good times in recent weeks, winning four of its last five games. The Roadrunners are 6-0 at home this season.
     
Portland State and CSU Bakersfield have not had any common opponents this season.
     
Tuesday's game is a 7 p.m. tip. Live video, audio and stats can be found at GoViks.com by clicking on the Game Day box.
     
Portland State hosts one more non-conference game on Dec. 29. Cal State Fullerton (currently 7-3) of the Big West Conference comes to the Stott Center.
 
COMING UP
Big Sky Conference play begins on Jan. 2 when the Vikings host Sacramento State at the Stott Center. After that, the Vikings will play five of their next seven games during the month of January on the road.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. CSU BAKERSFIELD
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the short history between these two schools, 2-1. PSU lost the first meeting at CSU Bakersfield in 2010, but has won the last two at the Stott Center in 2011 and 2014.
• LAST SEASON: PSU 65, CSUB 59: Portland State jumped to an early 17-3 lead and never trailed in the game. The Vikings held CSU Bakersfield to only 18-60 from the field (30%), blocking eight shots and forcing 15 turnovers. Collin Spickerman blocked six shots for the Vikings while Braxton Tucker led four players in double figures with 18 points. Aly Ahmed had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Roadrunners.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Tyler Geving (87-105, 7th season) is 2-1 all-time against CSU Bakersfield. Roadrunners Head Coach Rod Barnes (64-73, 5th season) is 1-2 against Portland State. Barnes is 250-262 all-time as a collegiate head coach.
• VIKINGS VS. THE WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: Portland State is 16-11 all-time against current members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Vikings have one loss (82-72 at Grand Canyon) and one win (79-61 at UTRGV) against WAC opponents this year. Head Coach Tyler Geving is 3-5 all-time against current members of the WAC.
 
CSU BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS
• CSU Bakersfield was 14-19 last season, 7-7 and fifth in the Western Athletic Conference.
• The Roadrunners have started well this year with a 7-4 record. They are 6-0 at home.
• CSUB is an average shooting team at .448 from the field, .337 from three-point range and .652 at the free throw line. But, the Roadrunners have gotten the job done with defense, holding opponents to 65.5 points, .420 shooting, and forcing 16.2 turnovers per game. They also out-rebound opponents by 5.2 per game.
• Sixth-man Damiyne Durham leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game. He has made 36 three-pointers on the season.
• Kevin Mays averages 13.5 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game. Center Aly Ahmed averages 13.2 points and 6.8 rebounds. Brent Wrapp dishes out a team-high 4.4 assists per game.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 3-6 this season, 2-2 at home, 1-4 on the road.
• The Vikings have lost four games in a row.
Stott Stuff
• PSU has gone 152-58 in 210 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 183-73 at home over 20 seasons.
• Portland State is 59-29 at home in seven seasons under Tyler Geving.
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 96-32 at home, including 55-26 in Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament games.
• Portland State has lost only eight non-conference home games in the last nine seasons (41-8). PSU is 23-8 against Division I schools, and 18-0 against lower division schools over that span.
 
WHO IS HOT?
• JR G Calaen Robinson scored a career-high 21 points against CSUN. Robinson was 6-6 on three-pointers in the first half and 7-11 overall. He also had four assists in the game.
• SO F Isaiah Pineiro is shooting .582 from the field to lead the Vikings and rank fifth in the Big Sky Conference. Pineiro has averaged 13.3 points and shot .600 over the last three games.
• GR G Donivine Stewart has only three turnovers in 155 minutes of play this season. His assist-to-turnover ratio is 18/3. He has only one turnover in the last four games.
 
WHO IS NOT?
• Portland State is shooting .642 from the free throw line this season. The Vikings have shot .623 at the line during their four-game losing streak.
• The Vikings have lost four in a row.
• GR F Cameron Forte has made 17-50 shots (.340) during the Vikings four-game losing streak.
• PSU's top returning scorer from last season, JR F Braxton Tucker has missed the entire season while recovering from injury.
 
HANDLE IT!: Turnovers have been a concern for Coach Tyler Geving this year. The Vikings are averaging 14.8 turnovers per game. Last season, that number was only 11.1 per game... the high turnover total is one reason Geving inserted GR G Donivine Stewart into the starting lineup at point guard against CSUN. Stewart has only three turnovers this season.
 
A DIFFERENT LOOK: Head Coach Tyler Geving started his fifth different lineup in nine games on Thursday night. The only constants have been JR G Zach Gengler and SR C Collin Spickerman who have started all nine games. Eight different players have started games and those players average between 19 and 27 minutes per game... last season the Vikings had 10 different starting lineups in 29 games with 10 different players earning starts.
 
MR. ROBINSON'S NEIGHBORHOOD: JR G Calaen Robinson has alternated between playing the point and shooting guard this season as Coach Tyler Geving looks for the right fit. On Thursday night it was shooting guard as Robinson hit seven three-pointers on his way to a career-high 21 points.
• Robinson leads the Vikings in three-point field goals (22) and assists (34).
• Robinson's 11 assists against Multnomah were the most by a Viking since Feb. 5, 2009.
• Robinson has five double-figure scoring games.
• Ranks in the top 10 in the Big Sky Conference in assists.
• Scored 19 points with five rebounds at Washington State (12/6).
• Posted a career-high 21 points (7-11 3-pt FG) with four assists against CSUN (12/17).
 
SIXTH MAN STATS: SO F Isaiah Pineiro has been the Vikings' key player off the bench. In 21.2  minutes per game, he averages 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting .582 from the field.
• Leads the Vikings in field goal percentage (.582) and steals (12).
• Ranks in the top 10 in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding and field goal percentage.
• Had back-to-back double-doubles on the road, getting 24 points and 14 rebounds at UTRGV (11/22) and 13 points and 11 rebounds at Nevada (11/25).
• Scored 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-6 FT) with two blocks and two steals at Washington State (12/6).
• Posted 17 points (6-9 FG, 1-3 3-pt, 4-5 FT) with five rebounds and three steals against CSUN (12/17).
 
CALLING MR. WHITE: JR G Bryce White had gotten off to a good start this season, averaging 12.5 points and 2.6 assists through the first five games before an ankle sprain caused him to miss three games. White returned to play 25 minutes against CSUN, scoring 10 points with five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
 
FORTISSIMO: GR F Cameron Forte has been loud and strong with his performance as a new Viking. He has averaged 17.7 points and 8.8 rebounds to lead the Vikings.
• Forte ranks in the top five in the Big Sky in scoring and rebounding.
• Forte has three 20-point games and one 30-point game.
• He has three double-doubles on the season.
 
SWAT STATS: SR C Collin Spickerman set a PSU record for blocked shots per game (2.48) last season while leading the Big Sky Conference. Spickerman has 16 blocks this season and 88 blocks in 38 career games, ranking fourth in PSU history.
• Spickerman ranks third in the Big Sky in blocked shots (1.8).
• Spickerman blocked four shots and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in the season opener at Grand Canyon (11/13).
• Spickerman scored a career-high 15 points at SIUE (12/12).
• He has two games of four or more blocked shots.
 
PICKING UP HIS PLAY: Head Coach Tyler Geving has called for more offense from JR G Zach Gengler this year after he was the Vikings' top perimeter defender last year. So far this year, he is averaging career-highs of 6.9 points and 2.0 assists.
• Scored a career-high 17 points (7-14 FG, 3-7 3-pt) against Portland.
 
DIVINE DONIVINE: GR G Donivine Stewart has a good handle on things this year. In nearly 20 minutes per game at point guard, the SIUE transfer has committed only three turnovers. He has only one in the last four games and sports a 6/1 assist to turnover ratio this season. That would easily lead the Big Sky Conference if he had enough assists to qualify.
 
BETTER OFF THE BENCH: Portland State's top performances by players coming off the bench:
• GR F Cameron Forte had 22 points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes against Pacific Lutheran.
• JR G Calaen Robinson scored 13 points with two assists in 13 minutes against Pacific Lutheran.
• The Viking bench scored 62 points and had 32 rebounds in 104 total minutes against PLU.
• SO F Isaiah Pineiro had game-highs of 24 points (11-14 FG) and 14 rebounds in 29 minutes at UTRGV.
• GR F Cameron Forte scored a game-high 23 points with nine rebounds at Nevada.
• JR F De'Sean Parson scored 14 points (6-8 FG, 2-2 FT) with three rebounds in 17 minutes against Multnomah.
• SO F Isaiah Pineiro scored 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-6 FT) with two blocks and two steals at Washington State.
• JR G Khari Holloway had a season-high 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-4 3-pt) at SIUE.
• Portland State had 48 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals off the bench from three players against CSUN. JR G Calaen Robinson scored 21 points (7-11 3-pt FG) with four assists, SO F Isaiah Pineiro had 17 points (6-9 FG, 4-5 FT), five rebounds and three steals, and JR G Bryce White had 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.