Complete notes and stats in pdf

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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (11-8, 4-4) vs. IDAHO VANDALS (10-10, 5-4)
Thursday, February 2, 2017, 7:05 p.m. • Cowan Spectrum (5,000), Moscow, ID 
Live Streaming Video and Audio: www.GoViks.com/Live
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com

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THE OPENING TIP
Portland State hit a bump in the road, so to speak, last Saturday in Sacramento. But the Vikings have a chance to make up for it and jump two spots in the Big Sky Conference standings this Thursday in Moscow.
     
PSU lost an overtime contest at Sacramento State, 80-77, after holding a nine-point lead inside the final three minutes of regulation. It was a tough loss to take, the second in a row and third in four games for PSU. As a result, the Vikings have slipped to a seventh-place tie with the Hornets in the Big Sky Conference at 4-4.
     
However opportunity abounds for Portland State when it plays at Idaho this Thursday night. The Vandals are currently in fifth place at 5-4, with Montana in sixth at 5-5. The Griz are idle, so if PSU can pull off a win at the Cowan Spectrum it would jump over UM and Idaho into fifth place. That's a key spot this season in the Big Sky as the top five teams will receive first-round byes in the conference tournament in Reno this March.
     
Portland State is 11-8 overall and in the most challenging part of its schedule. Beginning with last Saturday's game in Sacramento, the Vikings play seven of the final 11 regular season games on the road. PSU is 4-6 on the road this season.
     
Idaho goes into the game at 10-10 overall and winners of four of their last five. The Vandals pulled out an overtime road win at Montana, 85-77, last Saturday after a double-overtime loss at Montana State on Thursday. Idaho has won its last three home games and is 7-3 at home this season.
     
PSU will try to end a three-game losing to the Vandals as well. Idaho swept the series last year by a combined seven points. To get the win, the Vikings need to revert to their high-scoring ways that had them averaging nearly 88 points per game. In their last two - both losses - the Vikings have shot .379 from the field, .234 from three-point range, .635 at the free throw line and averaged only 71.0 points. It will be a challenge against the Vandals who rank among  the Big Sky's top defensive teams.
     
Thursday's game will be the first and only regular season meeting this year between the Vikings and Vandals in the Big Sky's unbalanced schedule (18 total games in a 12-team league). In fact, PSU's next four opponents will all be one-and-done opponents (until the tournament): at Eastern Washington on Saturday; Idaho State (Feb. 9) and Weber State (Feb. 11) at home.
     
Thursday's game will tip off at 7 p.m. at Cowan Spectrum in Moscow. It will be live streamed at www.GoViks.com/Live. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 
COMING UP
The Vikings make the short trip from Moscow to Eastern Washington on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game. Portland State then returns home for games against Idaho State (Feb. 9) and Weber State (Feb. 11).
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Idaho leads the all-time series that dates back to 1965, 14-12... the Vandals also lead the brief Big Sky series, 3-1, and have won the last three in a row... PSU has yet to win a Big Sky game in Moscow (0-2) and trails 3-10 all-time in Moscow.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 30, 2016 in Moscow, UI 56, PSU 55: Chris Sarbaugh made two free throws with 10.1 seconds left to provide the difference. Zach Gengler's contested 20-footer at the buzzer hit the back iron. Neither team shot well (Idaho, .359; PSU, .352) in the game. Nate Sherwood scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Vandals. Cameron Forte scored 20 points with 20 rebounds - PSU's only 20-rebound performance in Big Sky history. Feb. 18, 2016 in Portland: UI 80, PSU 74: After a close first half, Idaho pulls away for the win, leading by as many as 12. The Vikings shot only .294 from the field in the second half. Perrion Callandret scored 19 points to lead Idaho. Cameron Forte led the Vikings in every statistical category with 23 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocked shots.
• OVERTIME FAVORS THE VANDALS?: In their series' history, the teams have never played an overtime against one another. The Vikings may want to keep it that way. Last Saturday, each team played an overtime game on the road. Idaho won at Montana while the Vikings lost at Sacramento State... the Vandals have already played four overtime games this season, winning three... the Vikings are 0-2 in overtime this year.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Tyler Geving (108-125/8th season) is 1-5 all-time against Idaho... Vandals Head Coach Don Verlin (141-136/9th year) is 5-1 all-time against Portland State.
 
IDAHO VANDALS
• Idaho, an original member of the Big Sky Conference, rejoined the league in 2014-15.
• The Hornets have never won four Big Sky regular season titles and four Big Sky Tournament titles, making five total appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Idaho was 21-13 last season, 12-6 and third in the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals are 10-10 this year, 5-4 in the Big Sky. They have won four of their last five games.
• Idaho is one of the best defensive teams in the league, holding opponents to .405 shooting from the field (1st in the Big Sky and 70.8 points per game (2nd). The Vandals also lead the league in rebound margin (+4.0).
• Junior guard Victor Sanders was a second-team All-Big Sky Conference selection last season and preseason All-Big Sky choice this year. He has lived up to the billing, averaging 20.0 points, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals and has made 53 three-point field goals.
• Junior forward Brayon Blake leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game and averages 10.8 points.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 11-8 this season, 7-2 at home, 4-6 on the road.
• The Vikings have lost two in a row and three of their last four. Prior to that, they had won seven of eight games.
• Portland State won five straight earlier this season (Dec. 13-29). It was the longest winning streak since winning six in a row late in the 2008-09 season.
Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 171-180 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the Big Sky Tournament (10-11).
• PSU is 113-57 in home games, 54-116 in road games and 4-8 in neutral-site games.
 
WHO IS HOT?
• DOUBLE FIGURES: Despite coming off the bench, JR G Deontae North has scored in double figures in 14 of the last 15 games. His only non-double-digit game was nine points. North scored 23 points against Montana State (1/21) and leads the team in scoring in Big Sky games (14.6).
• SHOOTING STAR: JR C Traylin Farris has shot 50% or better in each of his last 12 games. He shoots .612 from the field overall and ranks fourth in the Big Sky.
• JR C Traylin Farris has only 13 turnovers in 18 games and 397 minutes of play for the season.
• CAREER GAME: SR G Calaen Robinson matched his career-scoring high of 23 points at Sacramento State (7-10 FG, 4-7 3-pt, 5-6 FT) and set a new career-high with eight rebounds.
• SR G Calaen Robinson has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season.
 
WHO IS NOT?
• The Vikings have shot .379 from the field in their last two games, both losses.
• PSU is shooting .569 from the free throw line in Big Sky Conference games. That has dropped the team's season percentage to .626. The Vikings rank last in free throw percentage and three-point shooting (.322) in Big Sky games.
• JR G Bryce Canda was 3-17 from the field and 0-9 from three-point range in the last two games.
• PSU has been outrebounded by 9.8 per game in its eight losses.
• JR F Braxton Tucker has played in only five games due to knee issues. He had arthroscopy on his left knee on Jan. 5.
 
TRENDING: With the season now more than half complete, here is a look at some Viking trends.
• Portland State is 10-1 when scoring 80 or more points, 0-3 when scoring less than 70.
• The Vikings are 8-1 when leading at halftime, 1-5 when trailing, 2-2 when tied.
• PSU is 9-1 when shooting a higher percentage from the field than its opponents, 2-7 when being outshot.
 
BURN POINTS: Portland State had an amazing 51 points off turnovers (or burn points) against North Dakota (12/29). That continued a season-long trend of burning opponents for their mistakes. The Vikings have scored 389 burn points this season (20.5 per game) to 227 for the opponents (11.9). That is a margin of +8.6 per game which is coincidently very close to the Vikings' scoring margin (+7.3).
 
IT TAKES A THIEF: Portland State set a school record for steals last season with 263 in 31 games (8.48). With 195 steals already this year (10.3), the Vikings are on pace to break that mark again.
• The Vikings currently rank fourth in the nation in steals.
• PSU has had nine or more steals in 14 games this season.
• Five Vikings rank in the top nine in steals in the Big Sky: SR G Calaen Robinson, JR G Bryce Canda, SR F De'Sean Parsons, SR G Zach Gengler and JR G Deontae North.
• SR G Calaen Robinson leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks eighth in the nation in steals (2.58) and set a career- high with six against North Dakota (12/29).
• PSU had a season-high 19 steals in a win over North Dakota (12/29).
 
100 WATCH: Portland State has had a number of meetings with the number 100 this season. Here are the highlights:
• Coach Tyler Geving won his 100th career game on Dec. 3 against UTRGV. Geving has the second most career wins by a coach in PSU history (108).
• The Vikings have scored 100 or more points four times.
• SR G Zach Gengler played in his 100th career game on Jan. 19 against Montana. Gengler is on pace to finish his career among the top five in games played all-time at PSU. He has now played in 102 games.
• SR G Calaen Robinson passed 100 career steals (104).
 
HOT SHOTS: Portland State is averaging 85.5 points per game - the most of any team in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings have scored 99 or more points in five games this season. The scoring can be attributed to good shooting, an up-tempo pace, and an ability to force opponent turnovers.
• The Vikings shot .530 or better in eight of their wins.
• Portland State shoots .487 from the field overall and has failed to score at least 70 points only three times this season.
• PSU is forcing 16.5 turnovers per game while making 10.3 steals per game.
• Last year, PSU averaged 77.7 points. The last time PSU averaged over 82 points was 1976-77 when the Vikings aver-aged 91.0 points per game.
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT DYNAMICS: Portland State currently has six players averaging in double figures this season: JR F Braxton Tucker (16.8), SR G Calaen Robinson (14.3), JR G Deontae North (12.6), SR F De'Sean Parsons (12.3), JR G Bryce Canda (10.5) and JR C Traylin Farris (10.4).
• SR G Zach Gengler (9.6) has also spent a portion of the season averaging double figures.
• PSU has had at least five players score in double figures in 12 games this season.
• Portland State has had 87 double-figure scoring games this season, an average of 4.6 players per game.
 
BIG SKY CONFERENCE LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in:
• Scoring, 85.5 points per game
• Assists, 16.9 per game
• Steals, 10.3 per game
• Turnover margin, +5.0
• Assist-to-turnover ratio, 1.5 (337/218)
• SR G Calaen Robinson leads in steals, 2.58
 
VIKINGS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS (top 30):
• Portland State ranks 4th in steals per game, 10.3
• Portland State ranks 5th in turnover margin, +4.9
• Portland State ranks 11th in scoring, 85.5 per game
• Portland State ranks 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio, 1.47
• Portland State ranks 21st in field goal percentage, .487
• Portland State ranks 21st in turnovers forced, 16.5
• Portland State ranks 23rd in assists per game, 16.9
• SR G Calaen Robinson ranks 8th in steals, 2.58 per game