complete notes and stats in pdf

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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (12-11, 5-7) vs.
MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (12-14, 7-6)
Thursday, February 16, 2017, 6 p.m. PT, Worthington Arena (7,250), Bozeman, MT

Live Streaming Video and Audio: www.GoViks.com/Live
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com

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THE OPENING TIP
Portland State will try to get back its mojo this week right at the source of the problem. The Vikings, who have lost five of their last six games - with three coming in overtime, travel to face Montana State in Bozeman for a Thursday night game.
     
The Bobcats (12-15, 7-6) started the Vikings (12-11, 5-7) on their tailspin on Jan. 21, beating PSU 71-65 at the Stott Center. That was the first loss in Portland State's five-of-six string. Prior to that, PSU was riding high with an 11-6 record, and had been winners of eight of their previous 10.
     
The game is particularly important for Portland State in order to move up in the Big Sky Conference standings. PSU sits in eighth place, but plays the teams in front of it (Montana State and Montana) this week. Sacramento State, also making the Montana swing, is one game ahead of the Vikings at 6-6. MSU is in sixth place at 7-6 and Montana is one game ahead of that at 8-5 and tied for fourth. A pair of wins could help Portland State climb in the standings, or at least get them closer to the coveted top five with four games to go. The first five teams in the Big Sky standings at season end will get first-round byes in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
     
To get their first win of the week, the Vikings will have to contend with sophomore guard Tyler Hall of Montana State. Hall is one of the top players in the Big Sky, averaging 22.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and has made 92 three-point field goals. He leads an MSU team that can score (79.9) and shoots the three-point shot well (Big Sky-best 10.0 made per game).
     
Montana State is 9-5 at home this season, so the Bobcats are vulnerable. Portland State has a 4-8 road record, 1-4 in Big Sky road games. The Vikings won last year at MSU, 77-70, but the Bobcats have held a dominance over the Vikings all-time in Bozeman (16-4 in Big Sky games).
     
The game will be live streamed at www.GoViks.com/Live. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com. Tip-off is 6:05 p.m. PT.
 
COMING UP
On Saturday night, Portland State moves on to play Montana (13-13/8-5) in Missoula. The Vikings beat the Grizzlies, 88-79, on Jan. 19 in Portland.
     
PSU's final home weekend is Feb. 23-25 when the Vikings play Southern Utah (4-22/2-11) and Northern Arizona (7-19/4-9). The regular season concludes with a trip to Northern Colorado (8-16/4-9, Mar. 2) and North Dakota (15-8/10-3, Mar. 4).
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA STATE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Montana State leads the all-time series, 32-22, and the Big Sky Conference series, 25-19... the Vikings had won three straight against the Bobcats prior to a Jan. 21 loss... MSU leads the Big Sky series, 16-4, in games played in Bozeman... Portland State has an advantage in Big Sky Tournament games with Montana State, having won all four meetings.
• Jan. 21 in Portland, MSU 71, PSU 65: A poor shooting night by the Vikings proved costly. PSU was 22-60 from the field (.367), 5-22 from three-point range (.227) and 16-28 at the line (.571). The Bobcats shot only .368 from the field, but made up for it by out-rebounding the Vikings, 53-37. MSU had 15 second-chance points to just five for the Vikings. An 18-5 run by MSU midway through the second half provided the difference for the Bobcats. Tyler Hall had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead four Bobcats in double figures. Deontae North scored 23 points for the Vikings, while De'Sean Parsons posted 14 points and 10 rebounds.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Tyler Geving (109-128/8th season) is 6-10 all-time against the Bobcats... Montana State Head Coach Brian Fish (33-54/3rd year) is 1-3 against the Vikings.
 
MONTANA STATE BOBCATS
• Montana State, an original member of the Big Sky Conference, is located in Bozeman, MT.
• The Bobcats have won four Big Sky regular season titles, two conference tournament titles and made three all-time appearances in the NCAA Tournament. MSU last won the regular season in 2002, and the tournament in 1996.
• Montana State is 12-14 this season, 7-6 in the Big Sky Conference. The Bobcats are 9-5 at home.
• The Bobcats lead the Big Sky in three-point field goals made at 10.0 per game. They score 79.9 points and give up 79.3 points per game.
• Sophomore guard Tyler Hall averages 22.8 points to rank second in the Big Sky, 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He has made 92 three-point field goals (.407) and shoots .848 at the free throw line. Hall was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year last season.
• Freshman guard Harald Frey is averaging 13.3 points, 3.3 assists and has made 61 three-pointers (.424).
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 12-11 this season, 8-3 at home, 4-8 on the road.
• 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.
• The Vikings' longest losing streak this season is four games.
Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 172-183 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the Big Sky Tournament (10-11).
• PSU is 114-58 in home games, 54-118 in road games and 4-8 in neutral-site games.
 
WHO IS HOT?
• 30 MORE: SR F De'Sean Parsons had another big game with 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot against Weber State. It was his second 30-point game of the season. In his last four games, Parsons has averaged 25.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 39-65 (.600) from the field. He has taken over the team scoring lead (14.6) among active players.
• DISHING DIMES: SR G Calaen Robinson had a career-high 12 assists in the Vikings loss to Weber State last Saturday. He also tied his career high with eight rebounds and had three more steals.
• CRAZY 8: SR G Zach Gengler tied a 39-year-old school record when he made eight steals in the Vikings win over Idaho State (2/9). He matched Terry Adolph who made eight steals in a game against George Fox on Jan. 13, 1978. Gengler has a career-high of 39 steals this season. For his career, Gengler has 107 steals in 106 games. He ranks sixth all-time in steals and ninth all-time in games played at PSU (tied with Freeman Williams).
• SHOOTING STAR: JR C Traylin Farris has shot 50% or better in each of his last 16 games. He shoots .619 from the field overall and ranks fourth in the Big Sky... Farris has only 15 turnovers in 21 games and 488 minutes of play for the season.
 
WHO IS NOT?
• Portland State shot 1-13 from three-point range against Weber State (8%).
• PSU is shooting .607 from the free throw line in Big Sky Conference games. That has dropped the team's season percentage to .636. The Vikings rank 11th in free throw percentage and last in three-point shooting (.305) in Big Sky games.
• PSU has been outrebounded by 9.7 per game in its 11 losses.
• The Vikings are 0-4 in overtime games.
• JR F Braxton Tucker has played in only five games due to knee issues. He had arthroscopy on his left knee on Jan. 5.
 
TASTY TIDBITS: A sampling of some unusual notes this season:
• A BAD TIME IN OVERTIME FOR THE VIKS: Portland State has played three overtime games in its last five starts, losing all three. For the season, the Vikings have played four overtime games and a total of seven overtime periods... the four overtime games matches the school record for a season set twice previously (1998-99) and (2013-14)... the total overtime periods is a new record (previous 6)... Portland State has played in four triple-overtime games in its history (including a 130-124 loss at Eastern Washington on Feb. 4 this season), and one quadruple overtime game (a 92-91 win at Northern Arizona on Jan. 4, 2009).
• NUMBER 35: SR F De'Sean Parsons become the 18th different Viking player in history to score 35 points in a game with his performance at Eastern Washington (2/4). The feat has been accomplished 77 times with Freeman Williams doing it 41 times. Players have scored exactly 35 points on nine occasions. It is the eighth time in Portland State's Big Sky era that a player has scored 35 or more points.
• 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 477 burn points this season (20.7 per game) to 276 for the opponents (12.0). That is a margin of +8.7 points per game.
• 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 (109).
• The Vikings have scored 100 or more points five 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 106 games.
• SR G Calaen Robinson passed 100 career steals (116) as has SR G Zach Gengler (107).
• SR G Calaen Robinson passed 100 assists for the season (102).
 
TRENDING: Here is a look at some Viking trends:
• Portland State is 10-3 when scoring 80 or more points, 0-3 when scoring less than 70.
• The Vikings are 8-1 when leading at halftime, 2-8 when trailing, 2-2 when tied.
• PSU is 9-1 when shooting a higher percentage from the field than its opponents, 3-10 when being outshot.
 
IT TAKES A THIEF: Portland State set a school record for steals last season with 263 in 31 games (8.48). With 236 steals already this year (10.3), the Vikings are on pace to break that mark again.
• The Vikings currently rank third in the nation in steals.
• PSU has had nine or more steals in 18 games this season.
• SR G Zach Gengler tied a school record with eight steals in a win over Idaho State (2/9).
• SR G Calaen Robinson leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks eighth in the nation in steals (2.65) and set a career- high with six against North Dakota (12/29).
• Robinson ranks third all-time in steals at Portland State (116) and Gengler ranks sixth (107).
• Three Vikings rank in the top eight in steals in the Big Sky: Robinson, Gengler, and SR F De'Sean Parsons.
• PSU had a season-high 19 steals in a win over North Dakota (12/29).
 
HOT SHOTS: Portland State is averaging 86.4 points per game - the most of any team in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings have scored 99 or more points in six 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 .486 from the field overall and has failed to score at least 70 points only three times this season.
• PSU is forcing 16.6 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.
 
BIG SKY CONFERENCE LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in:
• Scoring, 86.4 points per game
• Assists, 16.5 per game
• Steals, 10.3 per game
• Turnover margin, +5.0
• Assist-to-turnover ratio, 1.4 (380/267)
• SR G Calaen Robinson leads in steals, 2.65
 
VIKINGS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS (top 30):
• Portland State ranks 3rd in steals per game, 10.3
• Portland State ranks 4th in turnover margin, +5.0
• Portland State ranks 8th in scoring, 86.4 per game
• Portland State ranks 14th in turnovers forced, 16.6
• Portland State ranks 17th in assist-to-turnover ratio, 1.42
• Portland State ranks 20th in field goal percentage, .486
• Portland State ranks 30th in assists per game, 16.5
• SR G Calaen Robinson ranks 8th in steals, 2.66 per game