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VANDAL HOLIDAY HOOPS SHOWCASE
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (2-1) vs. UC SANTA BARBARA GAUCHOS (3-1)
Friday, November 23, 2018, 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT • Century Link Arena, Boise, ID
 
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (2-1) vs. NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS (3-0)
Saturday, November 24, 2018, 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT • Century Link Arena, Boise, ID
 
Live Stream: Pluto TV Channel 242, wwwPluto.tv, www.WatchBigSky.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP
The Portland State Vikings will spend their holiday weekend in Boise, ID at the Vandal Holiday Hoops Showcase. PSU will play UC Santa Barbara on Friday, then Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at Century Link Arena.
     
The Vikings (2-1) have won their last two games at home, most recently routing Division III Willamette, 125-61. PSU will now try to build its road resume. Last season, the Vikings were 10-6 in road games, 2-3 in neutral site games.
     
UC Santa Barbara will be a stern challenge on Friday. The Gauchos come into the contest with a 3-1 record and were 23-9 last season. Northwest Nazarene is a Division II program but has opened the season 3-0. The Nighthawks have a Tuesday night contest with College of Idaho, then face the University of Idaho on Friday, prior to playing the Vikings.
     
Portland State's win last Saturday over Willamette was impressive. The Vikings had their best shooting night of the young season, hitting 46-84 from the field (.548) and 20-24 at the free throw line (.833). Six players scored in double figures, led by 22 points each from SO G Holland Woods and JR G Michael Nuga. SR F Jamie Orme (19 pts, 13 reb) and JR F Robert McCoy (11 pts, 12 reb) each had double-doubles for the Vikings.
     
PSU is now 2-0 at home and improved to 51-8 in non-conference home games over the last 12 seasons.
     
This week's games at the Vandal Holiday Hoops Showcase will be live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 242 and www.WatchBigSky.com. Both tip off at 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT.
 
COMING UP
Portland State plays a third straight road game on Nov. 28 at Stanford. After that, four of the last five non-conference games are at home. PSU hosts Portland Bible on Dec. 1, then University of Portland on Dec. 5.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. UC SANTA BARBARA
• ALL-TIME SERIES: UCSB leads the all-time series between the schools, 1-0. The only meeting between the schools came on Jan. 2, 1981 at Santa Barbara. The Gauchos won 90-79.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE BIG WEST CONFERENCE: Portland State is 28-35 all-time against current members of the Big West Conference. The Vikings defeated UC Riverside on Nov. 10, 71-64. UC Santa Barbara is the only other Big West opponent this season.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his second season on the Park Blocks and has a 22-15 career record. Peery has never faced UCSB, but he is 2-0 against Big West schools... Peery's only other head coaching experience is at the junior college level where he was 178-30 in six seasons (2005-08, College of Southern Idaho;  2011-14, Indian Hills (IA) CC)... the Gauchos are coached by Joe Pasternak (Indiana, 1999), who is in his second season. Pasternack is 26-10 at UCSB and 80-70 all-time as a collegiate head coach. He has never faced the Vikings.
 
UC SANTA BARBARA GAUCHOS
• UC Santa Barbara is a member of the Big West Conference. 
• The Gauchos were 23-9 last season, 11-5 in the Big West, placing second. One starter and six letterwinners return from that team.
• UCSB has started the season 3-1, with wins over Wyoming and Montana State. The Gauchos are shooting .511 from the field so far, and have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 10.0 per game. They have also held opponents to .362 shooting, .245 from three-point range.
• JaQuori McLaughlin leads the team with 12.8 points per game. Armond Davis averages 12.0 points and Devearl Ramsey averages 11.8 points. Ramsey is the team leader in assists with 4.5 per game.
• Amadou Sow leads the Gauchos with 7.0 rebounds per game. Jarriesse Blackmon has blocked seven shots in four games.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. LOWER DIVISION SCHOOLS: Portland State is 45-1 against lower division schools, including winning 33 in a row, since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his second season on the Park Blocks and has a 22-15 career record. Peery has never faced Northwest Nazarene, but he is 4-0 against lower division schools at Portland State... Peery's only other head coaching experience is at the junior college level where he was 178-30 in six seasons (2005-08, College of Southern Idaho;  2011-14, Indian Hills (IA) CC)... the Nighthawks are coached by Paul Rush (Boise State, 2006), who is in his third season. Rush is 28-27 at Northwest Nazarene. He has never faced the Vikings.
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS
• Northwest Nazarene is located in Nampa, ID. The school is an NCAA II member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. 
• The Nighthawks were 13-13 last season, 9-11 and seventh place in the GNAC. Three starters and nine letterwinners return from that team.
• NNU has started the season 3-0. The Nighthawks have shot .551 as a team and put up 85.0 points per game. They have held opponents to just .367 shooting from the field.
• Adonis Arms is the team's leading scorer at 18.3 points per game. He shoots .688 from the field, averages 5.0 rebounds and has team highs of seven steals and four blocked shots.
• Jayden Bezzant is averaging 13.3 points and Obi Megwa averages 12.0 points and a team-leading 4.7 assists per game.
 
PEERY WINS 200TH CAREER GAME
Portland State Head Basketball Coach Barret Peery captured his 200th career victory on Saturday in a 125-61 win over Willamette. Peery, who is in his second season at Portland State, is currently 22-15 as Vikings' Head Coach. He also won 178 games in six seasons at the junior college level (93-11, Indian Hills CC (IA), 2011-14; College of Southern Idaho, 85-19, 2005-08). His composite record is 200-45.

VIKINGS WILL BE TELEVISED ON ELEVEN SPORTS FOUR TIMES
The Big Sky Conference released its Eleven Sports television schedule for 2018-19 and Portland State will appear in four of the 11 regular season games (Jan. 12 vs. Weber State, Feb. 16 vs. Southern Utah, Feb. 21 vs. Idaho State and Mar. 7 vs. Montana). All four games will air from the Viking Pavilion.
     
Eleven Sports also televises the Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals and semifinals.
     
Eleven Sports Network is available on DirecTV channel 623, AT&T Uverse (Channel 1665), Verizon FiOS (Channel 597) and Google Fiber (Channel 251).
     
All Eleven Sports productions will also be available on WatchBigSky. com and Pluto TV. Eleven Sports is available on various Cable, Satellite, Telco, and OTT providers. Go to http:// elevensportsusa.com/where-to-watch/ to find Eleven Sports in your area.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 2-1 on the season, 2-0 at home, 0-1 on the road.
Home Court(s)
• Portland State opens the Viking Pavilion at the Peter W. Stott Center in 2018-19. The Stoller Family Court will be PSU's fifth (and hopefully final) home court since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. The main home court was the old Peter W. Stott Center. However, the Vikings also used the Rose Garden (now Moda Center) and Memorial Coliseum occasionally over the years. In 2017-18, PSU used Lewis & Clark College's Pamplin Sports Center as a home court while the Viking Pavilion was being completed. Here is the breakdown:
  - Viking Pavilion - 2 games, 2-0
  - Peter W. Stott Center - 233 games, 168-65
  - Rose Garden (Moda Center) - 28 games, 19-9
  - Memorial Coliseum - 19 games, 13-6
  - Lewis and Clark - 12 games, 7-5
  - 23rd season - 294 games, 209-85 at home overall
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 122-46 at home, including 71-38 in Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament games.
• Portland State has lost only eight non-conference home games in the last 12 seasons (51-8). PSU is 27-8 against Division I schools, and 24-0 against lower division schools over that span.
 
WHO IS HOT
• VIKING DEFENSE: Portland State forced 67 turnovers in the first three games (22.3), turning them into 89 points.
• OFFENSIVE REBOUNDERS: The Vikings have 56 offensive rebounds in two games (18.7). They have converted them to 59 second-chance points.
• SHOOTERS RETURN: After some poor shooting in the first two games, the Vikings found the mark against Willamette, shooting 46-84 (.548) from the field. JR G Michael Nuga scored 22 points (9-11 FG, 2-2 FT) and JR C Sal Nuhu had a near perfect 12 points (4-4 FG, 4-5 FT).
 
WHO IS NOT
• THREE-POINT SHOOTING: Portland State was much better shooting the three against Willamette (13-33, .394), but the Vikings are still only 21-86 (.244) from distance this season.
 
CHEERING FOR BOO BOO: SO G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods is the Vikings' leader in scoring (14.3), assists (4.3) and steals (3.0) through three games.
• Woods, the Big Sky leader in assists last season (5.6), has led the Vikings in assists in 27 of 37 career games.
• Woods reached 200 career assists in 36 career games. He is now 43 assists short of reaching the Portland State all-time top 10 for assists.
• He had a season-high 22 points (7-12 FG, 2-4 3-pt, 6-6 FT), career-high seven steals and four assists in the win over Willamette.
 
FINDING HIS F-ORME: A lot is expected SR F Jamie Orme this season as he steps into the starting lineup this season. So far, he is delivering. Orme averages 13.7 points and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds per game.
• Orme had career-highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double against Willamette.
 
SHOOTING STAR: SO C Brendan Rumel is finally getting a chance to make a contribution and he is coming up big. After playing only 16 games as a freshman, then having to redshirt with injury after eight games last year, Rumel is now starting in the post. He leads the team in shooting (11-17, .647) and averages 8.7 points after three games.
• For his career, Rumel shoots .623 (38-61) from the field and .867 (26-30) at the line.
 
NEW SEASON, NEW LOOK: Portland State Head Coach Barret Peery has four new starters in his lineup this season, along with returning starter SO G Holland Woods. Also tipping it off are SO C Brendan Rumel (three total starts in the previous two years), SR F Jamie Orme (one start last year), JR F Robert McCoy and SR G Derek Brown.
• In addition to McCoy, also playing in their first games as Vikings are JR Gs Michael Nuga and Juwan Williams, JR F Rashaad Goolsby, JR C Sal Nuhu and FR F Filip Fullerton.
 
IF YOU BUILD IT: The crowd of 1,424 that attended Portland State's home opener against UC Riverside was the largest since a sellout crowd of 1,500 attended the Portland State/Oregon State game in the old Stott Center gym on Dec. 12, 2012... PSU had a crowd of 1,010 in the win over Willamette.
 
WHAT IS PEERY PRESSURE?
      Portland State Head Coach Barret Peery emphasizes a full-court pressure defense that forces turnovers and creates transition opportunities. Then, on the offensive end, his team relentlessly attacks the offensive glass. The results proved out quite well in 2017-18. Here are the analytics of those two areas.
• The Vikings forced 18.1 turnovers per game and had a +5.4 turnover margin (1st in the nation).
• The Vikings averaged 14.5 offensive rebounds per game (2nd in the nation) while opponents averaged 10.2 offensive rebounds.
• In all, the difference in total turnovers (184) and total offensive rebounds (145) meant 329 extra possessions compared to opponents (9.7).
• It is no wonder the Vikings had 361 more field goal attempts and 199 more free throw attempts than their opponents last year and 85.2 points (3rd in the nation).
 
PEERY PRESSURE, PART II
In 2018-19:
• The Vikings have forced 22.3 turnovers per game and have a +10.0 turnover margin.
• The Vikings average 18.7 offensive rebounds per game while opponents average 7.7.
• In all, the difference in total turnovers (30) and total offensive rebounds (33) is 63 extra possessions compared to opponents (21.0 per game).
• As a result, PSU has 67 more field goal attempts than their opponents. Opponents have six more free throw attempts.
 
SEASON HIGHLIGHT REEL
• Nov. 6: #14 Oregon 84, PSU 57: The Vikings opened the season with their usual aggressive approach on defense and the glass, but suffered through a woeful shooting night in a loss to the 14th-ranked Ducks. PSU made only 21-73 shots from the field (.288) compared to 27-50 for Oregon (.540). SO G Holland Woods led the Vikings with 13 points and three assists.
• Nov. 10: PSU 71, UC Riverside 64: The Vikings held the Highlanders without a field goal for eight minutes late in the second half. PSU trailed by four with 8:24 to play but pulled away in the closing minutes leading by as many as 10. SR G Derek Brown scored 12 points with six rebounds and three assists.
• Nov. 16: PSU 125, Willamette 61: PSU needed little time to dispatch Division III Willamette, jumping to a 23-0 lead in the first five minutes and cruising to an easy win. SO G Holland Woods and JR G Michael Nuga each scored 22 points, while SR F Jamie Orme (19 pts, 13 reb) and JR F Robert McCoy (11 pts, 12 reb) each had double-doubles.