---

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (7-11, 2-5) vs. IDAHO VANDALS (4-14, 1-6)
Saturday, January 26, 2019, 7:05 p.m. • Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
Live Stream: Pluto TV Channel 232, pluto.tv, WatchBigSky.com • Play-by-play: Matt Richert
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

---

THE OPENING TIP
Coming off the program's best shooting performance in more than two seasons, the Portland State Vikings will try to keep the mojo flowing on Saturday night when they host the Idaho Vandals at the Viking Pavilion.
     
PSU beat Eastern Washington, 78-65, on Thursday when it hit 29-48 field goals (.604). That shooting percentage was the best by a Viking team since shooting .655 against George Fox on Nov. 17, 2016 (80 games ago), and the best against a Division I program since shooting .647 against none other than Eastern Washington on February 20, 2016 (88 games ago). And, of course, it was the best shooting performance by a Barret Peery-coached team in his second season on the Park Blocks.
     
The Vikings had a solid game all-around, shooting well, playing good defense and maintaining a 22/9 assist-to-turnover ratio against the Eagles. Five players scored in double figures. The most prominent were SR F Jamie Orme with 15 points (5-8 FG, 3-3 3-pt, 2-3 FT) and seven rebounds; and SO G Holland Woods with 15 points (7-10 FG, 1-3 3-pt) and a season-high 11 assists.
     
That win improves the Vikings to a 7-11 mark on the season and 2-5 Big Sky record. They will try to climb another notch in the league standings against Idaho before going out on a season-long, four-game road trip next week. Portland State is now 5-4 at home.
     
Idaho, the second-place team in the Big Sky Conference last season, has seen the effects of losing a load of personnel from that senior-laden, 22-win team. The Vandals are only 4-14 this season, 1-6 in the Big Sky after dropping a 69-48 decision at Sacramento State on Thursday.
     
Idaho comes to the Viking Pavilion losers of four straight games. The only league win for the Vandals was a 74-71 home victory over Eastern Washington on Jan. 3. Idaho is 1-5 on the road this season.
     
Saturday's game tips off at 7:05 p.m. It will be live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 232, www.pluto.tv and WatchBigSky.com with Matt Richert on the play-by-play. Live stats are available ViksLive.com.
 
COMING UP
Portland State goes on the road for four straight games beginning next week. It will be the longest stretch of road games for the Vikings this season. The Vikings face Weber State next Thurdsay, followed by Idaho State on Saturday, then Northern Colorado (Feb. 7) and Sacramento State (Feb. 11).
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Idaho leads the all-time series with the Vikings, 15-12. Now in their fifth season back in the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals lead the Vikings, 5-2, in league games... Idaho is 2-1 in Big Sky games in Portland... the Vandals have won seven of the last nine games in the series.
• LAST YEAR: Jan. 6, PSU 73, UI 72 at Moscow, ID: Holland Woods capped PSU's comeback by hitting a put-back shot in the lane with six-tenths of a second left to play. Neither team led by more than five in the game, but the Vikings found themselves down five with less than a minute-and-a-half to go before stealing the win. Deontae North scored 30 points, hitting 11-15 shots and 6-8 three-pointers. Brandon Hollins added 11 points and eight rebounds. Victor Sanders scored 28 points to lead Idaho. Feb. 1, UI 97, PSU 88 at Lewis and Clark College: Idaho shot a blistering .614 from the field (35-57), making 11-23 three-pointers, and out-rebounded the Vikings 35-32 in the win. Brayon Blake scored 28 points with eight rebounds. Victor Sanders added 22 points and seven assists for Idaho. Michael Mayhew led four Vikings in double figures with a career-high 20 points.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his second season on the Park Blocks and has a 27-25 career record. Peery is 1-1 against Idaho... 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 Vandals are coached by Don Verlin (Colorado State, 1993) in his 11th season. Verlin is 176-163 overall, including 7-2 against the Vikings.
 
IDAHO VANDALS
• The University of Idaho, located in Moscow, was an original member of the Big Sky Conference in 1963. The Vandal program left in 1996, but returned before the 2014-15 season. Idaho has won four Big Sky Conference regular season championships, four Big Sky Tournament titles and made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Last year, Idaho was 22-9 overall, 14-4 and second in the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals have one starter and five letterwinners returning from that team.
• This year, the Vandals are 4-14 overall, 1-6 in the Big Sky Conference. They average 70.1 points and allow 74.0 points per game.
• Junior guard Trevon Allen leads the Vandals in scoring at 14.9 points per game and assists at 2.7 per game.
• Freshman guard Cameron Tyson is one of the best three-point shooters in the league. He averages 13.4 points and shoots .443 from distance, averaging 3.2 makes per game. Tyson ranks sixth in percentage and second in threes made in the Big Sky Conference.
• Freshman forward Jared Rodriguez averages 10.2 points and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 7-11 on the season, 5-4 at home, 1-6 on the road, 1-1 at neutral sites.
• PSU is 2-5 in Big Sky Conference play, 1-3 at home, 1-2 on the road.
• The Vikings are 1-1 in overtime... Head Coach Barret Peery is 3-2 all-time in overtime.
Home Court(s)
• Portland State opened 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 - 9 games, 5-4
  - 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 - 301 games, 212-89 at home overall
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 125-50 at home, including 72-40 in Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament games.
• Portland State has lost only 10 non-conference home games in the last 12 seasons (53-10). PSU is 28-10 against Division I schools, and 25-0 against lower division schools over that span.
Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 187-203 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the Big Sky Tournament (12-13).
• PSU is 121-65 in home games, 60-128 in road games and 6-10 in neutral-site games.
 
WHO IS HOT
• Portland State shot .604 from the field (29-48) against Eastern Washington - its best mark in 80 games  and best mark against a Division I opponent in 88 games... the Vikings also shot .400 from three-point range (8-20) and .800 at the free throw line (12-15).
• SR G Deante Strickland is averaging 12.5 points and 3.0 assists off the bench over the last four games.
• SR F Jamie Orme had 15 points (5-8 FG, 3-3 3-pt, 2-3 FT), seven rebounds, two assists and two steals against Eastern Washington. It was his highest scoring game against a Division I opponent in his career.
• With 15 points and 11 assists against Eastern Washington, SO G Holland Woods had his second points-assists double-double of the season and the third of his career.
 
WHO IS NOT
• Portland State is shooting .285 from three-point range this season which ranks last in the Big Sky Conference.
• JR G Juwan Williams has missed the last four games with an ankle sprain.
• After out-rebounding their first nine opponents of the season, PSU has been out-rebounded in six of the last nine games.
 
DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: One way to improve your shooting percentage is to increase your dunk frequency. The Vikings did just that against Eastern Washington, getting seven slams, including four by JR C Sal Nuhu.
• Nuhu now has 24 dunks on the season, which already ranks as seventh-most by a Viking in the 23-season Big Sky Conference era. The most dunks in a season are 31 by Scott Morrison in 2007-08.
• Portland State has a total of 54 dunks this season in 18 games (three per game) which is more than the 50 they had all of last season.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
• Portland State has players from several major metropolitan areas all over the North America: Seattle (Derek Brown, Jamie Orme); Portland (Deante Strickland, Vonte Carter, Filip Fullerton); Phoenix (Holland Woods, Rashaad Goolsby, Trey Wood); Toronto (Michael Nuga); Chicago (Robert McCoy); New York (Sal Nuhu); Houston (Juwan Williams); Dallas-Fort Worth (Michael Mayhew).
• The only players on the roster not living within 30 miles of the center of one of the above multi-million population metro areas is: Kyle Greeley, who is from West Salem, OR, 48 miles from downtown Portland; and Brendan Rumel, who is from Tucson, AZ (metro area 980,000).
• JR C Sal Nuhu has lived his entire life in the Bronx, NY, but his mother is originally from Ghana, and his father is from Nigeria.
• JR G Michael Nuga was born in Nigeria - the home country of both his parents - but moved to Toronto and lived there his entire life before going to college.
 
CHEERING FOR BOO BOO: SO G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods leads the Vikings' in scoring (14.9) and assists (5.2). He ranks eighth in the Big Sky in scoring, ranks second in assists and is seventh in steals (1.5).
• He has led the team in scoring 10 times and assists 14 times this season, and has two double-doubles.
• Woods, the Big Sky leader in assists last season (5.6), has led the Vikings in assists in 39 of 51 career games. He ranks ninth all-time at Portland State with 280 career assists in less than two seasons.
• Scored in double figures 12 times with five 20+ point games.
• Went for 20 points and five assists at Stanford.
• Had 27 points (8-14 FG, career-high 5-7 3-pt, 6-6 FT) and six assists in a win over Portland.
• Scored 17 points with seven rebounds and seven assists at Montana State, making 10-10 FTs.
• Posted a season-high 28 points (6-11 FG, 3-4 3-pt FG, 13-15 FT) in a win at Montana, adding four rebounds and three assists.
• Posted 21 points with four steals at Northern Arizona.
• Recorded a season-high 11 assists and 15 points (7-10 FG) in a win over Eastern Washington.
 
NU-COMERS PLAYING WELL: Portland State newcomers JR G Michael Nuga and JR C Sal Nuhu are having a big impact for the Vikings.
Nuga Nuggets:
• Nuga ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game in 21 minutes per night.
• He leads the team with 27 3-pt FG and a .360 3-pt FG%.
• Has scored in double figures 11 times with two 20+ point games.
• Went for 17 points and nine rebounds against Stanford.
• Scored a season-high 24 points against CSU Bakersfield.
Yahoo For Nuhu:
• Nuhu averages 10.3 points in 21 minutes per game.
• He averages 5.6 rebounds to rank second on the Vikings and 15th in the Big Sky. He leads the Vikings and ranks fourth in field goal percentage (.574) and third in blocked shots (1.7).
• Has scored in double figures 11 times.
• Posted a double-double against Stanford with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
• Went for 10 points, nine rebounds and a season-high six blocked shots against Portland.
• Scored 16 points (5-6 FG, 6-8 FT) at Montana State.
• Tallied a season-high 20 points (8-16 FG, 4-5 FT) with seven rebounds and four blocked shots against Weber State.
 
THE REAL McCOY: In his first season as a Viking, JR F Robert McCoy has stepped into a key role. He has started 15 games and averages 22.7 minutes, ranking second on the team.
• McCoy averages 8.7 points and leads the Vikings in rebounding at 6.4 per game, ranking seventh in the Big Sky Conference. He leads the Big Sky in offensive rebounds (2.9 pg).
• He has led the Vikings in scoring once, rebounding six times and has two double-doubles.
• Has season-highs of 26 points, 12 rebounds and five steals.
• Scored 17 points with six rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals against Weber State.
 
FINDING HIS F-ORME: SR F Jamie Orme has been looked to for a big step forward in 2018-19. Last season he averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13 minutes per game. This year he is averaging 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game.
• Orme returned to the starting lineup against Eastern Washington and scored 15 points - his career-high against a Division I opponent - and grabbed seven rebounds.
• Scored in double figures eight times and has two double-doubles this season.
• Has season highs of 19 points, 13 rebounds (twice) and five assists.
 
PARTICIPATION AWARDS ALL AROUND: Portland State Head Coach Barret Peery's style of aggressive full-court pressure requires fresh bodies at all times. The Vikings sub early and often and everybody plays.
• The core 11 players are all averaging at least 11 minutes per game or more. Only five average 20 minutes, and only SO G Holland Woods averages over 30.
• Portland State has had nine players start games, while none have started every game this season. Only Woods has started every game he has played (missed one due to injury).
• The Vikings have had seven different starting lineups in 18 games.
 
IF YOU BUILD IT: The crowd of 2,020 that attended the game against Portland (12/5) in the Viking Pavilion is the largest crowd of the season so far. Portland State's home opener against UC Riverside had a crowd of 1,424. The largest recent crowd was a sellout of that 1,500 attended the Portland State/Oregon State game in the old Stott Center gym on Dec. 12, 2012... PSU is averaging 1,136 fans through nine home games - the most since the 2007-08 season (1,347).
 
Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in:
Rebounds Per Game  41.8
Offensive Rebounds   17.1
Rebounding Margin    +8.4
Steals                            9.6
Robert McCoy, offensive rebounds          2.9