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Portland, OR – A lot changed for Portland State basketball in the off-season, but the trademark "Peery Pressure" and pace has remained the same. That was evident on Wednesday night at the Viking Pavilion as PSU routed Evergreen State, 103-46, in an exhibition game.
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The Vikings got the expected win over the Geoducks in the expected way. Their full-court pressure forced Evergreen State into 31 turnovers, making 17 steals. The Vikings scored 39 points off turnovers and 27 on fast breaks.
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PSU rolled to a 29-6 lead after eight minutes. That allowed Coach
Barret Peery to substitute freely and get minutes for five new players and a pair of redshirt freshmen joining the three returning letterwinners.
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The Vikings never looked back, and in fact turned on the pressure in the second half, forcing 23 of the 31 turnovers after the break.
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Another bright spot was the addition of graduate transfer
Matt Hauser, who appears ready to fill a need for the Vikings with his strong outside shooting. Hauser hit four three-pointers in the first half, scoring 16 points, as PSU raced to a 50-21 lead at the break. The 6-2 guard finished with 23 points in 22 minutes, making 9-12 from the field and 5-7 from distance. He added five rebounds and five assists.
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Another graduate transfer, forward
Alonzo Walker, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points in just over 21 minutes of action.
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Also shooting it well from outside was redshirt freshman big man
Trey Wood. The 6-9 forward hit 7-9 shots, including a pair of three-pointers on his way to 16 points off the bench.
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All-Conference guard
Holland Woods finished with 15 points and six assists. Also in double figures was
Lamar Hamrick, a transfer guard from Detroit Mercy, who went for 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
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Rashaad Goolsby came off the bench for eight points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three assists. In fact, PSU's bench scored more (52 points) than the Viking starters (51).
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PSU didn't shoot particularly well, hitting 40-94 (.426) from the field, 12-38 (.316) from three-point range and 11-16 (.688) at the line. But the Vikings made up for it in energy and defensive pressure.
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Evergreen State was led by 12 points from Gloire Biongo. Raven Frazier scored 11 points. The Geoducks shot 19-60 (.317) from the field, and 5-20 (.250) from three-point range.
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PSU out-rebounded the Geoducks, 59-38.
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GAME NOTES: The Vikings started
Holland Woods,
Matt Hauser and
Ian Burke at guard, with
Alonzo Walker and
Sal Nuhu inside... Portland State officially opens its 2019-20 season on Tuesday when the Vikings host the University of Puget Sound at Viking Pavilion. Game time is 7:35 p.m. and will be the second of a doubleheader with the Portland State women.
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