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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (1-3) at SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (3-2)
Saturday, November 23, 2019, 7 p.m. • SJSU Event Center (5,000), San Jose, CA
Live Stream: sjsuspartans.com/sports/2018/7/31/mountain-west-digital-network.aspx
Live Audio: https://tunein.com/radio/San-Jose-St-Basketball-s308174/
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP
The non-conference challenge grows for the Portland State Vikings as they go on the road to play four games in the span of nine days as part of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.
     
PSU (1-3) goes to San Jose State (3-2) on Saturday for the first meeting between the schools in 12 seasons. The Vikings go in having lost three straight games, all by similar scores, as they seek to kick start their offense. They lost a home game to the University of Portland on Wednesday night, 82-75, and for the third straight contest saw their shooting percentage hover around the 40% mark.
     
The Vikings will have to solve those shooting woes on the road. They take a .417/.288/.681 shooting slash line with them. The good news is they have scored 74 or more points in every game, and have gotten the pace to their liking, forcing 21 more turnovers and grabbing 16 more offensive rebounds than opponents. The result has been 29 more shots from the field and 25 more free throw attempts than opponents over four games. So, if the shooting sees an uptick, the results should as well. The challenge for the Vikings is they will be looking for that remedy on the road, against four different opponents in three different venues. So far, the Vikings are 0-2 in road games.
     
JR G Holland Woods has led the Vikings through four games. His 22 points and five assists led PSU against Portland. Woods averages a team-leading 18.3 points, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals per game. SR G Matt Hauser has averaged 15.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.
     
San Jose State goes into Saturday's matchup having won two in a row. The Spartans are 2-1 at home after an 83-76 win over Grambling State on Wednesday. The Vikings will face Grambling on Nov. 26 in Santa Barbara.
     
The Spartans have had similar shooting challenges this season with a .422/.270/.586 slash line while averaging 68.6 points. San Jose State has averaged over 82 points in three wins, but just 48 points in two losses.
     
Saturday's game with San Jose State tips off at 7 p.m. A live stream is available at www.sjsuspartans.com/sports/2018/7/31/mountain-west-digital-network.aspx. Live statistics are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 
COMING UP
Included in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, Nov. 23-Dec. 1, are games with Grambling State (Nov. 26 at UC Santa Barbara), Nov. 27 against UC Santa Barbara, then Dec. 1 at Oregon State.
     
The Vikings next home game is Dec. 6 against CSUN.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SAN JOSE STATE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: San Jose State leads the all-time series, 4-1... PSU is 1-2 all-time in San Jose... The teams have not met since the 2007-08 season. That game was a 76-73 Spartans win in overtime in Portland. PSU won the previous season, 72-63, in San Jose. Those are the only two meetings between the schools since Portland State reinstated basketball and joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. The other three came in the mid-1970s.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE: Portland State is 22-53 all-time against current members of the Mountain West Conference. San Jose State is the only MWC opponent for the Vikings this season, and only the second in three years since Barret Peery took over as coach at Portland State. The other game was an 83-79 win over Utah State on Nov. 20, 2017.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his third season on the Park Blocks and has a 37-33 career record. Peery has never faced San Jose State and is 1-0 against members of the MWC... 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 Spartans are coached by Jean Prioleau, in his third season. Prioleau has an 11-55 career record.
 
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS
• San Jose State is a member of the Mountain West Conference.
• The Spartans were 4-26 last season, 1-17 and 10th in the MWC. San Jose State has two returning starters and eight returning letterwinners.
• SJSU has already seen improvement, winning three of its first five games this season. The Spartans have a road win at Hofstra and are 2-1 at home. The home loss was also to Portland (72-57 on Nov. 10).
• San Jose State averages 68.6 points per game while allowing 73.2. The team has shot just .422 from the field, .270 from three-point range and .586 at the line. A +3.6 rebounding margin has helped.
• Sophomore guard Seneca Knight leads the team with 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Craig Lecesne, a senior forward averages 11.4 points and 5.0 rebounds. Senior guard Brae Ivey averages 3.2 assists per game.
• The Spartans have started the same lineup for all five games, a tall group at 6-2, 6-6, 6-9, 6-9, 6-10.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
 
WHO IS HOT
• PSU has 44 steals, opponents just 17. The Vikings lead the Big Sky in steals (11.0) and rank 17th in the nation.
• SR F Rashaad Goolsby had a career-high five steals against Portland.
• JR G Holland Woods and SR F Rashaad Goolsby lead the Big Sky Conference in steals (2.7 pg each).
• Portland State leads the Big Sky in offensive rebounding (15.3).
• With 22 points (9-16 FG, 1-4 3-pt, 3-3 FT) against Portland, JR G Holland Woods has two 20-point games this season and now 13 in his career.
• FR G Kyle Greeley has scored 20 points (6-9 FG, 8-9 FT) in 23 minutes of playing time this season.
 
WHO IS NOT
• Portland State has been out-shot by opponents in all three categories (.417/.288/.681). Opponents shoot .481/.387/.705.
• The Vikings are last in scoring defense in the Big Sky Conference (79.8).
 
BOO BOO ON THE VERGE
Portland State point guard Holland "Boo Boo" Woods is on the verge of becoming the number one helper in Viking basketball history. Woods has 373 career assists in 69 games (5.4 pg). That total has him ranked third all-time at PSU. Woods, a junior, is only 48 assists away from the record held by Terry Adolph in 1976-78. Adolph was a prolific assist man in his two-season career at PSU, no doubt benefiting from having the second all-time leading scorer in NCAA history playing alongside him in Freeman Williams. Adolph averaged 7.8 assists per game in each of his two seasons, totaling 421 in 54 games. Behind Adolph is teammate Chucky Smith (1974-78, 392 assists) and "modern-era" star Derek Nesland (1996-2000, 371 assists).
     
As for Woods, at his current pace he would break the Portland State assist mark some time in late December of this season.
     
Woods is also on pace to reach 1,000 career points in late December. He would be the 19th Viking in history to reach that milestone (currently 895).
     
And finally, Woods now has 110 career steals, ranking sixth all-time at PSU. The school record is 128 by Calaen Robinson (2015-17). Woods would be on pace to set that record later this season.
 
BOO BOO, PART TWO
A few more highlights from Holland Woods:
• Currently leads the Vikings in scoring (18.2), assists (4.3) and steals (2.7).
• Ranks fourth in the Big Sky in scoring, second in assists, first in steals and sixth in free throw percentage.
• Has led the team in scoring twice and assists all four games this season.
• Boo Boo has led the team in assists in 56 of 69 career games.
• Scored 22 points (9-16 FG, 1-4 3-pt, 3-3 FT) with five assists and four rebounds against Portland.
• Had a game-high 27 points at Indiana (5-13 FG, 4-8 3-pt, 13-16 FT) and three assists.
• Named 2nd team All-Big Sky Conference in 2018-19. Was Big Sky Freshman of the Year in 2017-18.
• Led the Vikings in scoring (15.0), assists (5.3) and steals (1.6) last season.
 
HAUSER FILLING A VOID
SR G Matt Hauser is a graduate transfer from Santa Clara where he made 113 three-pointers in three seasons. The hope for Hauser is that he will provide that kind of production for a Viking team that was sub-par from outside last season. So far, so good.
• Hauser is averaging 15.0 points while shooting .418 from the field, .360 from three-point range and .833 at the free throw line. He has a team-high nine three-point field goals.
• Has led the team in scoring twice this season.
• Scored a season-high 21 points at Indiana (7-9 FG, 4-6 3-pt, 3-3 FT).
• He averaged 8.4 points and 2.4 assists in his 85-game career at Santa Clara. Included was a career-high 22 points against Portland State on Dec. 9, 2017 (a PSU win).
 
TALKING THE WALKER
The Vikings' other graduate transfer newcomer, SR F Alonzo Walker, has started every game for PSU and been productive. In 23.8 minutes per night, he averages 10.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals.
• Walker has led the team in rebounding twice.
• Scored 13 points with eight rebounds and two steals against Portland.
 
YAHOO FOR NUHU
SR C Sal Nuhu opened the season just as Vikings fans would have expected; by swatting away shots. Nuhu had six blocks against Puget Sound to go with 12 points and seven rebounds. Nuhu led the Big Sky Conference last season with 64 blocked shots (2.0 pg). That total ranked fourth in Portland State history for a season. Nuhu now has 73 career blocks, ranking fifth all-time at PSU.
 
NO START, NO PROBLEM
SR F Rashaad Goolsby does not start, but he leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game. He is averaging 7.5 points and 2.7 steals in 24.1 minutes per game. Last season, he averaged 4.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.7 steals off the bench in 18.3 minutes per game.
• Has led the team in rebounding twice this season.
• Made a career-high five steals against Portland.
• Goolsby grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the win over Puget Sound.