PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (1-0) at INDIANA HOOSIERS (1-0)
Saturday, November 9, 2019, 11 a.m. PT • Assembly Hall (17,222), Bloomington, IN
Television: BTN+
Live Stream: https://iuhoosiers.com/watch/?Live=2524&type=Live
Live Audio: https://tunein.com/radio/Indiana-Basketball-s308287/
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf
 
THE OPENING TIP
After a familiar-looking opening game, the Portland State basketball team will venture into the unknown this Saturday when the Vikings take on the Indiana Hoosiers.
     
PSU opened the season on Tuesday with a 94-69 win over the University of Puget Sound that featured all the recognizable Viking trappings - literally. PSU's "Peery Pressure" defense was on display, forcing 31 UPS turnovers which led to 32 points. PSU made 18 steals and blocked nine shots along the way.
     
Now Portland State will see a significant rise in the level of competition as it faces Indiana of the Big Ten Conference. The two teams have never met, and west-coast bound PSU has only played three Big Ten teams in its history - the most recent of which was in 2004.
     
Like the Vikings, Indiana opened the season with a decisive win, 98-65, over Western Illinois at home. The Hoosiers come off a 19-15 season in 2018-19.   
 
The non-conference game with Indiana is the first on the road this season, and one of eight games away from home before league play begins.
     
Portland State will need contributions up and down the lineup against Indiana, just like it had against Puget Sound. Five Vikings scored in double figures, and all 10 that played had at least five points. SR G Matt Hauser led the way with 13 points. Hauser, the Santa Clara transfer, also led the Vikings 23 points in an exhibition game against Evergreen State last week. SR F Rashaad Goolsby had a team-high 10 rebounds against Puget Sound, and JR G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods scored 12 with five assists and five steals.
     
The Vikings are now 54-10 at home in non-conference games over the last 12 seasons.
     
Saturday's game at Indiana tips off at 11 a.m. PT. It is televised on the Big Ten Network Plus. Live stream and live audio links can be found at https://iuhoosiers.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball. Live statistics are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 
COMING UP
Portland State makes another long trip next week when the Vikings travel to Hawai'i for a Nov. 15 game. It will be the first meeting with the Rainbow Warriors since 1979.
     
The Vikings return home to host a big crosstown rivalry game against the University of Portland on Nov. 20 (7:05 p.m.). They will be seeking a win over the Pilots for the fourth year in a row.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. INDIANA
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State and Indiana have never met on the basketball court.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE BIG TEN: Portland State is 0-3 all-time against members of the Big Ten, with losses to Michigan State (1979), Nebraska (1979) and Ohio State (2004).
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his third season on the Park Blocks and has a 37-30 career record. Peery has never faced Indiana... 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 Hoosiers are coached by Archie Miller (North Carolina State, 2002) who is in his third season. Miller has a 36-31 record with the Hoosiers, 175-94 in nine seasons overall. He spent six seasons as Head Coach at Dayton.
 
INDIANA HOOSIERS
• The University of Indiana is a member of the Big Ten Conference, located in Bloomington, IN.
• Last year, Indiana was 19-15 overall, 8-12 and tied for eighth in the Big Ten.
• Indiana returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last year's team. The Hoosiers have lost top scorers Romeo Langford (16.5 ppg) and Juwan Morgan (15.5 ppg), but starters Aljami Durham (8.3 ppg), Justin Smith (8.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Rob Phinisee (6.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg) return. Devonte Green (9.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.0 apg) is also back.
• Against Western Illinois on Tuesday, Indiana won 98-65. Forward Justin Smith had 24 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots to lead the Hoosiers. Guard Aljami Durham went for 21 points on perfect shooting (7-7/3-3/4-4). Guard Armaan Franklin had a team-high eight assists... the Hoosiers shot .585 from the field, .455 from three-point range and .680 at the line. They out-rebounded Western Illinois, 47-28.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 1-0 on the season, 1-0 at home.
• The Vikings have won nine in a row at home dating to last season.
• In 2018-19, PSU was 16-16, 12-4 at home, 3-10 on the road, 1-2 at neutral sites... PSU's 11-9 conference record was its best since going 11-9 in 2013-14. The Vikings were 8-2 at home, 3-7 on the road... PSU was 1-1 in overtime.
 
AN OPENING GAME TO BUILD ON
Portland State came up with a solid victory in its home opener, 94-69, over NCAA III University of Puget Sound. The Vikings raced to a fast start, then cruised in the second half to the win. Said Viking Coach Barret Peery: "We played a very good first half. The second half was way too sloppy and casual. Sometimes it is tough to keep that intensity up with a big lead though."
      Some notes from the opener:
• Five Vikings scored in double figures, with SR G Matt Hauser leading the way with 13 points... all 10 that played scored at least five points.
• Portland State has now won nine straight home games at Viking Pavilion.
• SR F Rashaad Goolsby grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.
• SR C Sal Nuhu tied his career high with six blocked shots.
• JR G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods made five steals. He became the eighth Viking in history to reach 100 career steals. He now has 104 in 66 games.
• PSU forced 31 Loggers' turnovers, making 18 steals and blocking nine shots.
• Playing in their first career games for the Vikings were SR G Matt Hauser, SR F Markus Golder, RS FR G Kyle Greeley, RS FR F Trey Wood, SO G Ian Burke, SR F Alonzo Walker and SO G Chris Whitaker.
• SR G Lamar Hamrick did not play due to an injured left wrist.
 
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 361 career assists in 66 games (5.5 pg). That total has him ranked fourth all-time at PSU. Woods, a junior, is only 65 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 834).
     
And finally, Woods now has 104 career steals, ranking eighth 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 highlights from Holland Woods career:
• Boo Boo has led the team in assists in 53 of 66 career games.
• 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.
 
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 70 career blocks, ranking fifth all-time at PSU.
 
THEY ONCE PLAYED AGAINST THE VIKINGS
The nature of modern college basketball has become a transient one. The Viking program is no different as PSU welcomed five Division I transfers and two junior college transfers to the roster this season (along with one true freshman). A few of the transfers have played against the Vikings in the past.
• SR G Matt Hauser faced the Vikings on Dec. 9, 2017 while at Santa Clara. Hauser scored 22 points (8-12 FG, 6-8 3-pt), along with four rebounds and four assist. The Vikings won 87-84.
• SR F Alonzo Walker faced the Vikings twice last season with playing for Idaho State. Walker had 10 points and six rebounds in a 69-67 ISU win in Pocatello. He had five points and eight rebounds in a 99-93 PSU win in Portland.
 
GRADUATE TRANSFERS
Two of the new Vikings are graduate transfers. Matt Hauser has his Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara in Communications. Alonzo Walker has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Idaho State in General Studies.
 
VIKING REDSHIRTS
JR G Kimani Binder will redshirt the 2019-20 due to an achilles injury. FR G Jaden Nielsen-Skinner is also slated to redshirt the season.
 
THE 2019-20 SCHEDULE
• In non-conference play, Portland State meets programs from six different major conferences: three against the Big West, three against the WCC and one each against the Big 10, Pac-12, Mountain West and SWAC.
• During non-conference play, the Vikings will meet four teams they faced last season (UC Santa Barbara (N), L, 76-69; Portland Bible (H), W, 123-40; Portland (H), W, 87-78; Loyola Marymount (H), L, 85-58).
• PSU plays two lower division opponents, Puget Sound and Portland Bible. The Vikings are 47-1 against lower division schools since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996, including winning 34 in a row.
• Big Sky Conference play consists of a 20-game conference schedule. The quirk of the 2019-20 conference schedule is that Portland State will be the "lone wolf" among the 11 Big Sky teams, meaning it will not have a travel partner. The result is a slightly different schedule than normal which includes five Monday games (three at home), two stretches of seven days off and one stretch of eight days off.
• In all Portland State plays 14 counting home games and 18 road games.
• The Big Sky Conference Tournament takes place Mar. 11-14 at CenturyLink Arena in Boise. The bottom six seeds will compete in first-round play on Wednesday. The top five seeds will earn quarterfinal round berths and open play on Thursday. Semifinals are on Friday, with the Championship on Saturday. The winner advances to the NCAA Tournament.
 
TASTY VIKING HISTORY TIDBITS
• Portland State begins its 24th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference and Division I. PSU played basketball from 1946-1981 before discontinuing the program. Basketball was reinstated for the 1996-97 season. Portland State won Big Sky Conference regular season titles in 2004-05 and 2007-08. The Vikings won Big Sky Conference Tournament titles in 2007-08 and 2008-09, advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
• Portland State's biggest star was Freeman Williams (1974-78), who still ranks as the second all-time leading scorer in college basketball history behind Pete Maravich. Williams, a Division I All-American in 1978, scored 3,249 points in his career.
• Former Viking Ime Udoka played seven seasons in the NBA. He started 75 games for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2006-07. Udoka is now an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, and won an NBA title with the team in 2013-14.
• Julius Thomas (2006-10), who holds Portland State records for games played (121), field goal percentage in a season and career (.671/.663), and career wins (78), was a two-time Pro Bowler for the NFL's Denver Broncos. Thomas played on two Big Sky Conference Championship/NCAA Tournament teams (2007-08, 2008-09) at PSU. He went on to play one season of football at PSU (2010). Thomas competed in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. He later signed a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015 making him the highest paid tight end in the NFL, then moved on to play for the Miami Dolphins before retiring after the 2017 season.