PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (5-5) at PEPPERDINE WAVES (5-6)
Tuesday, December 17, 2019, 7 p.m. • Firestone Fieldhouse (3,104), Malibu, CA
Television: WCC Network (Stadium, KATU-4, Channel 2.4)
Live Stream: https://wccsports.com/watch/
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

THE OPENING TIP
Portland State will wrap up non-conference play this week with a pair of challenging road games against West Coast Conference opponents. The Vikings, winners of their last two games at home, play at Pepperdine on Tuesday, then Loyola Marymount on Thursday.
     
PSU, 5-5, picked up an easy 101-48 win over lower division Portland Bible on Thursday in its lone game of last week. The Vikings were able to spread around the minutes and the points to the entire roster. PSU's bench took advantage scoring 55 of the 101 points led by SO G Ian Burke's career-high 23. FR G Kyle Greeley added career-bests of 17 points and seven rebounds.
     
The Viking faithful also saw JR G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods pass 1,000 career points in the game, becoming the 19th PSU player in history to do so.
     
That game followed a more competitive, but equally successful, win over CSUN on Dec. 6, 73-67.
     
Much of non-conference has been played without the services of SR C Sal Nuhu (ankle). The Big Sky Conference's shot-blocking leader last season has missed the last six games.  SR F Alonzo Walker (foot), who had been starting, had now missed four games. The Vikings have fared well though, going 4-2 in the games Nuhu has missed, 2-1 in the games missed by Walker (though he was also out in the second half against Oregon State). Their status for this week's game has yet to be determined.
     
PSU is 1-4 on the road this season, and has lost its last two on the road. The Vikings have one neutral site win. Pepperdine is 5-6, has won its last two games at home and is 4-1 at home overall. It will be the first meeting between the teams in three seasons.
     
The Waves have a dynamic offense that is scoring nearly 80 points per game. Junior guard Colbey Ross averages 18.7 points and is among the nation's assist leaders at 7.5 per game. Pepperdine also shoots a remarkable .859 at the free throw line toi lead the nation.
     
Pepperdine has one common opponent with PSU, having beaten CSUN on Nov. 12, 94-82. The Waves are 1-1 against Big Sky schools, having taken a home loss to Sacramento State and picking up a home win over Idaho State.
     
The Vikings have had success against West Coast teams in recent seasons under Coach Barret Peery. However, they lost their lone meeting so far this season, to the University of Portland. The Vikings also took a loss to Thursday's opponent, LMU, last year.
     
With the two games this week, PSU has a chance to better last year's non-conference record when it went 5-6.
     
Tuesday's game at Pepperdine tips off at 7 p.m. The game is televised on the WCC Network, which can be found on the Stadium channel (KATU-4, Channel 2.4). A live stream is available at www.wccsports.com/watch/. Live statistics can be found at www.ViksLive.com.
 
COMING UP
PSU wraps up non-conference play on Dec. 19 against Loyola Marymount. The game has been moved moved from LMU's Gersten Pavilion to USC's Galen Center.  The move has come about due to the sixth Democratic National Committee Presidential Debate being held in Gersten Pavilion on Dec. 19.
     
Big Sky Conference play begins Dec. 28 at home against Northern Colorado. Tip time for that game will be 2:05 p.m., PSU's lone afternoon home game of the season.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. PEPPERDINE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: The all-time series is tied 3-3... Pepperdine won the first three games of the series, all in Malibu, between 1968-1979... PSU has won the last three games, in 2009-10, in 2010-11 and in 2016-17... five of the six games have been played at Pepperdine.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE: Portland State is 40-75 all-time against the West Coast Conference, including a loss to Portland this season... PSU plays three members of the conference this season (the Vikings are at Loyola Marymount on Thursday)... Head Coach Barret Peery is 4-4 all-time against members of the WCC.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his third season on the Park Blocks and has a 41-35 career record. Peery has never faced Pepperdine... Peery's 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 Waves are coached by Lorenzo Romar (Cincinnati, 1992), in his fifth season. Romar has a 63-68 record at Pepperdine... in 23 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Romar is 412-308... he is 5-1 all-time against Portland State, 5-0 while at Washington, 0-1 while at Pepperdine.
• ANOTHER FORMER HEAD COACH ON THE OTHER SIDE: Former Portland State Head Coach Ken Bone is now an assistant coach for the Waves. He led the Vikings from 2005-09, compiling a 77-49 record and taking two teams to the NCAA Tournament (2008 and 2009). His former assistant, Tyler Geving, who followed him as head coach at PSU (2009-17), was recently in the Viking Pavilion as an assistant with the University of Portland.
 
PEPPERDINE WAVES
• Pepperdine is a member of the West Coast Conference, located in Malibu, CA.
• The Waves were 16-18 last season, 6-10 and eighth in the WCC. Three starters and 10 letterwinners return from that team.
• This season, Pepperdine is 5-6 overall, 4-1 at home. The Waves average 79.4 points and allow 79.5 points per game. They make 8.4 three-point field goals per game, and lead the nation with an .859 free throw percentage.
• Junior guard Colbey Ross averages 18.7 points and 7.5 assists per game. He also has a team-high 27 three-pointers and shoots .927 at the free throw line. He is sixth in the nation in assists and 13th in free throw percentage.
• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards averages 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He shoots .516 from the field, .478 from three-point range and .851 at the line.
• Kessler's brother, senior forward Kameron Edwards, averages 16.8 points and 5.9 rebounds.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
 
WHO IS HOT
• PSU has 97 steals, opponents just 46. The Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference in steals and rank 19th in the nation.
• Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference and the nation in offensive rebounding (17.2 per game).
• SO G Ian Burke scored a career-high 23 points (8-13 FG, 5-8 3-pt, 2-2 FT) with five assists and four rebounds in the win over Portland Bible.
• FR G Kyle Greeley also had career-highs with 17 points (5-7 FG, 2-3 3-pt, 5-5 FT) and seven rebounds against Portland Bible.
• SR F Rashaad Goolsby has averaged 10.5 rebounds over the last six games, leading the team in each game.
 
WHO IS NOT
• SR C Sal Nuhu has missed six games with an ankle sprain.
• SR F Alonzo Walker has missed 3 1/2 games with a foot injury.
• Portland State (.431/.320) has been out-shot by opponents (.467/.339) from the field this season.
• The Vikings are last in scoring defense in the Big Sky Conference (74.6).
 
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
The completion of the Viking Pavilion prior to the 2018-19 basketball season was transformative for the entire Portland State Athletic Program. So far, the results on the court have been better than ever. PSU is 15-5 in the Viking Pavilion (.750 winning percentage). The previous main home court, the old Peter W. Stott Center gym, produced a .721 winning percentage after reinstating basketball and joining the Big Sky Conference between 1996-97 and 2017-18. In all, PSU's four different home venues prior to the Viking Pavilion, produced a .709 winning mark. 
 
BENCH PRODUCTION
Portland State's bench has stepped up in the wake of injuries to the Viking big men. SR F Markus Golder, SR G Lamar Hamrick and SO G Ian Burke have been particularly effective.
• PSU took a talented Oregon State team to the final minute before losing, 81-75. Golder (10 pts, 5 reb), Hamrick (4 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) and Burke (6 pts, 2 reb, 2 st) were all part of the Viking rally down the stretch. In fact, Burke (+10), Golder (+9) and Hamrick (+8) all had the best plus/minus marks of any player on both teams with the exception of OSU's Zach Reichle (+11)... they combined for 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
• In the win over CSUN, those three combined again for 20 points, 15 rebounds and three assists. Golder had seven points and six rebounds. Hamrick added six points and six rebounds. And Burke had seven points, three rebounds and two assists. He had a game-best +17 plus/minus score in the game.
• Portland State got 55 of its 101 points off the bench in a win over Portland Bible. Golder moved into the starting lineup, but Burke (23 pts, 5 ast, 4 st, 4 reb, +46), FR G Kyle Greeley (17 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, +46) and Hamrick (10 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 st, +44) all came up big.
 
PEERY PRESSURE AND PACE
Portland State continues to turn up the pressure in the third season of the Barret Peery Era. The Vikings maintain relentless full-court pressure and crash the offensive glass with abandon.
• Through 10 games, PSU has 65 more offensive rebounds than their opponents (6.5 more per game) and has forced 42 more turnovers than they have committed (4.2 per game). The 107 extra possessions amounts to more than 10 per game.
• So far this season, PSU has an edge over opponents in points off turnovers (192-132) and second chance points (161-111).
• In 2017-18, the Vikings offensive rebound and turnover margin totals amounted to 9.7 more possessions per game than opponents.
• In 2018-19, the Vikings offensive rebound and turnover margin totals amounted to 7.4 more possessions per game than opponents.
 
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 408 career assists in 75 games (5.4 pg). That total has him ranked second all-time at PSU. Woods, a junior, is only 13 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 the next two weeks.
     
Woods passed 1,000 career points in the win over Portland Bible, becoming the 19th Viking in history to reach that milestone (currently 1,001).
     
And finally, Woods now has 118 career steals, ranking fourth all-time at PSU. The school record is 128 by Calaen Robinson (2015-17). Woods would be on pace to set that record some time in January.
 
VIKINGS CAREER ASSIST LEADERS

 
BOO BOO, PART TWO
A few more highlights from Holland Woods:
• Ranks fourth in the Big Sky in scoring (17.9), third in assists (5.2), fifth in free throw percentage (.849) and seventh in steals (1.7).
• Has led the team in scoring five times and has five 20-point games.
• Boo Boo has led the team in assists seven times this season and in 60 of 75 career games.
• Had second double-double with 14 pts (7-16 FG, 2-6 3-pt, 2-2 FT), 10 assists in win over CSUN.
• Went for 23 points (7-16 FG, 1-4 3-pt, 8-9 FT) and seven rebounds at Oregon State.
• Had 22 points (8-13 FG, 3-5 3-pt, 3-4 FT) and five assists at UC Santa Barbara.
• Tallied 20 points (6-14 FG, 2-4 3-pt, 6-6 FT) and five assists in a win over Grambling State.
• Posted 18 points (6-13 FG, 1-3 3-pt, 5-6 FT), 11 assists and three steals in the win over San Jose State.
• 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.
 
TRIPLE THREAT
SR G Matt Hauser has stepped up his game as the Vikings' top three-point shooting threat.
• Hauser is averaging 17.2 points while shooting .426 from the field, .354 from three-point range and .688 at the free throw line. He has a team-high 29 three-point field goals.
• Ranks fifth in the Big Sky in scoring, fourth in three-pointers per game and eighth in steals.
• Has led the team in scoring four times this season and has three 20+ point games.
• Went for a career-high 29 points (10-22 FG, 9-16 3-pt) and seven rebounds in the win over CSUN. It was the second-most three-pointers in a game in PSU history.
• Posted 24 points (9-15 FG, 4-9 3-pt, 2-2 FT) with six rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win over San Jose State.
• Scored 21 points at Indiana (7-9 FG, 4-6 3-pt, 3-3 FT).
• 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)... made 113 three-pointers in three seasons.
 
GOOD STARTS FOR GOOLSBY
SR F Rashaad Goolsby has moved into the Vikings' starting lineup over the last six games and been brilliant. He has averaged 7.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 assists in those games.
• For the season, he is averaging 7.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. Last season, he averaged 4.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 18.3 minutes per game.
• Ranks third in rebounding and third in steals in the Big Sky Conference.
• Has led the team in rebounding eight times this season.
• Had a career-high 16 rebounds to go with a career-high four assists, three steals and two blocked shots in a win over CSUN.
• In his first start, a win at San Jose State, posted 10 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists.
• Made a career-high five steals against Portland.
• Goolsby grabbed 10 rebounds in the win over Puget Sound.