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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (7-7, 1-1) at IDAHO VANDALS (4-9, 0-2)
Thursday, January 2, 2020, 6:30 p.m. • Cowan Spectrum (6,000), Moscow, ID
Television: None
Live Stream: Pluto TV Channel 542, pluto.tv, WatchBigSky.com
Live Stats: https://govandals.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP
Big Sky Conference basketball isn't for the faint of heart. The first weekend of league play has proven that.
     
Portland State pulled off a four-point win over Northern Colorado, then lost a two-pointer to Southern Utah that went down to a shot at the buzzer. And if that isn't enough, Portland State's Thursday night opponent, Idaho, played a pair of games that were even closer, losing by two points at Idaho State and one point at Weber State.
     
In fact, the 10 games played so far had an average margin of 4.3 points. Six of 10 were decided by one or two points. On Monday, the five games were decided by a combined 13 points and all were decided in the closing seconds.
     
And so, Portland State (7-7, 1-1) heads to face the Vandals (4-9, 0-2) on Thursday in Moscow in what figures to be another battle to the wire. The Vikings take a 2-5 road record to Cowan Spectrum where the Vandals have gone 3-2. PSU beat Idaho in Cowan Spectrum last year by a mere two points to complete a sweep in the season series. 
     
The game at Idaho will be the third in six days and part of four in eight days as PSU will move on to Eastern Washington on Saturday. Despite Thursday's loss, the Vikings have won four of their last six games. Idaho has lost three in a row, and six of its last seven.
     
Some of the Big Sky's top guards will be on display. The Vikings' JR G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods leads the team with 17.9 points and 5.4 assists per game. SR G Matt Hauser is averaging 16.0 points and has made 39 three-point field goals. Idaho features Trevon Allen, who ranks third in the Big Sky, averaging 19.2 points per game.
     
Portland State and Idaho meet in a game that begins at 6:30 p.m. A live stream is available on Pluto TV Channel 542, www.pluto.tv and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live statistics can be found at https://govandals.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary.
 
COMING UP
Portland State's game at Idaho is the first of four straight on the road. The Vikings play at Eastern Washington on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. After a seven-day layoff, PSU travels to Montana State (Jan. 11) and Montana (Jan. 13).
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO
• THE SERIES: Idaho leads the all-time series, 15-14, and the Big Sky Conference series, 5-4... the Vandals have a 3-2 advantage in Big Sky games played in Moscow... the Vikings swept the season series last year for the first time and have won three of the last four in the series.
• LAST YEAR: Jan. 26, 2019 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 69, UI 53: Portland State took a dominant first-half lead, 40-23, then cruised to the win from there. PSU held the Vandals to 38% shooting and forced them into 19 turnovers. A balanced Viking attack was led by 11 points from Jamie Orme and Michael Mayhew. Scott Blakney and Trevon Allen had 12 points each for Idaho. Feb. 28, 2019 at Moscow, PSU 67, UI 65: PSU trailed by seven at halftime, but once again used defensive pressure to overcome the Vandals. Idaho had 11 of its 19 turnovers in the second half, aiding the Viking comeback. Holland Woods led all scorers with 17 points and five assists. Sal Nuhu had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Jared Rodriguez scored 13 to pace Idaho.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his third season on the Park Blocks and has a 43-37 career record. Peery is 3-1 all-time against Idaho... 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 Vandals are led by interim Head Coach Zac Claus (Eastern Washington, 1998) in his first season. Claus was a PSU assistant coach from 2000-02.
 
IDAHO VANDALS
• The University of Idaho is located in Moscow. Idaho was an original member of the Big Sky Conference, then left after the 1995-96 season. The program rejoined the Big Sky in 2014-15.
• The Vandals were 5-27 last season, 2-18 and 11th in the Big Sky Conference. Two starters and four letterwinners return from that team. Zac Claus, a former Vandal assistant, was installed as interim head coach in the off-season.
• This season the Vandals are 4-9 overall, 0-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Idaho averages 67.2 points and allows 70.2 points per game. The Vandals shoot .450 from the field, but only .310 from three-point range and .651 at the free throw line.
• Senior guard Trevon Allen leads the team with 19.2 points per game. He also averages 4.6 rebounds.
• Sophomore guard BJ Simmons is second on the team with 10.7 points per game, but has missed six games.
• Junior forward Scott Blakney averages 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and shoots .621 from the field.
• Senior forward Quinton Forrest leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game to rank fifth in the Big Sky.
 
WHO IS HOT
• SR G Lamar Hamrick has averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20 minutes per game over the last two. He made 12-18 field goals (.667) and 4-6 three-pointers (.667). He also had four assists, two steals and two blocked shots... Hamrick is shooting a team-best .542 from the field.
• JR G Holland Woods had his seventh 20-point game of the season with 25 against Southern Utah. Woods ranks fourth in the Big Sky Conference in scoring (17.9).
• PSU leads the Big Sky Conference in steals (8.9), offensive rebounding (15.9 per game) and turnover margin (+3.4). The Vikings lead the nation in offensive rebounds.
 
WHO IS NOT
• The Vikings have shot 39-68 from the free throw line over the last four games (.574).
• In the last three halves of basketball, the Vikings have allowed opponents to shoot 48-88 from the field (.545).
 
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 14 games, PSU has 61 more offensive rebounds than their opponents (4.4 more per game) and has forced 41 more turnovers than they have committed (2.9 per game). The 102 extra possessions amounts to more than 7.3 per game.
• So far this season, PSU has an edge over opponents in points off turnovers (231-175) and second chance points (201-148).
• 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 IS REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
Portland State point guard Holland "Boo Boo" Woods became the all-time assist leader in program history during last Saturday's win over Northern Colorado. Woods figures to move that number much higher over the next year.
     
Woods recently became the 19th Viking in history to pass 1,000 career points. He now has 1,047 points to rank 16th all-time.
     
Still coming is a new record for career steals. Woods has 125 and ranks second at Portland State behind Calaen Robinson (128). 
 
VIKINGS CAREER ASSIST LEADERS

1.	Holland Woods (2017-20)	431
2.	Terry Adolph (1976-78)	421
3.	Chucky Smith (1974-78)	392
4.	Derek Nesland (1996-00)	371
5.	Will Funn (2003-05)	328

 
VIKINGS CAREER STEALS LEADERS

1.	Calaen Robinson (2015-17)	128
2.	Holland Woods (2017-20)	125
3.	Anthony Lackey (1998-02)	121
4.	Zach Gengler (2013-17)	120
5.	Jeremiah Dominguez (2007-09)	115

 
VIKINGS CAREER SCORING LEADERS

1.	Freeman Williams (1974-78)	3,249
2.	John Nelson (1962-66)	2,123
3.	Willie Stoudamire (1969-72)	1,845
4.	Seamus Boxley (2000-05)	1,498
5.	Anthony Lackey (1998-02)	1,304
6.	Leo Franz (1970-73)	1,245
7.	Charlie Stoudamire (1969-72)	1,179
8.	John Winters (1955-59)	1,169
9.	Derreck Brooks (1973-77)	1,155
10	Brian Towne (1996-99)	1,123
11.	Derek Nesland (1996-00)	1,107
12.	Scott Morrison (2004-08)	1,098
13.	Bill Wilkerson (1965-67)	1,081
14.	Holland Woods (2017-20)	1,072

 
BOO BOO, PART TWO
A few more highlights from Holland Woods:
• Ranks fourth in the Big Sky in scoring (17.9), second in assists (5.4), fifth in free throw percentage (.829) and fourth in steals (1.9).
• Has led the team in scoring seven times and has seven 20-point games.
• Boo Boo has led the team in assists 11 times this season and in 64 of 79 career games.
• Had 25 points (9-21 FG, 3-9 3-pt, 4-6 FT) with five assists against Southern Utah
• Scored 23 points (7-17 FG, 4-9 3-pt, 5-5 FT) with four assists at Pepperdine.
• 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 16.0 points while shooting .414 from the field and .368 from three-point range. He has a team-high 39 three-point field goals.
• Ranks eighth 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 four 20+ point games.
• Scored 20 points (8-19 FG, 4-10 3-pt FG) against Southern Utah.
• 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.
 
YAHOO FOR NUHU
SR C Sal Nuhu opened the season just as Vikings fans would have expected; by swatting away shots.  Despite missing six games with an ankle sprain, he is averaging 2.3 blocks to go with 8.4 points and 5.5 rebounds.
• Scored 18 points with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in a win over Loyola Marymount (12/19).
• Had six blocks against Puget Sound (11/5) 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 ranks fifth all-time at PSU.
 
VIKINGS CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERS

1.	Scott Morrison (2004-08)	187
2.	Seamus Boxley (2000-05)	128
3.	Collin Spickerman (2014-16)	117
4.	Jamie Jones (2008-10)	105
5.	Sal Nuhu (2017-19)	82
6.	Chehales Tapscott (2010-12)	62
	Julius Thomas (2006-10)	62
8.	Jamaal Sanford (1996-98)	60
9.	Ryan Edwards (2017-18)	57
10.	Seth Scott (2002-04)	48

 
TALKING THE WALKER
The Vikings' other graduate transfer newcomer, SR F Alonzo Walker, has started all 11 games he has played for PSU and been productive. In 23 minutes per night, he averages 9.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals.
• Walker has led the team in rebounding three times.
• Posted 13 points with nine rebounds and two blocked shots in the win at San Jose State.
• Scored 13 points with eight rebounds and two steals against Portland.
 
HAMMER TIME
SR G Lamar Hamrick is quickly becoming the Vikings' key player off the bench. He averages 7.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 16 minutes.
• In the last two games he has averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting .667 from the field.
• In the last five games, he has shot .605 from the field, .500 from three-point range while averaging 11.0 points.
• Leads the team in field goal shooting at .542.
• Scored 16 points (6-9 FG, 3-4 3-pt 1-2 FT) with five rebounds in a win over Northern Colorado.