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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (10-14, 5-8) vs.
            SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS (12-11, 7-7)
Saturday, February 16, 2019, 7:05 p.m. • Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
Live Stream: Pluto TV Channel 232, pluto.tv, WatchBigSky.com • Play-by-play: Matt Richert
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP
Portland State took a big first step on its climb up the Big Sky Conference standings on Thursday night, beating Northern Arizona. Now, the Vikings face another important home game against fifth-place Southern Utah on Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
     
PSU's 103-94 victory over NAU was more than just exciting basketball. It moved the Vikings two spots up in the Big Sky standings. Portland State is now tied for seventh place at 5-8 in league with Sacramento State. Southern Utah, at 7-7, is in fifth place in a virtual tie with Eastern Washington (6-6). The key for the Vikings, with seven games to play, is to move up to fifth place (or better) heading into the post-season. That would give them a first-round bye in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
     
PSU has still played the fewest conference home games of any team in the Big Sky (5). The Vikings have five more home games coming in the final seven.
     
Playing at home should prove to be a big factor in the run up to the tournament. Thursday night's contest was evidence of that as the Vikings shot a brilliant .591 from the field in scoring their most points in conference game in two seasons, and most in a regulation conference game in three years. It was a welcome return to offensive prowess as the Vikings had shot only .385 from the field while averaging just 65.3 points in their three previous games - all road losses.
     
The triumvirate of SO G Holland Woods, JR G Michael Nuga and JR C Sal Nuhu was almost unstoppable. Woods went for 27 points, 10 assists and three steals. Nuga had 22 points off the bench, and Nuhu tied his career high with 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds and swatted away six NAU shots. Those three combined to shoot 27-43 from the field, a .628 mark.
     
PSU led wire-to-wire in the game and was ahead by as many as 23 points in the second half. The victory was the third straight at home for Vikings as they are now 7-4 in their new Viking Pavilion.
     
Saturday's opponent, Southern Utah, comes off an 84-73 loss at Sacramento State on Thursday night. The Thunderbirds, who are now 12-11 overall, had won three straight games prior to that. SUU is 4-9 on the road this season.
     
The T-Birds beat the Vikings in an earlier meeting in Cedar City, 83-69, by breaking open a tie game with six minutes to play. Portland State figures to put on a better performance against Southern Utah after committing a season-high 25 turnovers in that loss.
     
Saturday's game tips off at 7:05 p.m. It will be live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 232, pluto.tv and WatchBigSky.com. Matt Richert will have the play-by-play call. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 
COMING UP
Portland State is home again next week, hosting Idaho State on Thursday night and Sacramento State on Saturday night.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SOUTHERN UTAH
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Southern Utah, 10-2, including a 9-2 advantage in Big Sky Conference games... the Vikings are 5-0 in Big Sky Conference games against SUU in Portland, 6-0 overall.
• Jan. 17, SUU 83, PSU 69 @ SUU: Southern Utah broke open a tie game with six minutes left, outscoring Portland State 20-6 down the stretch. It marked the first time the T-Birds have beaten the Vikings since 2013, ending a string of nine straight losses to PSU. Portland State held a 38-18 rebounding advantage, including not allowing a single offensive rebound. But turnovers were a problem for the Vikings who had a season-high 25, leading to 30 Southern Utah points. Southern Utah shot .560 from the field while the Vikings shot only .392. Cameron Oluyitan led five Thunderbirds in double figures with 18 points, hitting 7-9 field goals and 3-5 three-pointers. Derek Brown led Portland State with 16 points.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his second season on the Park Blocks and has a 30-28 career record. Peery is 1-1 against Southern Utah... 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 Thunderbirds are coached by Todd Simon (Central Michigan, 2003) in his third season. Simon is 31-57 overall, including 1-3 against the Vikings.
• YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN: Portland State Head Coach Barret Peery faces his alma mater for the third time. Last year, Peery's team won 96-91 in overtime in Cedar City. This season, they lost 83-69 in Cedar City... Peery played at Southern Utah from 1993-95 under Bill Evans (now head coach at Idaho State). Peery was part of two conference championships for the Thunderbirds and earned Academic All-League honors. Peery served as a graduate assistant with the program in 1995-96. Peery then returned to be an assistant coach at Southern Utah from 1998-2002. The 2000-01 team won the Mid-Continent Conference title, reaching the NCAA Tournament, and compiled a 25-6 record.
• FRIENDS AND FOES: Portland State SO G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods and Southern Utah SO G Dre Marin played together in the same backcourt at Apollo High School in Arizona. Saturday's game will be the third time they square off against each other. Last year, Woods had 20 points and seven assists in an overtime win by the Vikings at Southern Utah. Marin dropped in 18 points and two assists... Neither player had a distinguished performance in their matchup on Jan. 17. Woods had seven points, four rebounds and one assist. Marin went for four points, four rebounds and two assists.
 
SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
• Southern Utah, located in Cedar City, joined the Big Sky Conference for the 2012-13 season. The Thunderbirds have never won a Big Sky Conference Championship.
• Last year, Southern Utah was 13-19 overall, 5-13 and 10th in the Big Sky Conference. The T-Birds won two games in the Big Sky Tournament, advancing to the semifinals. Two starters and seven letterwinners return from that team.
• This year, the Thunderbirds are 12-11 overall, 7-7 and tied for fifth in the Big Sky Conference. SUU averages 76.9 points per game and allows 76.3. The Thunderbirds hold opponents to .424 shooting from the field, which ranks as the best in the Big Sky.
• Senior guard Brandon Better leads the Thunderbirds in scoring, along with junior forward Cameron Oluyitan at 12.9 points per game. Better has made 52 three-point field goals and leads the Big Sky with an .883 free throw percentage. Oluyitan has made 37 three-pointers.
• Junior forward Andre Adams averages 11.0 points and 6.3 rebounds and shoots .584 from the field.
• Harrison Butler, a freshman guard, leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per game.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 10-14 on the season, 7-4 at home, 2-9 on the road, 1-1 at neutral sites.
• The Vikings have won three in a row at home and lost three in a row on the road.
• PSU is 5-8 in Big Sky Conference play, 3-2 at home, 2-6 on the road.
• The Vikings are 1-1 in overtime... Head Coach Barret Peery is 3-2 all-time in overtime.
Home Court(s)
• Portland State opened the Viking Pavilion at the Peter W. Stott Center in 2018-19. The Stoller Family Court will be PSU's fifth (and hopefully final) home court since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. The main home court was the old Peter W. Stott Center. However, the Vikings also used the Rose Garden (now Moda Center) and Memorial Coliseum occasionally over the years. In 2017-18, PSU used Lewis & Clark College's Pamplin Sports Center as a home court while the Viking Pavilion was being completed. Here is the breakdown:
  - Viking Pavilion - 11 games, 7-4
  - Peter W. Stott Center - 233 games, 168-65
  - Rose Garden (Moda Center) - 28 games, 19-9
  - Memorial Coliseum - 19 games, 13-6
  - Lewis and Clark - 12 games, 7-5
  - 23rd season - 303 games, 214-89 at home overall
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 127-50 at home, including 74-40 in Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament games.
• Portland State has lost only 10 non-conference home games in the last 12 seasons (53-10). PSU is 28-10 against Division I schools, and 25-0 against lower division schools over that span.
Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 190-206 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the Big Sky Tournament (12-13).
• PSU is 123-65 in home games, 61-131 in road games and 6-10 in neutral-site games.
 
WHO IS HOT
• JR G Michael Nuga stayed hot against Northern Arizona, scoring 22 points on 9-17 field goals and 4-12 three-pointers... in his last two games, Nuga has averaged 20.5 points and shot .517 from the field.
• JR C Sal Nuhu tied his career high with 20 points (7-11 FG, 6-9 FT), grabbed eight rebounds, tied his career-high with six blocked shots and made two steals against Northern Arizona... Nuhu has 17 blocked shots in his last four games (4.3 per game).
• SO G Holland Woods came up two points short of his career high with 27 points (11-15 FG, 1-4 3-pt, 4-5 FT), 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals against Northern Arizona... Woods now has three double-doubles this season.
• SR G Derek Brown has made his last seven free throws in a row and leads the team with .797 free throw percentage this season... Brown shoots .857 in Big Sky Conference games... he ranks eighth in the Big Sky Conference, seventh in conference-only games.
• Over the last six games, SR F Jamie Orme is shooting .628 from the field, .611 from three-point range and .733 at the free throw line.
• In Big Sky Conference games, PSU has shot .744 from the free throw line. During the 11 non-conference games, PSU shot .647 as a team.
• Portland State continues to lead the nation in offensive rebounding (16.5 pg).
 
THE 800 CLUB: Portland State's basketball history includes time as a junior college, NAIA, NCAA College Division and NCAA I member. PSU is now in its 58th season of basketball competition (23rd in the Big Sky Conference). Heading into Saturday's game with Southern Utah, the Viking program will be looking for its 800th all-time victory. PSU has an all-time mark of 799-776 against santioned NCAA programs. (PSU was 19-6 all-time against non-counting games against Canadian teams played in the 1960s and 1970s)
 
YOU'VE GOT TO PUT THE BISCUIT IN THE BASKET: There is no question that shooting efficiency is the most important element in basketball. This season, the Vikings have been inconsistent when chucking the rock at the old peach basket, with distinct differences in shooting between wins and losses, and home and road games. Here is a breakdown:
• The Vikings are 8-0 when out-shooting their opponents, 2-14 when they don't.
• In 11 of PSU's 14 losses, they have shot 39% or less.
• Field goal percentage: .423 (10th in Big Sky)
• Three-point percentage: .295 (11th in Big Sky)
• Shooting in wins: .492/.345
• Shooting in losses: .369/.262
• Shooting in home games: .478/.339
• Shooting in road/neutral site games: .377/.262
 
PEERY PRESSURE, PART II: Portland State Head Coach Barret Peery emphasizes a full-court pressure defense that forces turnovers and creates transition opportunities. Then, on the offensive end, his team relentlessly attacks the offensive glass. Here are the analytics of those two areas. In 2018-19:
• The Vikings have forced 15.8 turnovers per game and have a +0.9 turnover margin. PSU has scored 392 points off turnovers compared to 384 for opponents.
• The Vikings average 16.5 offensive rebounds per game while opponents average 9.2. PSU has a huge advantage on its opponents in second-chance points this season (380-229).
• In all, the difference in total turnovers (22) and total offensive rebounds (173) is 195 extra possessions compared to opponents (8.1 per game).
• As a result, PSU has 212 more field goal attempts than the opponents. Opponents have 20 more free throw attempts.
 
CHEERING FOR BOO BOO: SO G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods leads the Vikings' in scoring (14.8) and assists (5.3). He ranks ninth in the Big Sky in scoring, leads in assists and is third in steals (1.5).
• He has led the team in scoring 12 times and assists 20 times this season, and has three double-doubles.
• Woods, the Big Sky leader in assists last season (5.6), has led the Vikings in assists in 45 of 57 career games. He ranks sixth all-time at Portland State with 314 career assists in less than two seasons.
• Scored in double figures 17 times with six 20+ point games.
 
NU-COMERS PLAYING WELL: Portland State newcomers JR G Michael Nuga and JR C Sal Nuhu are having a big impact for the Vikings.
Nuga Nuggets:
• Nuga ranks second on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game in 19 minutes per night.
• He leads the team with 38 3-pt FG and a .365 3-pt FG%.
• Has scored in double figures 13 times with three 20+ point games.
Yahoo For Nuhu:
• Nuhu averages 10.0 points in 21 minutes per game.
• He averages 6.0 rebounds to lead the Vikings and rank ninth in the Big Sky. He leads the Vikings and ranks seventh in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.528) and while leading in blocked shots (2.0).
• Has scored in double figures 12 times and led the team in rebounding seven times.
 
DUNK YOU VERY MUCH  
• JR C Sal Nuhu has a new school record of 34 dunks on the season.
• Portland State has a total of 67 dunks this season in 24 games which ranks as the most ever as a team.
• The Vikings had a season-high of 11 dunks against Portland Bible (12/1). They had seven slams in a win over Eastern Washington (1/24), including four by Nuhu... Nuhu also had four against Northern Arizona (2/14).