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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (12-14, 7-8) vs.
            SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (12-12, 6-9)
Saturday, February 23, 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
The excitement at Viking Pavilion continues on Saturday night as a red-hot Portland State team takes on a Sacramento State team coming off perhaps its biggest win of the season.
     
PSU (12-14, 7-8) has won three in a row, with all three games coming at home, including a 99-93 decision over Idaho State on Thursday night. The Vikings lit it up from outside, hitting a season-high 15-28 three-point field goals and shooting a season-best .536 from long range. The bench came up big, scoring 63 of the Vikings' 99 points, led by a career-high 20 points from SR G Deante Strickland (7-10 FG, 5-6 3-pt FG), season-highs of 15 points (5-7 FG, 5-5 FT) and nine rebounds from JR F Rashaad Goolsby, 17 points (5-8 3-pt FG) from SR G Michael Mayhew and 11 points and seven rebounds from JR G Michael Nuga.
     
The win continued an offensive surge by PSU in the late stages of the season. In their last three games, the Vikings have averaged 93.3 points, shot .534 from the field and .443 from three-point range.
     
Even more important, Portland State's three-game winning streak has pulled it within one game of fifth place in the Big Sky standings with five to play. The top five teams in the Big Sky Conference will receive first-round byes in the post-season tournament in Boise, Mar. 13-16.
     
Portland State will try for a season-long four-game winning streak when it plays Sacramento State. PSU has won five straight at home overall and is 9-4 in the Viking Pavilion as it welcomes the Hornets to the new basketball arena for the first time. The Vikings will try to avenge a loss at Sacramento State that came less than two weeks ago (78-67 on Feb. 11).
     
The Hornets (12-12, 6-9) sit one game behind the Vikings in the Big Sky standings as they too seek the best possible post-season positioning. On Thursday night they came away with a 78-76 win over third-place Weber State. Sophomore forward Ethan Esposito hit a pair of free throws with one tick left on the clock to provide the winning margin.
     
The win was Sacramento State's third in its last four outings. But, the Hornets have not played a road game since Feb. 9. They are 3-8 on the road this season, 2-5 in Big Sky Conference road games.
     
The Hornets feature a quality defense (68.7 ppg allowed) that has given the Vikings' fits the last two seasons. Sacramento State ranks second in the Big Sky in fewest points allowed and first in turnover margin (+2.4).
     
Portland State will need to solve the regular-season riddle of the Hornets. Although the Vikings beat them in the first round of last season's Big Sky Conference Tournament, Sacramento State has won the last four regular season meetings between the teams.
 
Saturday night's game against Sacramento State 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
The final road trip of the season comes next week when PSU plays at Idaho on Thursday, then Eastern Washington on Saturday. The Vikings wrap up the regular season by hosting Montana (Mar. 7) and Montana State (Mar. 9).
 
BIG SKY CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Montana, 12-2                 vs. MSU (Sat); vs. UNC (2/25), vs. SUU (3/2), vs. NAU (3/4), at PSU (3/7), at SAC (3/9)
2. Northern Colorado, 11-4  at UM (2/25), vs. WSU (2/28), vs. ISU (3/2), at SUU (3/7), vs. NAU (3/9)
3. Weber State, 10-6           at UNC (2/28), at ISU (3/4), vs. UI (3/7), vs. EWU (3/9)
4. Montana State, 9-6          at UM (Sat), vs. NAU (3/2), vs. SUU (3/4), at SAC (3/7), at PSU (3/9)
5. Eastern Washington, 8-7 at NAU (Sat), vs. SAC (2/28), vs. PSU (3/2), at ISU (3/7), at WSU (3/9)
6. Southern Utah, 8-8          vs. UI (Sat), at UM (3/2), at MSU (3/4), vs. UNC (3/7)
7. Portland State, 7-8          vs. SAC (Sat), at UI (2/28), at EWU (3/2), vs. UM (3/7), vs. MSU (3/9)
8. Northern Arizona, 7-9      vs. EWU (Sat), at MSU (3/2), at UM (3/4), at UNC (3/9)
9. Sacramento State, 6-9    at PSU (Sat), at EWU (2/28), at UI (3/2), vs. MSU (3/7), vs. UM (3/9)
10. Idaho State, 5-11           at UNC (3/2), vs. WSU (3/4), vs. EWU (3/7), vs. UI (3/9)
11. Idaho, 1-14                    at SUU (Sat), vs PSU (2/28), vs. SAC (3/2), at WSU (3/7), at ISU (3/9)
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SACRAMENTO STATE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 30-19, and the Big Sky series, 29-18... PSU is 18-4 against the Hornets in Portland in Big Sky games... Sacramento State has won the last four regular season meetings between the teams dating to 2016-17... however, Portland State won a Big Sky Tournament first round game between the teams last season.
• Feb. 11, SAC 78, PSU 67 at Sacramento: Sacramento State had one of its best offensive performances of the season, shooting 32-54 (.593) from the field and never trailed in the game. Only once could Portland State trim the deficit to less than double-digits in the second half, and it was brief, at 52-43 with 13:39 to go. Sacramento State pumped the lead back up as high as 17 points and was never seriously threatened by PSU down the stretch... PSU was 19-53 from the field (.358)... Michael Nuga scored 19 points to lead the Vikings. Holland Woods had 11 points and five assists. Marcus Graves and Ethan Esposito each had 16 points for the Hornets. Osi Nwachukwu finished at 7-7 from the field for 15 points.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his second season on the Park Blocks and has a 32-28 career record. Peery is 1-3 against Sacramento State... 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 Hornets are led by Brian Katz (Sacramento State, 1980) in his 11th season. Katz has a 123-202 record at Sacramento State. He is 10-13 all-time against the Vikings.
 
SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS
• Sacramento State joined the Big Sky Conference the same year as Portland State (1996-97). The Hornets have never won a Big Sky Conference Championship.
• Last year, the Hornets were 7-25 overall, 4-14 and 11th in the Big Sky Conference. Four starters and 10 letterwinners return from that team.
• Sacramento State is 12-12 this season, 6-9 in the Big Sky Conference play. The Hornets allow the second-fewest points in the league at 68.7 per game, and lead in turnover margin +2.4. However, they rank last in free throw shooting (.671) and three-point field goals made (5.0 pg).
• Senior guard Marcus Graves leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big Sky in scoring at 16.5 points per game. He also averages 1.9 steals to lead the Big Sky.
• Junior center Joshua Patton averages 13.7 points and a team-leading 6.3 rebounds per game. Patton ranks third in the Big Sky in blocked shots with 42. Patton also shoots .604 from the field to rank second in the Big Sky.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 12-14 on the season, 9-4 at home, 2-9 on the road, 1-1 at neutral sites.
• The Vikings have won five in a row at home and lost three in a row on the road.
• PSU is 7-8 in Big Sky Conference play, 5-2 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 - 13 games, 9-4
  - 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 - 305 games, 216-89 at home overall
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 129-50 at home, including 76-40 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 192-206 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the Big Sky Tournament (12-13).
• PSU is 125-65 in home games, 61-131 in road games and 6-10 in neutral-site games.
 
WHO IS HOT
• Portland State has averaged 93.3 points, shot .534 from the field and .443 from three-point range during its three-game winning streak.
• SO G Holland Woods is averaging 20.7 points and 8.7 assists in the Vikings last three games. He has shot 24-40 from the field (.600) in those games... Woods has also moved into the Big Sky Conference lead for assists per game (5.6).
• In his last three games, SR G Deante Strickland has averaged 13.0 points and 4.7 assists... Strickland scored a career-high 20 points (7-10 FG, 5-6 3-pt) with six assists in the win over Idaho State... he is 10-14 (.714) from three-point range in those three games and is now shooting .424 from three-point range in Big Sky Conference play (28-66).
• JR G Michael Nuga has averaged 16.0 points over the last four games, shooting 23-46 from the field (.500).
• JR C Sal Nuhu has 22 blocked shots in the last six games (3.7) and has surged into the Big Sky lead with 2.1 blocks per game... he has 23 rebounds in the last two games (11.5).
• Since returning to the starting lineup eight games ago, SR F Jamie Orme is shooting 34-55 from the field (.618), 13-22 from three-point range (.591) and 14-19 at the line (.737).
• In Big Sky Conference games, PSU has shot .742 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 (16.0 pg).
 
WHO IS NOT
• Portland State is shooting .311 from three-point range this season which ranks last in the Big Sky Conference.
• PSU has forced only 13.0 turnovers against Big Sky Conference opponents. The Vikings forced 19.1 turnovers against non-conference opponents.
• JR G Juwan Williams will miss the remainder of the season with ankle problems. FR F Filip Fullerton is also out for the season (back).
 
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 10-0 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: .429 (10th in Big Sky)
• Three-point percentage: .311 (11th in Big Sky)
• Shooting in wins: .494/.372
• Shooting in losses: .369/.262
• Shooting in home games: .482/.365
• Shooting in road/neutral site games: .377/.262
 
ON THE OTHER (HOT SHOOTING) HAND: Portland State has had some challenging shooting nights this season, but as Big Sky Conference play has progressed, things have changed. Look at these numbers in Big Sky games:
• SR F Jamie Orme leads the Big Sky in three-point percentage (15-28, .536)
• SR G Deante Strickland ranks ninth in three-point percentage (28-66, .424)
• SR G Michael Mayhew ranks 12th in three-point percentage (26-63, .413)
 
DUNK YOU VERY MUCH  
• JR C Sal Nuhu has a new school record of 36 dunks on the season.
• Portland State has a total of 72 dunks this season in 26 games which ranks as the most ever as a team (PSU had 50 all of last year).
• 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).
 
Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in:
Rebounds Per Game  40.2
Offensive Rebounds   16.0
Rebounding Margin    +7.7
Steals                            8.5
Holland Woods, assists       5.6
Sal Nuhu, blocked shots      2.1
Jamie Orme, 3-pt% (conference) .536