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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (9-13, 4-7) at
            SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (9-10, 3-7)
Monday, February 11, 2019, 7:05 p.m. • The Hornets Nest (1,012), Sacramento, CA
Live Stream: Pluto TV Channel 233, pluto.tv, WatchBigSky.com • Play-by-play: Steve McElroy (Sacramento State feed)
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP
Portland State meets Sacramento State for the first time this season in game 12 of the Big Sky Conference schedule. The Vikings and Hornets match up on Monday night in Sacramento.
     
With a Monday night game for the second time this season, the Vikings have their second three-games-in-six-nights stretch on the Big Sky schedule. Portland State hosts Northern Arizona (Feb. 14) and Southern Utah (Feb. 16) next week at the Viking Pavilion.
     
The Vikings (9-13, 4-7), who started a four-game road trip with a big win at Weber State, will try to salvage a split after dropping their last two starts at Idaho State and Northern Colorado.
     
Sacramento State could be the place as the Vikings have won 10 times in Big Sky games at the Hornets Nest over the years (10-12), most recently in 2016. To do so, PSU must turn around an offense that has averaged only 64.5 points in the previous two games. The Vikings shot only 36% in their 80-62 loss at Northern Colorado on Thursday.
     
Sacramento State (9-10, 3-7) has alternated wins and losses over its last seven games. The Hornets will have a road contest at Northern Colorado on Saturday prior to facing the Vikings. Senior guard Marcus Graves leads the Hornets with 16.1 points per game, and averages league-bests 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals.           
     
PSU will either be tied with or one game ahead of Sacramento State when the teams meet, making Monday's game worth moving up or down a spot to both teams in the Big Sky standings. The Vikings are trying to climb, but have found the going tough. Not the least of their challenges has been a road-heavy start to league play. The game at Sacramento State with be the eighth out of 12 on the road for PSU.
     
The Vikings look ahead to a favorable schedule starting next week, with six of the final eight games at home. A kick-start to their run-up to the Big Sky Tournament would be a win on Monday.
     
PSU is 2-8 in road games this year, 2-5 in Big Sky road games. Sacramento State is 5-3 at home, but only 1-3 in Big Sky home games.
     
Monday's game at Sacramento State tips off at 7:05 p.m. It will be live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 233, pluto.tv and WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 
COMING UP
The Vikings return home to play six of the final eight regular season games prior to the Big Sky Conference Tournament. On Thursday, the Vikings host Northern Arizona, then Southern Utah on Saturday.
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SACRAMENTO STATE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 30-18, and the Big Sky series, 29-17... PSU is 10-12 all-time in Big Sky games played in Sacramento... despite having only four league wins, the Hornets swept the season series with the Vikings last year... however, Portland State won the Big Sky Tournament first round game between the teams.
• LAST YEAR: Dec. 30, 2017, SAC 80, PSU 75 at Sacramento: Justin Strings put on a brilliant performance in leading the Hornets to a conference-opening win. Strings hit 16-18 field goals for 34 points, adding eight rebounds and five assists. Jordan Tolbert scored 19 points off the bench. The Hornets shot .604 from the field compared to .417 for the Vikings. Deontae North had 20 points to lead the Vikings. Bryce Canda added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jan. 27, 2018, SAC 71, PSU 61 at Lewis and Clark College: The Vikings had one of their poorest offensive performances of the year, shooting only .344 from the field with 18 turnovers. The Hornets outscored PSU, 45-28, in the second half. Jordan Tolbert scored a game-high 26 points for Sacramento State. Bryce Canda led the Vikings with 19 points. Mar. 6, 2018, PSU 71, SAC 67 at Reno, NV: Portland State jumped to a 15-point halftime lead then held on to win a first-round Big Sky Tournament game. Holland Woods led the Vikings with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. Bryce Canda scored 16 points with nine rebounds. Bryce Fowler went for 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his second season on the Park Blocks and has a 29-27 career record. Peery is 1-2 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 120-200 record at Sacramento State. He is 9-13 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 9-10 this season, 3-7 in the Big Sky Conference, prior to a Saturday game at Northern Colorado. The Hornets allow the fewest points in the league at 67.8 per game. However, they rank last in free throw shooting (.658) and three-point field goals made (5.1 pg).
• Senior guard Marcus Graves does it all for the Hornets. He leads the team in scoring at 16.1 points per game, while leading the Big Sky in assists at 5.5 per game and steals at 1.9 per game.
• Junior center Joshua Patton is averaging 13.8 points and a team-best 5.4 rebounds. He shoots .619 from the field and averages 1.9 blocked shots per game, both of which rank second in the Big Sky Conference.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 9-13 on the season, 6-4 at home, 2-8 on the road, 1-1 at neutral sites.
• The Vikings have won two in a row at home and lost two in a row on the road.
• PSU is 4-7 in Big Sky Conference play, 2-2 at home, 2-5 on the road.
• The Vikings are 1-1 in overtime... Head Coach Barret Peery is 3-2 all-time in overtime.
Big Sky Battles
• Portland State is 189-205 all-time in all Big Sky Conference games, including the Big Sky Tournament (12-13).
• PSU is 122-65 in home games, 61-130 in road games and 6-10 in neutral-site games.
 
WHO IS HOT
• SR F Jamie Orme is averaging 13.8 points and shooting 24-36 (.667) from the field, 11-16 (.688) from three-point range and 8-10 (.800) at the line over the last five games... he scored 18 points (8-10 FG, 1-2 3-pt, 1-2 FT) with three blocked shots in the win at Weber State. It was his career-high against a Division I opponent... Orme made a career-high 4-6 three-pointers at Idaho State... after never leading the Vikings in scoring in his career, he did so four straight games (three wins) prior to the Northern Colorado game.
• SR G Derek Brown made 5-5 FTs at Northern Colorado and leads the team with .790 free throw percentage... Brown shoots .846 in Big Sky Conference games.
• Over the last 11 games, PSU has shot 178-239 (.745) from the free throw line, improving the season mark to .691. Over the first 11 games, PSU shot .647 as a team.
• Portland State continues to lead the nation in offensive rebounding (16.8 pg).
 
WHO IS NOT
• Portland State is shooting .290 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.
• The Vikings shot 45-113 (.398) in their last two games - both losses.
 
BIG SKY CONFERENCE RELEASES 2019-20 SCHEDULE
The Big Sky Conference has released the league schedule for the 2019-20 season. Portland State will be the "lone wolf" in the 11-team league which means 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. One similarity to this season is the schedule is road heavy early, with eight of the first 13 games on the road and five of the last seven at home.
     
Here is a look at PSU's 20-game Big Sky schedule for next year (home games in bold caps):
 
Dec. 28, Sat, NORTHERN COLORADO
Dec. 30, Mon, SOUTHERN UTAH
Jan. 2, Thurs, at Idaho
Jan. 4, Sat, at Eastern Washington
Jan. 11, Sat, at Montana State
Jan. 13, Mon, at Montana
Jan. 18, Sat, IDAHO STATE
Jan. 20, Mon, WEBER STATE
Jan. 23, Thurs, at Sacramento State
Jan. 25, Sat, at Northern Arizona
Jan. 30, Thurs, MONTANA
Feb. 8, Sat, at Southern Utah
Feb. 10, Mon, at Northern Colorado
Feb. 15, Sat, EASTERN WASHINGTON
Feb. 17, Mon, IDAHO
Feb. 20, Thurs, MONTANA STATE
Feb. 27, Thurs, at Idaho State
Feb. 29, Sat, at Weber State
Mar. 5, Thurs, NORTHERN ARIZONA
Mar. 7, Sat, SACRAMENTO STATE
Mar. 11-14, Wed-Sat, Big Sky Championship, CenturyLink Arena, Boise, ID
 
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 7-0 when out-shooting their opponents, 2-13 when they don't.
• In 10 of PSU's 13 losses, they have shot 39% or less.
• Field goal percentage: 587-1,406, .417 (10th in Big Sky)
• Three-point percentage: 153-527, .290 (11th in Big Sky)
• Shooting in wins: .481/.348
• Shooting in losses: .370/.254
• Shooting in home games: .466/.341
• Shooting in road/neutral site games: .378/.253
 
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 16.0 turnovers per game and have a +1.0 turnover margin. PSU has scored 365 points off turnovers compared to 365 for opponents.
• The Vikings average 16.9 offensive rebounds per game while opponents average 9.2. PSU has a huge advantage on its opponents in second-chance points this season (352-207).
• In all, the difference in total turnovers (25) and total offensive rebounds (163) is 188 extra possessions compared to opponents (9.1 per game).
• As a result, PSU has 209 more field goal attempts than the opponents. Opponents have 25 more free throw attempts.
 
CHEERING FOR BOO BOO: SO G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods leads the Vikings' in scoring (14.4) and assists (5.1). He ranks ninth in the Big Sky in scoring, third in assists and third in steals (1.4).
• He has led the team in scoring 11 times and assists 18 times this season, and has two double-doubles.
• Woods, the Big Sky leader in assists last season (5.6), has led the Vikings in assists in 43 of 55 career games. He ranks seventh all-time at Portland State with 299 career assists in less than two seasons.
• Scored in double figures 15 times with five 20+ point games.
 
FINDING HIS F-ORME: SR F Jamie Orme has been looked to for a big step forward in 2018-19. Last season he averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13 minutes per game. This year he is averaging 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 19 minutes per game.
• Orme returned to the starting lineup five games ago and has been on fire. He has averaged 13.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and shot .667/.688/.800 in those games.
• In Big Sky Conference games, Orme leads the league in three-point percentage (13-22, .591).
• Scored in double figures 11 times and has two double-doubles this season.
 
THE REAL McCOY: In his first season as a Viking, JR F Robert McCoy has stepped into a key role. He has started 19 games and averages 23.0 minutes, ranking second on the team.
• McCoy averages 8.5 points and leads the Vikings in rebounding at 6.1 per game, ranking ninth in the Big Sky Conference. He leads the Big Sky in offensive rebounds (2.8 pg).
• He has led the Vikings in scoring twice, rebounding six times and has two double-doubles.
• Has season-highs of 26 points, 12 rebounds and five steals.
• Scored 17 points with six rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals against Weber State.
• Went for 16 points (6-12 FG, 2-6 3-pt, 2-3 FT) and four rebounds at Northern Colorado.
 
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 10.1 points per game in 20 minutes per night.
• He leads the team with 29 3-pt FG and a .358 3-pt FG%.
• Has scored in double figures 11 times with two 20+ point games.
Yahoo For Nuhu:
• Nuhu averages 9.9 points in 21 minutes per game.
• He averages 6.0 rebounds to rank second on the Vikings and 10th in the Big Sky. He leads the Vikings and ranks eighth in field goal percentage (.538) and third in blocked shots (1.7).
• Has scored in double figures 11 times and led the team in rebounding six times.
 
DUNK YOU VERY MUCH  
• JR C Sal Nuhu has 30 dunks on the season, which already ranks as second-most by a Viking in the 23-season Big Sky Conference era. The most dunks in a season are 31 by Scott Morrison in 2007-08.
• Portland State has a total of 62 dunks this season in 22 games which is more than the 50 they had all of last season.
• 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.