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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (15-15, 10-9) vs.
                 MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (14-15, 11-8)
Saturday, March 9, 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 game notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP
As expected, Portland State's season finale means a lot to both teams involved.
     
The Vikings and Montana State meet on Saturday night at Viking Pavilion for what is likely to be a first-round bye in the Big Sky Conference Tournament next week in Boise, ID. PSU is in sixth place at 15-15, 10-9, while the Bobcats are in a three-way tie for third at 14-15, 11-8. If the Bobcats win, they will be no worse than the fourth seed in the tournament. If the Vikings win, they will be in a three-way tie for fourth and would have an excellent chance of being either the fourth or fifth seed, depending on the outcome of other games. Variables include who earns the top seed in the Big Sky, either Montana or Northern Colorado who are currently tied, and the tiebreaker format played out (see Tiebreaker Format below).
     
What is certain is the Vikings will be no worse than sixth place in the Big Sky after a rousing 81-69 victory over the Grizzlies on Thursday night in Viking Pavilion. Sixth place would mean a Wednesday afternoon first-round matchup with 11th-place Idaho in Boise. Fifth or fourth would mean skipping the first round and playing in a Thursday evening quarterfinal round contest against an opponent to be determined (see Tournament Schedule below).
     
What is also certain is the Vikings' need to win to get that first-round bye. They will need to beat a team that beat them earlier in the season.
     
That said, PSU has never been more ready to win a game. The Vikings go into Saturday's matchup with the Bobcats having won six of seven games, with the only loss being on a buzzer-beater last week at Eastern Washington, 68-66. The Vikings have also won seven straight in their shiny, new home arena, the Viking Pavilion. Included in that streak was Thursday's win over Montana, led by SO G Holland Woods (20 pts, 5 ast, 4 st) and SR G Deante Strickland (19 pts, 4 reb). The Vikings led for the final 24 minutes of the game, and by as many as 20 points against a 22-win Griz team.
     
Montana State comes into Saturday's game off a narrow loss Thursday at Sacramento State, 70-67. The Bobcats are 4-5 in Big Sky road games. They beat the Vikings, 98-88, on Jan. 3 in Bozeman.
     
MSU features one of the top guard tandems in the Big Sky Conference. Senior Tyler Hall leads the team in scoring at 20.2 points per game and is now the Big Sky Conference's all-time leading scorer with 2,447 career points. Junior guard Harald Frey averages 17.0 points and 5.1 assists per game.
     
Saturday will also be Senior Night as the Viking Basketball Program with honor five seniors, playing in their final home game, prior to tipoff. They include guards Derek Brown, Michael Mayhew, Deante Strickland and Vonte Carter, and forward Jamie Orme.
     
Saturday's game tips off at 7:05 p.m. It will be live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 232, www.pluto.tv and www.WatchBigSky.com. Matt Richert will call the play-by-play. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 
BIG SKY CONFERENCE STANDINGS
t1. Montana, 15-4                        at SAC (3/9)
t1. Northern Colorado, 15-4        vs. NAU (3/9)
t3. Montana State, 11-8               at PSU (3/9)
t3. Weber State, 11-8                   vs. EWU (3/9)
t3. Eastern Washington, 11-8       at WSU (3/9)
6. Portland State, 10-9              vs. MSU (3/9)
7. Southern Utah, 9-11      
8. Sacramento State, 8-11          vs. UM (3/9)
9. Northern Arizona, 7-12           at UNC (3/9)
10. Idaho State, 6-13                  vs. UI (3/9)
11. Idaho, 2-17                            at ISU (3/9)
 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA STATE
• ALL-TIME SERIES: Montana State leads the all-time series with the Vikings, 33-24, and the Big Sky Conference series, 26-21... PSU leads 15-9 in Big Sky games played in Portland... Portland State has a 4-0 advantage over Montana State in Big Sky Tournament games.
• Jan. 3 - MSU 98, PSU 88 at Bozeman: MSU's Tyler Hall elevated his position on the Big Sky Conference's all-time scoring list and in the process led his Montana State team to victory over the Vikings. Hall scored 32 points, increasing his career total to 2,114 - good for second place on the BSC scoring ledger (he is now the all-time leading scorer at 2,447 points). Hall's backcourt mate Harald Frey added 25 points. In the second half, Hall and Frey combined for 35 of the Bobcats' 50 points... Montana State shot 30-56 from the field for a .536 percentage, making 12-26 (.462) from distance and 26-34 (.765) at the line. The Vikings were 26-59 (.441), 12-31 (.387) from three-point range, and 24-33 (.727) at the line... Michael Mayhew found the range for the Vikings, hitting 5-7 three-pointers and scoring 17 points. Holland Woods had an off shooting night, but still managed 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
• BRING OUT THE BROOM: Portland State swept the season series last year, marking the sixth straight year one of the two teams have swept the series (three times by PSU, three times by MSU). With their win in January, the Bobcats have a chance to make it seven straight sweeps by one team or the other.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his second season on the Park Blocks and has a 35-29 career record. Peery is 2-1 against Montana 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 Bobcats are coached by Brian Fish (Marshall, 1989) in his fifth season. Fish has a 64-90 record at MSU. He is 3-5 all-time against Portland State.
 
MONTANA STATE BOBCATS
• Montana State is an original member of the Big Sky Conference (1963). The Bobcat program has won four Big Sky regular season titles, two Big Sky Tournament titles, and made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Last year, the Bobcats went 13-19, 6-12 and tied for eighth in the Big Sky Conference. Four starters and five letterwinners return from that team. Included are second team All-Big Sky Conference selection Tyler Hall and honorable mention All-Big Sky Harald Frey.
• This year, Montana State is 14-15 overall, 11-8 in the Big Sky Conference. The Bobcats rank second in the Big Sky in scoring (78.0) and assists (15.1), but are last in scoring defense (79.6) and field goal percentage defense (.484).
• Senior guard Tyler Hall is third in the Big Sky Conference in scoring (20.2) and first in three-point field goals made (102).
• Junior guard Harald Frey averages 17.0 points, fourth in the Big Sky, and 5.1 assists, which ranks third. He also ranks third in free throw percentage (.845) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7).
• Senior forward Keljin Blevins averages 11.5 points and a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game.
 
BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TIE BREAKER FORMAT
The won-lost percentage record of the teams in regular season Conference play will determine tournament seedings. The team with the best won-lost percentage in Conference play will be seeded #1, the next best won-lost percentage in Conference play will be seeded #2, and so forth through all the seeds.
 
Procedures for determining all tournament seeding will be:
      The tie-breaking system will only be used for the purpose of determining the Conference Championships tournament seeding. In the event of a tie, the win-loss percentage record of the teams in regular-season Conference play will determine tournament seeding. The team with the best win-loss percentage in Conference play will be seeded #1, the next best win-loss percentage in Conference play will be seeded #2, and so forth through all the seeds.
 
1. Head-to-Head Competition
      a) Consider the head-to-head record during the Conference season. In double round robin play a team would have to sweep the opponent to break a tie with this method.
      b) In the case of more than two tied teams, consider the Conference regular season record for head-to-head competition among all of the tied teams. This process is used to break ties between any of the tied teams with any remaining tied teams returning to the process at criteria "a" (Example: Teams A, B, C, and D have identical record from a double round robin season. In head-to-head competition Team A emerges with 4-2 record against the other tied teams, team B and Team C have a 3-3 record and team D has a 2-4 record. Teams A and D can be placed in the final standings at that point while teams B and C return to criteria "a." If B and C have split their regular Conference season games, they will move to criteria "Performance against other teams in descending order."
2. Performance against Conference teams in descending order of finish, beginning with the No.1 team.
      (Example: Teams B and C remained tied after head-to-head criteria from above. Team A has been declared the Conference Champion based on the above criteria. Team B has split the Conference season games with team A and team C has lost both of the Conference games to team A. Team B is now placed in second place ahead of team C.
3. NET rankings for men, RPI rankings for women
4. Coin flip between the tied teams
 
THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The Big Sky Conference Championship is making a move to CenturyLink Arena in Boise, ID, Mar. 13-16. The tournament champion will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship.
     
For the fourth-straight season, all Big Sky members will compete in the conference tournament with the field featuring 11 teams. The tournament opens on Wednesday with first round games. The championship continues Thursday with the quarterfinals. Friday's action consists of the semifinals, which will air on Eleven Sports. The week-long event wraps up Saturday with the championship game on ESPNU at 5 p.m. PT.
     
CenturyLink Arena is a 5,300-seat facility located in downtown Boise that has been the home of the Idaho Steelheads hockey team since opening in 1997.
 
2019 Big Sky Conference Basketball Tournament Schedule
(all times listed are Mountain)
 
Wednesday, March 13, 2019, live streamed on Pluto TV, WatchBigSky.com
Game 1 – No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed, 9:35 a.m.          
Game 2 – No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed, 30 minutes after game one, approx. 12:05 p.m.
Game 3 – No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Idaho (5-25, 2-17), 30 minutes after game two, approx. 2:35 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 14, 2019, live streamed on Pluto TV, WatchBigSky.com
Game 4 – No. 1 Seed vs. Game 1 Winner, televised on Eleven Sports, 12:05 p.m.          
Game 5 – No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed, televised on Eleven Sports, 2:35 p.m.        
Game 6 – No. 2 Seed vs. Game 2 Winner, televised on Eleven Sports, 5:35 p.m.
Game 7 – No. 3 Seed vs. Game 3 Winner, televised on Eleven Sports, 8:05 p.m.
 
Friday, March 15, 2019, televised on Eleven Sports, live streamed on Pluto TV
Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, televised on Eleven Sports, 5:35 p.m.
Game 9 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, televised on Eleven Sports, 8:05 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 16, 2019, televised on ESPNU
Game 10 – Championship Game, televised on ESPNU, 6:05 p.m.
 
SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE VIKING QUICK NOTES
WINNING LINES
• Portland State is 15-15 on the season, 11-4 at home, 3-10 on the road, 1-1 at neutral sites.
• The Vikings have won seven in a row at home.
• PSU is 10-9 in Big Sky Conference play, 7-2 at home, 3-7 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 - 15 games, 11-4
  - 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 - 307 games, 218-89 at home overall
• Since the start of the 2006-07 season, PSU is 131-50 at home, including 78-40 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.
 
WHO IS HOT
• Portland State's defense has held the last four opponents under 70 points, allowing 64.8 points per game (76.3 prior).
• In his last seven games, SR G Deante Strickland has averaged 12.6 points and 3.6 assists... he has shot .536 from the field and .543 from three-point range... Strickland scored a career-high 20 points (7-10 FG, 5-6 3-pt) with six assists in the win over Idaho State... he matched that with 20 points (8-13 FG, 4-6 3-pt) and four assists against Eastern Washington, then had 19 against Montana (5-10 FG, 4-8 3-pt, 5-6 FT).
• SO G Holland Woods is averaging 17.5 points, 6.3 assists and shooting .494 in the Vikings' last seven games.
• JR C Sal Nuhu leads the Big Sky Conference with 2.1 blocks per game. His 62 total blocks are fourth-most in school history... he is also averaging 10.8 rebounds over the last six games and a team-leading 7.0 for the season... Nuhu has made 21 free throws in a row and is shooting .808 at the line in Big Sky games.
• In Big Sky Conference games, PSU has shot .746 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 (15.3 pg).
 
 
YOU'VE GOT TO PUT THE BISCUIT IN THE BASKET: There is no question that shooting efficiency is the most important element in basketball. Portland State's shooting was erratic early in the season, but has leveled off, and recently improved dramatically. Still there are distinct differences in shooting between wins and losses, and home and road games. The Vikings shoot nearly 10% better at home than they do on the road. Here is a breakdown:
• The Vikings are 11-1 when out-shooting their opponents, 4-14 when they don't.
• In 11 of PSU's 15 losses, they have shot 39% or less.
• Field goal percentage: .427 (10th in Big Sky)
• Three-point percentage: .312 (11th in Big Sky)
• Shooting in wins: .479/.359
• Shooting in losses: .373/.270
• Shooting in home games: .476/.363
• Shooting in road/neutral site games: .379/.268
 
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 players' numbers in Big Sky games:
• PSU shot 29-48 from the field in a win over Eastern Washington (.604)
• The Vikings shot 39-66 from the field in a win over Northern Arizona (.591).
• The Vikings shot a season-best 15-28 from three-point range in a win over Idaho State (.538).
• JR C Sal Nuhu ranks 11th in the Big Sky in free throw shooting (.808)
• SR F Jamie Orme ranks third in the Big Sky in three-point percentage (.465)
• SR G Deante Strickland ranks 11th in three-point percentage (.425)
• SR G Michael Mayhew ranks 15th in three-point percentage (.403)
 
CHEERING FOR BOO BOO: SO G Holland "Boo Boo" Woods leads the Vikings' in scoring (15.0) and assists (5.4). He ranks sixth in the Big Sky in scoring, second in assists (1st in league games) and is third in steals (1.5).
• He has led the team in scoring 15 times and assists 26 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 51 of 63 career games. He ranks fourth all-time at Portland State with 348 career assists in less than two seasons.
• Scored in double figures 23 times with seven 20+ point games.
• Went for 20 points and five assists at Stanford (11/28).
• Had 27 points (8-14 FG, career-high 5-7 3-pt, 6-6 FT) and six assists in a win over Portland (12/5).
• Scored 17 points with seven rebounds and seven assists at Montana State (1/3), making 10-10 FTs.
• Posted a season-high 28 points (6-11 FG, 3-4 3-pt FG, 13-15 FT) in a win at Montana (1/5), adding four rebounds and three assists.
• Posted 21 points with four steals at Northern Arizona (1/19).
• Recorded a season-high 11 assists and 15 points (7-10 FG) in a win over Eastern Washington (1/24).
• Had 27 points (11-15 FG, 1-4 3-pt, 4-5 FT), 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals in a win over Northern Arizona (2/14).
• Tallied 19 points (7-15 FG, 2-4 3-pt, 3-5 FT), eight assists, four rebounds and two steals in a win over Southern Utah (2/16).
• Scored 16 points (6-10 FG, 2-3 3-pt, 2-3 FT) with eight assists in a win over Idaho State (2/21).
• Had 20 points (6-11 FG, 2-3 3-pt, 6-7 FT), five assists, four steals and three rebounds in a win over Montana (3/7).
 
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 10.6 points per game in 20 minutes per night.
• He leads the team with 46 3-pt FG.
• Has scored in double figures 16 times with three 20+ point games.
• Went for 17 points and nine rebounds against Stanford (11/28).
• Scored a season-high 24 points against CSU Bakersfield (12/20).
• Posted 19 points (6-12 FG, 5-11 3-pt, 2-2 FT) at Sacramento State (2/11).
• Tallied 22 points (9-17 FG, 4-12 3-pt) in the win over Northern Arizona (2/14).
Yahoo For Nuhu:
• Nuhu averages 9.9 points in 23 minutes per game.
• He averages 7.0 rebounds to lead the Vikings and rank fourth in the Big Sky. He ranks eighth in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.505) while leading in blocked shots (2.1).
• Shooting .808 from the free throw line in Big Sky games.
• Has scored in double figures 16 times, led the team in rebounding 13 times and has four double-doubles.
• Posted a double-double against Stanford with 15 points and 14 rebounds (11/28).
• Went for 10 points, nine rebounds and a season-high six blocked shots against Portland (12/5).
• Scored 16 points (5-6 FG, 6-8 FT) at Montana State (1/3).
• Tallied a season-high 20 points (8-16 FG, 4-5 FT) with seven rebounds and four blocked shots against Weber State (1/12).
• Had eight points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots at Idaho State (2/2).
• Matched his season-highs of 20 points (7-11 FG, 6-9 FT) and six blocked shots while grabbing eight rebounds in a win over Northern Arizona (2/14).
• Led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocks with 12 points, 14 boards and three blocks against Sacramento State (2/23).
 
STRICK-LY BUSINESS: Since Jan. 12, SR G Deante Strickland has been on a tear. He has averaged 10.3 points and 3.1 assists per game while coming off the bench. Strickland has made 56-118 from the field (.474) and 35-79 from three-point range (.443) in those 16 games. He averaged 2.3 points and 1.8 assists prior to that, shooting a mere .192/.143.
• Strickland scored a career-high 20 points (7-10 FG, 5-6 3-pt) and six assists in a win over Idaho State (2/21).
• He matched his career high with 20 points (8-13 FG, 4-6 3-pt) and four assists at Eastern Washington (3/2).
• Strickland scored 19 points on two other occasions.
 
DUNK YOU VERY MUCH  
• JR C Sal Nuhu has a new school record of 40 dunks on the season.
• Portland State has a total of 81 dunks this season in 30 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).
 
IF YOU BUILD IT: The crowd of 2,042 that attended the game against Montana (3/7) in the Viking Pavilion is the largest crowd of the season and second over the 2,000 mark. Portland State's home opener against UC Riverside had a crowd of 1,424. The largest recent crowd was a sellout of that 1,500 attended the Portland State/Oregon State game in the old Stott Center gym on Dec. 12, 2012... PSU is averaging 1,182 fans through 15 home games - the best regular season attendance since 2002-03.
 
Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in:
Rebounds Per Game  39.7
Offensive Rebounds   15.3
Rebounding Margin    +6.8
Steals                            8.4
Sal Nuhu, blocked shots      2.1
Holland Woods, assists (conference) 5.6