PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (17-14, 11-8) vs. SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (15-13, 8-11)
Saturday, March 7, 2020, 7:05 p.m. • Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
Live Stream: Pluto TV Channel 532, pluto.tv, WatchBigSky.com • Play-by-play: Matt Richert • Analyst: Devon Pouncey
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP

All the questions have been answered except one as the Portland State Vikings have the Big Sky Conference Tournament just ahead of them. The Vikings defeated Northern Arizona on Thursday night, 80-66, to secure the number-four seed in the tournament and a first-round bye. The only thing left to do is pick up a Senior Night win on Saturday against Sacramento State and extend their winning streak to six games.
     
PSU (17-14, 11-8) has won five in a row and is playing its best basketball of the season in recent weeks. The Vikings are 7-2 in the second half of their Big Sky schedule, and would like to avenge a loss to the Hornets (15-13, 8-11) earlier this season in Sacramento.           
     
Sacramento State comes into Saturday night's game with one week's rest since its last game. The Hornets are currently in a three-way tie for a seventh place and would like a win to secure a seven-seed in the tournament. Sacramento State is 4-9 on the road this season.
     
It will be a contrast in styles between the teams as PSU has proven to have a high-powered offense, averaging 78.8 points and scoring 80 or more in the last seven games. PSU's late-season renaissance has been led by a more efficient offense which is often been ignited by a turnover-creating defense. Meanwhile, the Hornets feature a half-court game that has held opponents to a Big Sky-low 59.3 points per outing. Sacramento State's strength has been holding opponents to .418 shooting then out-rebounding them by nearly four per game.
     
Portland State has momentum on its side with five straight wins and a 10-3 home record. The Viking program now seeks a six-game winning streak for the first time since Feb. 19-Mar. 11, 2009.
     
Thursday's victory over NAU was a solid all-around performance for the Vikings. They shot well (.492/.833), out-rebounded the Lumberjacks and forced 17 turnovers for 28 points. SR G Matt Hauser led the way with 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
     
Saturday's game tips off at 7:05 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. The game will be live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 532, www.pluto.tv and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live statistics can be found at www.ViksLive.com. A pre-game ceremony will honor the Vikings' six seniors: Matt Hauser, Sal Nuhu, Alonzo Walker, Lamar Hamrick, Rashaad Goolsby and Markus Golder.
 

THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

The Big Sky Conference Tournament takes place Mar. 11-14 at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, ID. First-round games are on Wednesday, March 11.
     
Portland State earned the number-four seed and a first-round bye with a win over Northern Arizona on Thursday. The Vikings will face Montana State in a quarterfinal game on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. MT.  The winner advances to a semifinal game on Friday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
     
PSU swept the season series over the Bobcats, 77-76 in Bozeman and 87-77 in Portland. The Vikings are 4-0 all-time in Big Sky Tournament games against MSU. The last tournament game between the schools came in 2012.
     
Only three seeds have been determined heading into Saturday's final Big Sky games.
 

Big Sky Conference Standings

• 1. Eastern Washington, 15-4
• T2. Northern Colorado, 14-5
• T2. Montana, 14-5
• 4. Portland State, 11-8
• 5. Montana State, 10-9
• 6. Northern Arizona, 10-10
• T7. Sacramento State, 8-11
• T7. Southern Utah, 8-11
• T7. Weber State, 8-11
• 10. Idaho State, 4-15
• 11. Idaho, 3-16

 

2020 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship Schedule

 

Wednesday, March 11, 2020, live streamed on Pluto TV, WatchBigSky.com

• Game 1 – No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed, 9:30 a.m. MT   
• Game 2 – No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed, approx. Noon MT
• Game 3 – No. 6 Northern Arizona vs. No. 11 Seed, approx. 2:30 p.m. MT

 

Thursday, March 12, 2020, live streamed on Pluto TV, WatchBigSky.com

• Game 4 – No. 1 Seed vs. Game 1 Winner, Noon MT  
• Game 5 – No. 4 Portland State vs. No. 5 Montana State, approx. 2:30 p.m. MT
• Game 6 – No. 2 Seed vs. Game 2 Winner, approx. 5:30 p.m. MT
• Game 7 – No. 3 Seed vs. Game 3 Winner, approx. 8 p.m. MT

 

Friday, March 13, 2020, televised on Eleven Sports, live streamed on Pluto TV

• Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (Semifinals), 5:30 p.m. MT
• Game 9 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner (Semifinals), approx. 8 p.m. MT

 

Saturday, March 14, 2020, televised on ESPNU

• Game 10 – Championship Game, 6 p.m. MT

 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SACRAMENTO STATE

• THE SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 31-20, and the Big Sky Conference series, 30-19... PSU leads the Big Sky series 19-4 in Portland... with a win on Jan 26, Sacramento State has won five of the last seven meetings overall.
• Jan. 26, 2020 at Sacramento, Sacramento State 66, PSU 55: Sacramento State's top-ranked defense made the difference in this game. PSU shot a respectable .463 from the field to only .328 for Sacramento State. So how did the Vikings lose by 11 points? The Hornets got 20 more shot attempts from the field, due in large part to forcing a season-high 25 Viking turnovers. Sacramento State scored 25 points off those turnovers. The Hornets made 14 steals in the game and out-rebounded the Vikings, 35-32. And, while holding the lead down the stretch, the Hornets made 13-14 second-half free throws, 23-27 for the game (.852)... Sal Nuhu led the Vikings with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots... Ethan Esposito scored 22 points in leading four Hornets in double figures...  the 55 points scored were the fewest by the Vikings in four seasons.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Barret Peery (Southern Utah, 1996) is in his third season on the Park Blocks and has a 53-44 career record. Peery is 2-4 all-time against Sacramento State... 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)... Brian Katz (Sacramento State, 1980) is in his 12th year leading the Hornets. He has a 141-219 career record. Katz is 11-14 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 title or appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
• Sacramento State was 15-16 last season, 8-12 and tied for eighth in the Big Sky Conference. Center Joshua Patton was a third team All-Big Sky Conference selection.
• This season, Sacramento State is 15-13 overall, 8-11 and tied for seventh in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets average 62.9 points per game and allow 59.3 points. They hold opponents to .418 shooting and out-rebound opponents by 3.9 per game.
• Senior center Joshua Patton leads the team in scoring (13.1), rebounding (5.6) and blocked shots (53). He shoots .570 from the field. He ranks second in the Big Sky in blocks (1.9).
• Senior guard Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa averages 10.1 points and 1.8 steals per game. He has made a team-high 53 three-point field goals.
• Junior forward Bryce Fowler averages 9.4 points and a team-leading 3.4 assists per game.

 

WINNING LINES

• Portland State is 17-14 on the season, 10-3 at home, 6-11 on the road and 1-0 in neutral site games.
• The Vikings have won a season-best five games in a row.
• PSU has won its last three home games.
• The Vikings have won their last three road games.
• With 17 wins, PSU has double-digit wins in 16 of the last 17 seasons... the Vikings have won at least 16 for the third straight year... 17 wins ties for sixth-most in 24 seasons as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
• Last season, PSU was 16-15 after 31 games.
• Home Court(s)
  • Portland State opened the Viking Pavilion at the Peter W. Stott Center in 2018-19. The Stoller Family Court is PSU's fifth home court since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. Previously, 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 - 29 games, 22-7, .759
    • Peter W. Stott Center - 233 games, 168-65, .721
    • Rose Garden (Moda Center) - 28 games, 19-9, .679
    • Memorial Coliseum - 19 games, 13-6, .684
    • Lewis and Clark (2017-18) - 12 games, 7-5, .583
    • 24th season - 321 games, 229-92 at home overall, .713

 

WHO IS HOT

• PSU OFFENSE: Portland State has been shooting and scoring at its best rate of the season. The Vikings have scored 80 or more points in seven straight and nine of the last 10 games. They have averaged 87.0 points during the five-game winning streak. PSU had its best shooting percentage of the season (32-56, .571) in the win at Northern Colorado (2/10), and is shooting .502 over the last seven games... PSU is 55-65 at the free throw line in the last four games (.846).
• PSU DEFENSE: The Vikings have forced 110 turnovers in the last six games (18.3), scoring 136 points off turnovers (22.7)... they have 62 steals in those games (10.3), including 18 by JR G Holland Woods (3.0).
• SR C Sal Nuhu is shooting .554 from the field over the last seven games... he leads the Big Sky Conference with 2.3 blocked shots per game and has averaged 3.0 in the last six games.
• SR F Rashaad Goolsby has made 36-58 from the field in the last 11 games (.621). He has also made his last 12 free throws in a row.
• SR G Matt Hauser had his seventh 20-point game of the season in the win over Northern Arizona with 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.