PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (3-3, 1-0) at WEBER STATE WILDCATS (7-0, 1-0)

Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT • Dee Events Center (11,500), Ogden, UT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: https://weberstatesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/media
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THIS WEEK'S VIKING PODCAST WITH JASE COBURN
 

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THE OPENING TIP

It may only be the first week of December, and extremely early in the Big Sky Conference season, but its not an exaggeration to say that Portland State will face one of its toughest games of the entire season on Saturday night at Weber State.
     
The Vikings (3-3, 1-0), 63-55 winners at Idaho State on Thursday night, will take on the undefeated Wildcats (7-0, 1-0) in a venue that has been the most difficult to win in throughout their Big Sky history. Saturday's game will be a 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT start at Dee Events Center in Ogden, UT. The game will air on ESPN+.
     
As challenging as that game will be, Portland State goes into it with some real positives on its side. First, the Vikings won their Big Sky opener at Idaho State - the first time a PSU team has ever won a Big Sky opener that was played on the road (1-8) since joining the league in 1996-97. PSU did so with solid defense and rebounding and was never seriously threatened in the final minutes of the game. Second, despite PSU being only 4-25 all-time in Big Sky games at Weber State, the Vikings have won in their last two trips to Ogden. With Thursday's win, PSU now has a chance to sweep the ISU/WSU road trip for only the third time in 26 seasons as a Big Sky member (2005-06, 2018-19).
     
As mentioned, PSU's win at Idaho State came on the strength of rebounding (45-31 advantage) and defense (18 forced turnovers). Although the Vikings are still not shooting the ball to their liking (32%), they took the lead less than three minutes into the game and never trailed. SR F James Jean-Marie continued his dominant play with team-highs of 16 points (3-4 FG, 9-12 FT) and 10 rebounds. He had 10 and 8 in the second half. JR G Marlon Ruffin scored 10 points with a season-high nine rebounds. And, SR F Khalid Thomas had a strong all-around game with six points, five rebounds, two steals, two blocks and a plus/minus of +10 - the best of anyone in the game. Finally, PSU's bench was impactful, out-scoring ISU's 24-6 and grabbing 15 rebounds. SR G Ezekiel Alley had nine points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals to lead that group.
     
PSU goes into Saturday's game leading the Big Sky in steals (10.3) and blocked shots (4.0) and has a +5.7 rebounding margin. Jean-Marie, with five double-doubles, leads the Big Sky in rebounding (11.0). Thomas leads the Big Sky in steals (2.3).
     
The Vikings will need their defensive and rebounding presence when they take on the Wildcats. Weber State averages 79.7 points per game and shoots .510 from the field. WSU opened Big Sky play with a beat down of Northern Arizona, 67-44, on Thursday, extending its perfect season to 7-0.
     
The Wildcats have also been a strong defensive unit, allowing opponents a Big Sky-low 62.6 points on .399 shooting from the field and forcing 18.6 turnovers per game.
 

PORTLAND STATE AND THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE

Portland State begins its 26th campaign in the Big Sky Conference this week. PSU joined the league in 1996-97, reinstating a once-dormant (for 15 seasons) basketball program.
     
The Vikings have won Big Sky Conference regular season titles in 2004-05 and 2007-08. They won Big Sky Tournament titles in 2007-08 and 2008-09, advancing to the NCAA Tournament each season. Since then, PSU's best finish in the Big Sky has been third place.
     
After Thursday's win, Portland State is 203-210 all-time in Big Sky Conference games, 215-225 including Big Sky Tournament games. PSU is 140-72 in home games, 69-141 in road games and 6-12 in neutral-site games.
     
First-year Head Coach Jase Coburn, hired last April, is PSU's seventh Head Coach in the Big Sky era and 14th all-time in its 61st competitive season.
     
The Vikings were picked to place seventh in the Big Sky Conference in the preseason coaches poll, eighth in the preseason media poll.
 

COMING UP

The Big Sky Conference schedule will take a three-week pause for more non-conference games following Saturday's game. Big Sky play restarts on Dec. 30 when the Vikings host Eastern Washington.
     
In the meantime, PSU is home to host Cal Poly on Dec. 11, travels to CSUN on Dec. 18, then Utah State on Dec. 21 to round out the non-conference schedule.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. WEBER STATE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Weber State leads the all-time series 42-17 and the Big Sky Conference series, 38-17... last season, due to a COVID-adjusted schedule, both games were played at Viking Pavilion and the teams split the series... Weber State leads the Big Sky series 25-4 in Ogden, however the Vikings have won the last two times they have played in Ogden (89-83, Feb. 29, 2020; 76-75, Jan. 31, 2019).
• LAST SEASON: Dec. 18 at Viking Pavilion: WSU 94, PSU 66: The Vikings dropped their Big Sky Conference opener by a surprisingly large margin to an efficient Weber State team, 94-66. Weber State was on the Vikings from the jump, racing to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes, then 20-7 after eight minutes. The Vikings just didn't have answer.... Portland State was out-shot (.484/.526/.786 to .328/.241/.708) and out-rebounded (46-34) handily by the Wildcats. And even though PSU was able to force 17 turnovers with its trademark full-court pressure, the Wildcats turned the Vikings over 19 times... Weber State's backcourt combined for 53 points. Zahir Porter led the way for the Wildcats with 24 points. Isiah Brown added 18 points and four assists, and Seikou Sisoho Jawara went for 11 points and four assists... James Scott had 16 points to pace the Vikings, hitting 7-13 from the field. He added five rebounds and two steals. Khalid Thomas scored 12 points on 5-6 from the field and 2-2 from three-point range. Dec. 20 at Viking Pavilion: PSU 74, WSU 72: PSU held off a second-half rush by Weber State to pull out a 74-72 win. The Vikings flipped the script from a poor performance on Friday night to come back and dominate the first 30 minutes of this game. Behind 20 first-half points from senior guard James Scott and some patented "Peery Pressure" on defense, the Vikings jumped to a double-digit lead and were up 42-30 at intermission. PSU forced the Wildcats into 12 first-half turnovers and out-rebounded them 24-15 to build the lead. When the second half started the Vikings went ahead by as many as 17 on two occasions. But Weber State held the Vikings scoreless for over six minutes, putting on a 15-0 run, and led 67-62 with 7:04 to play. Portland State trimmed it back to a two-point deficit, 72-70, at the 2:13 mark when senior forward Khalid Thomas hit a contested three-pointer. PSU prevented the Wildcats from scoring the rest of the way on four missed shots. Two big plays sealed the win for the Vikings. First, Scott worked his way into the lane in the final minute. He knocked down a short turnaround jumper and drew a foul with 31 seconds left. His made free throw gave PSU the lead back for the first time in eight minutes of action at 73-72. After a Weber State timeout, the Wildcats worked a play that found center Cody Carlson underneath. But senior forward John Hall blocked his attempt at the rim... Scott had a big game all around for the Vikings, scoring 26 points on 9-17 from the field, 3-5 from three-point range and 5-8 at the line. He also had team-highs of six rebounds, six steals and three assists. Thomas was clutch as well with 20 points on 7-14 from the field, 3-6 from distance and 3-5 at the line. He also had six rebounds and made the big three-pointer with just over two minutes left... Weber State had five players score in double figures, led by 15 from Isiah Brown.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his first season as Head Coach. He has spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Wildcats are coached by Randy Rahe (Buena Vista, 1982) in his 16th season. Rahe has a 302-179 record at Weber State. He is 22-10 all-time against the Vikings... Rahe has won five Big Sky regular season titles and three tournament titles.

 

SCOUTING WEBER STATE

• Weber State University is an original member of the Big Sky Conference. The Wildcats have won 22 Big Sky regular season titles, 10 Big Sky tournament titles and made 16 appearances all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Wildcats were 17-6 last season, 12-3 and third place in the Big Sky Conference. Four starters and nine letterwinners return from that team.
• Weber State has been the dominant program in the Big Sky so far this season at 7-0/1-0. The Wildcats rank second in scoring (79.7), and lead the league in scoring defense (62.6), scoring margin (17.1), field goal percentage (.510) and turnover margin (+5.9).
• The Wildcats don't have any individual leaders in the Big Sky, but several impressive performers. Senior guard Koby McEwen is averaging a team-best 17.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and shoots .415 from three-point range. Freshman forward Dillon Jones averages 13.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.8 steals and shoots .625 from the field. Sophomore guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara averages 12.9 points, 3.8 assists, 1.8 steals and shoots .500 from the field. Senior forward JJ Overton averages 12.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.1 blocks and shoots .588 from the field.

 

THE NEW-LOOK VIKINGS

Portland State was guaranteed to look different in 2021-22 as Jase Coburn has taken over as the Vikings' new Head Coach. Through the first six games, PSU has looked quite a bit different on the court. Although the Vikings have eight returners and seven newcomers, only one returning player has been in the starting lineup.
     
SR F Khalid Thomas has started all six averaging 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and a Big Sky-leading 2.3 steals.
     
Newcomers in the starting lineup have included: JR Gs Mikal Starks (3.5 ppg, 1.7 apg), Michael Carter III (7.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.5 apg) and Marlon Ruffin (12.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg), and SR F James Jean-Marie (13.8 ppg, Big Sky-leading 11.0 rpg). Jean-Marie opened the season with four straight double-doubles, and now has five. Ruffin has scored in double figures in five of six games.
     
Off the bench, JR G Ian Burke (5.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .579 FG%), SR G Ezekiel Alley (6.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.7 apg), SO F Jacob Eyman  (2.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, .700 FG%) and FR G Paris Dawson (6.8 ppg, .944 FT%) have all played big minutes.
     
The Vikings also expect JR G Damion Squire to play a big role once he is healthy and on the floor.
 

WHO IS HOT

• It's only one game, but it's always a big deal... first-year Head Coach Jase Coburn won his first-ever Big Sky Conference game in the big chair... also, PSU won a Big Sky Conference season opener on the road for the first time ever since joining the league in 1996-97 (1-8). The Vikings have had more home games as Big Sky openers and are 11-6 in those contests.
• The Vikings have beaten Idaho State in five of their last six meetings and eight of the last 10.
• SR F James Jean-Marie had four straight double-doubles to open the season and now has five in six games. He is the first Viking with four straight double-doubles in PSU's Big Sky Conference era (1996-present)... Jean-Marie now has six games of double-figure rebounds and leads the Big Sky with 11.0 per game. He led the Vikings with 16 points (3-4 FG, 9-12 FT) and 10 rebounds in the win at Idaho State.
• JR G Marlon Ruffin matched his season-high with 18 points (7-14 FG, 3-4 FT) at Iowa. He followed that with a season-high nine rebounds at Idaho State... Ruffin has five games in double figures this season.
• FR G Paris Dawson is 17-18 at the line this season (.944).
• SR F Khalid Thomas leads the Big Sky in steals (2.3).
• The Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage defense (.386), steals (10.3) and blocked shots (4.0)... the Vikings are currently 19th in the nation in steals per game.