2022 Phil Knight Legacy Tournament, 1st Round

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (2-2) vs. #2 GONZAGA BULLDOGS (3-1)

Thursday, November 24, 2022, 9:30 p.m. • Memorial Coliseum (12,240), Portland, OR
Television: ESPN • Play-by-play: Dan Shulman • Analyst: Jay Bilas
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP

For the second time in five years Portland State Basketball will take part in one of the biggest in-season college basketball tournaments in history. The Vikings are competing in the 2022 Phil Knight Legacy Tournament in the city of Portland over Thanksgiving Weekend. PSU was also a part of the PK80 Tournament back in 2017 which also featured several of the top programs in the nation.
     
PSU (2-2) takes on second-ranked Gonzaga (3-1) on Thanksgiving Night at 9:30 p.m. in the first round of the tournament. The game will be played at Memorial Coliseum. The following night the Vikings will meet either Purdue or West Virginia at either 7 or 9:30 p.m. based on the outcome of Thursday's game. Then, on Sunday, Nov. 27, PSU will face one of four potential opponents: Duke, Oregon State, Florida or Xavier. The venue could be Memorial Coliseum, Moda Center or the Chiles Center on the University of Portland campus.
     
PSU has never played Purdue, West Virginia or Florida, has played Duke twice (once at the PK80 Tournament) and Xavier once (in the 2009 NCAA Tournament).
     
PSU's appearance in the PK80 Tournament, a forerunner to this year's Phil Knight Legacy Tournament, ended in a 1-2 record. The Vikings put up a game challenge before losing to #1 Duke on Thanksgiving that year. The Vikings led 49-45 at halftime and had a lead as late as 14 minutes remaining but eventually lost 99-81. On the following day, the Vikings had a potential game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer against Butler, but missed and lost 71-69. PSU took down Stanford, 87-78, in the finale of the weekend event.
     
With Gonzaga leading off as the Vikings' opponent this year, followed by the other six potential opponents, the competition will look similar to 2017.
     
Portland State comes into the tournament with a 2-2 record following a big 79-66 win at Oregon State on Saturday night. It marked the first time PSU has ever beaten Oregon State following a series of closely-contested losses. PSU got a career-high 26 points from JR G Jorell Saterfield and 19 points off the bench from JR F Hunter Woods.
     
Saterfield leads the Vikings going into this week's play with 17.5 points per game and 6.0 rebounds. Woods is the team's top rebounder at 7.5 per game to go with 12.5 points. SR G Cameron Parker averages 14.0 points and a Big Sky-leading 5.5 assists per game.
     
Gonzaga has had a rugged schedule that has included Michigan State, Texas and Kentucky already. The Bulldogs have won three of four games and are once again considered a top contender for a national championship. SR F Drew Timme is one of the top players in the nation, averaging 21.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and shooting .625 from the field.
     
Although both schools are located in the Pacific Northwest, Portland State and Gonzaga have not met for a game since Dec. 23, 2008. Gonzaga leads the all-time series 19-7, but PSU pulled off an upset that night in Spokane, 77-70, over the then-seventh-ranked Bulldogs.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings' next home games are Nov. 30 vs. Portland Bible (7 p.m.), then Dec. 3 against Air Force (1 p.m.).
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. GONZAGA

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Gonzaga leads the all-time series with Portland State 19-7. PSU is 3-5 at home against the Bulldogs, 3-14 on the road, and 1-0 in neutral site contests... since the Vikings reinstated basketball in 1996-97 and joined the Big Sky Conference, they are 1-5 against the Bulldogs.
• PSU vs. GONZAGA, LAST MEETING: Dec. 23, 2008 at Gonzaga, PSU 77, Gonzaga 70: Portland State had not beaten a Top 25 team since reinstating its basketball program in 1996-97, and there weren't many signs the Vikings figured to do it against No. 7 Gonzaga. They barely made it to the game because of winter weather. They had lost 10 straight to the Zags and two of their past three overall. But Jeremiah Dominguez scored 25 points and the Vikings made 12 3-pointers to beat the Zags 77-70.... Dominguez was 7-of-10 on 3-pointers, and the Vikings made 12-of-31 as a team. Phil Nelson and Dominic Waters added 16 points for Portland State (9-3)... The Vikings, the defending Big Sky Conference champions, outrebounded the taller Zags 39-30, held them to 42 percent shooting and forced them into 11 turnovers... Gonzaga was led by Matt Bouldin who had 18 points and Josh Heytvelt added 13 for the Zags... This game was almost called off because an epic snowstorm snarled travel throughout the Northwest. With flight cancellations and highway closures, Portland State took a roundabout route to Spokane. They bused to Seattle, overnighting in the suburbs. Then they bused across the state and arrived in Spokane about 3 1/2 hours before game time. They did not have time for a practice shootaround, but still ended up shooting 45.9 percent.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE: Portland State is 41-79 all-time against the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga is one of three WCC opponents this year (Gonzaga, Santa Clara).
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and is 16-19 overall. Coburn has never faced Gonzaga. He spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Bulldogs are coached by Mark Few (Oregon, 1987) in his 24th season. Few has a 660-130 record overall. He is 5-1 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING GONZAGA

• Gonzaga is a member of the West Coast Conference located in Spokane, WA.
• The Bulldogs were 28-4 last season, 13-1 and winners of the WCC. They reached the NCAA Sweet 16 last season before losing to Arkansas. Gonzaga returns three starters and nine letterwinners from that team.
• SR F Drew Timme is the leader of the Bulldogs, averaging 21.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and shooting .625 from the field.
• JR G Julian Strawther is averaging 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.
• The Bulldogs shoot .535 as a team and have held opponents to .419 shooting. They also out-rebound opponents by 8.5 per game.

 
OTHER POTENTIAL OPPONENTS FOR THE VIKINGS AT PKL
Round two
Purdue - Never met
West Virginia - Never met
 
Round three
Duke - Duke leads the series, 2-0 (Dec. 30, 1997, #2 Duke 89, PSU 39 in Durham, NC; Nov. 23, 2017,
  #1 Duke 99, PSU 81 in Portland (PK80 Tournament))
Oregon State - OSU leads the series, 16-1 (PSU 79, OSU 66, Nov. 19 in Corvallis)
Florida - Never met
Xavier - Xavier leads the series, 1-0 (Mar. 20, 2009, XU 77-59, NCAA First Round)
 

VIKINGS VS. NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAMS

As a member of the Big Sky Conference, Portland State does not often face nationally-ranked teams. Since PSU reinstated basketball in 1996-97 and joined the Big Sky, the Vikings have played 19 nationally-ranked opponents, going 2-17. One of those wins was a 77-70 victory over #7 Gonzaga on Dec. 23, 2008 in Spokane. The other was an 86-82 win over #25 Portland on Dec. 2, 2009.
     
Portland State is 1-3 all-time against Gonzaga as a nationally-ranked opponent.
     
PSU has twice played Duke as a nationally-ranked opponent (#2 and #1), losing both times, and once played Xavier as a nationally-ranked opponent (#20) losing in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
 

ABOUT THAT WIN OVER OREGON STATE

Portland State comes off one of its better wins in some time with a 79-66 victory at Oregon State last Saturday. Prior to that game, Portland State had never beaten Oregon State, but had been painfully close many times - especially last season when the Vikings led by double digits in the second half. In the previous eight meetings, dating to 1997, seven had been decided by single digits with one outlier blowout in 2011. The other seven games, starting from last season going backward, were decided by 9, 5, 6, 5, 3, 5, and 4. Oregon State won the game in 2002 on a Brian Jackson three-pointer at the buzzer from 35 feet. The Vikings led that one by nine at halftime.
     
So, the win at Oregon State was PSU's version of the "Dam Breaking" against the Beavers. Portland State is 8-58 all-time against current members of the Pac-12 Conference. PSU has wins over Oregon (2), Arizona State (2), USC (1), Stanford (1), Cal (1) and Oregon State (1) in its history - all coming during PSU's Big Sky Conference era (8-44).

 
WHO IS HOT

• JR G Jorell Saterfield posted his second career high of the season with 26 points (8-17 FG, 4-9 3-pt FG, 6-6 FT) in the win at Oregon State. He had previously set a collegiate career high with 19 points (5-16 FG, 3-7 3-pt, 6-8 FT) and five rebounds at Seattle. He set a new collegiate high for rebounds against Evergreen with 10... Saterfield leads the Vikings in scoring at 17.5 points per game and ranks third in the Big Sky Conference.
• SR G Cameron Parker matched his collegiate career high with 23 points (8-13 FG, 2-5 3pt, 5-7 FT) and six assists at Portland. Parker had previously scored 23 points in a game for Sacred Heart in 2019... Parker is shooting .600 from the field and averaging 14.0 points and a Big Sky Conference-leading 5.5 assists... he also leads in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.75).
• JR F Hunter Woods had a season-high 19 points (7-12 FG, 3-7 3-pt, 2-2 FT) in the win at Oregon State... he opened his PSU career with a double-double at Portland (11 pts, 14 reb, 3 ast, 3 st, 2 blk)... Woods leads the team in rebounding at 7.5 per game and steals at 2.3... he ranks sixth in the Big Sky in rebounding and leads in steals.
• JR G Isiah Kirby was an impact player in the first four games, scoring 50 points in 61 minutes. He is the team's third-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game while coming off the bench... Kirby shoots .512 from the field which ranks third in the Big Sky Conference.
• SO Fs Hayden Curtiss (6-8, .750) and Isaiah Johnson (9-13, .692) leads the Vikings in shooting.

 

IT'S NOT WHO STARTS...

Portland State has played all 13 players in the first four games of the season. Starters have logged 459 minutes and reserves have logged 341 minutes. Remarkably, in those minutes, the bench has outscored the starters, 184-170.

• It has been consistent over four games: UP (starters 49/bench 42), SU (37/32), TESC (47/66), OSU (37/42).
• Bench players (69-135, .511) have out-shot the starters (55-144, .382) from the field.