Game 1

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS vs. PORTLAND PILOTS

Friday, November 11, 2022, 7 p.m. • Chiles Center (4,852), Portland, OR
Television: KRCW (Portland)
Live Stream: www.WCCsports.com
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com

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Game 2

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS vs. SEATTLE REDHAWKS

Sunday, November 13, 2022, 3 p.m. • Redhawk Center (999), Seattle, WA
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
 
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP

The Portland State Vikings open their season in a rush beginning this Friday at the University of Portland with the first of four games over a span of nine days in three different cities.
     
The Vikings and Pilots will meet for the 11th straight season and play the 61st game in the all-time series at the Chiles Center. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on KRCW in Portland and via live stream at wccsports.com.
     
The Vikings open their second season under Head Coach Jase Coburn. He led his team to the Big Sky Tournament semifinals last year, compiling a 14-17 record overall and 10-10 mark in league play. Coburn brings back one starter and four letterwinners from that group. Ten newcomers dot the roster, including nine that have played Division I basketball.
     
How that group of 14 shakes out in the early-going will be a bit of a mystery. The Vikings have not played any traditional exhibition games for public consumption. They have competed in two NCAA-sanctioned closed-door scrimmages with other Division I programs. That should bring an air of "all new" to the Vikings in their opening week of play.
     
The University of Portland has games with Lewis and Clark and Florida A&M prior to facing the Vikings. Portland beat the Vikings, 69-54, last season at Viking Pavilion and has won three straight games in the series. UP was 19-15 last season, 7-7 in the West Coast Conference.
     
PSU turns around quickly for a Sunday afternoon game at Seattle University. The Vikings and Redhawks have not met in 11 seasons. Tip time for that game is 3 p.m. and it airs on ESPN+ from Redhawk Center on the campus of Seattle.
     
Seattle was 23-9 last season, 14-4 and winners of the Western Athletic Conference. The Redhawks will play UC San Diego and Puget Sound before facing the Vikings.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings open their home schedule on Wednesday, Nov. 16, hosting Evergreen State, then travel to play at Oregon State on Nov. 19. PSU competes in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament on Nov. 24-27 at the Moda Center, Memorial Coliseum and Chiles Center in Portland. The Vikings will play Gonzaga on Thanksgiving Night at 9:30 p.m.
     
Portland State plays only four non-conference home games, but due to the matchup at UP and the PKL will play eight non-conference games in the city of Portland.

 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. PORTLAND

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland leads the all-time series, 39-20. The Pilots lead the series 15-10 since Portland State resumed its program in 1996-97 and joined the Big Sky Conference (PSU did not have basketball from 1981-96)... PSU is 6-7 in home games against the Pilots and 4-8 in games played at the Chiles Center since '96-'97.
• PSU vs. UP LAST SEASON: Nov. 23 at Viking Pavilion: UP 69, PSU 54: The Pilots took advantage of a frosty shooting Portland State team, winning 69-54 at Viking Pavilion. The Pilots had four players in double figures and shot 30-69 (.435) from the field, which was more than enough as PSU could never get started offensively. PSU made only 23-73 (.315) in the game and was 2-23 from three-point range... Portland was led by 15 points and nine rebounds from Chris Austin. Tyler Robertson had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Moses Wood scored 10 points with 10 rebounds... James Jean-Marie led the way for PSU with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double. Ezekiel Alley came off the bench for 11 points and three assists.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE: Portland State is 41-78 all-time against the West Coast Conference... Portland is one of three WCC opponents this year (Gonzaga, Santa Clara).
• HE "JUMPED SHIP": FR F Hayden Curtiss "jumped ship" from a Pilot boat to a Viking ship in '21-'22. He averaged 3.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and had 11 blocked shots in 17 games for the Vikings. A broken finger had him out for six weeks. He will play at the Chiles Center for the first time since being a member of that program in 2020-21.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and is 14-17 overall. Coburn is 0-1 against Portland. He spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Pilots are coached by Shantay Legans (Fresno State, 2004) in his second season. Legans is 19-15 at Portland and 94-64 in five seasons as a collegiate head coach. He was 5-2 against the Vikings while coaching the Pilots and Eastern Washington.

 

SCOUTING PORTLAND

• The University of Portland is a member of the West Coast Conference. The Pilots were 19-15 last season, 7-7 and sixth in the WCC.
• Top returners for the Pilots include forward Tyler Robertson (15.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.4 apg)  and guard Chris Austin (14.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and forward Moses Wood (14.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 69 3-pt FG).

 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SEATTLE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: The all-time series is tied 8-8 though the teams have not met since the 2010-11 season... PSU is 1-7 all-time in games hosted by Seattle... PSU is 4-2 against Seattle during its Big Sky era. All six games were played between 2008 and 2011.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE WEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: Portland State is 17-14 all-time against current members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Vikings also play at California Baptist of the WAC on Dec. 22.
• PARIS IN SEATTLE: Former Portland State Viking Paris Dawson is now a member of the Seattle Redhawks. Dawson entered the transfer portal in the off-season. While a Viking, Dawson played in 50 games for the Vikings, averaging 6.7 points per game.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and is 14-17 overall. Coburn has never faced Seattle. He spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Redhawks are coached by Chris Victor (Concordia, 2004) in his second season. Victor is 23-9 with Seattle, 126-48 in six seasons of collegiate coaching.

 

SCOUTING SEATTLE

• Seattle University is a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Redhawks were 23-9 last season, 14-4 in the WAC and league champions. They lost in their first game of the WAC tournament to Abilene Christian.
• The Redhawks return four starters and nine letterwinners from last season's 23-win team. Top returners include guard Cameron Tyson (14.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 105 3-pt FG) and forward Riley Grigsby (12.8 ppg).

 

FAST BREAKS

• Jase Coburn begins his second season as Head Coach of the Portland State Vikings. He was named Portland State's new head basketball coach on April 16, 2021. He is the 14th men's basketball coach in Portland State history and the seventh since PSU joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.  Coburn was 14-17 in his first season at the helm, including 10-10 and seventh place in the Big Sky Conference.
• Portland State has four returning players and 10 newcomers on its roster for 2022-23. Big men Jacob Eyman (JR, 6-10), Hayden Curtiss (SO, 6-11) and Trey Wood (JR, 6-8) are all back and provide the size the Vikings will need inside. Also returning is point guard Mikal Starks (SR, 6-1), a ball-handler and defensive specialist for the Vikings. Starks started 20 games in the 2021-22 season... Wood suffered an off-season shoulder injury and will miss the early part of the season.
• Among PSU's 10 newcomers are seven Division I transfers, one junior college transfer, one freshman and one walk-on.
• Portland State has 618 games of Division I experience among its 14 players: Cameron Parker (109 games), Keshaun Saunders (90), Hunter Woods (84), Trey Wood (48), Kendall Munson (45), Mikal Starks (45), Jacob Eyman (41), Hayden Curtiss (38), Jorell Saterfield (33), Isaiah Johnson (32), Isiah Kirby (23), Bobby Harvey (23), Emmanuel Taban (7). The only player that has not played a Division I game is FR Cole Farrell.
• Cameron Parker (SR, 6-2) has four years of collegiate experience and has scored 895 points (8.2) and handed out 631 assists (5.8) in 109 career games. As a sophomore point guard at Sacred Heart he averaged 7.8 assists to rank fourth in the nation and handed off an NCAA-record 24 assists in one game... Parker led the Big Sky Conference in assists the last two seasons while playing at Montana... a native of Beaverton and Jesuit High School, Parker has come home for his final year of eligibility.
• Perimeter players Bobby Harvey (SR, 6-4, IUPUI), Isiah Kirby (JR, 6-4, Tallahassee CC), Jorell Saterfield (JR, 6-4, UTEP), Hunter Woods (JR, 6-6, Elon) and Keshaun Saunders (JR, 6-5, Toledo) are all experienced Division I players. Though Kirby is a JC transfer, he spent a season at SE Louisiana where he started all 23 games... Harvey played for current Portland State assistant Matt Dunn at IUPUI... after Parker, Saunders is the most experienced Division I player, having competed in 90 games at Toledo. He was a member of the MAC All-Freshman team in 2019-20 and has made 88 three-pointers in his career, hitting at a .373 clip... Woods has a wealth of Division I experience as well, having competed in 84 games with 56 starts at Elon. He averaged 8.0 points and 5.9 rebounds over that span, making 110 three-point field goals. Woods made the CAA All-Rookie team in 2019-20 averaging 10.1 points and 6.6 rebounds... speaking of three pointers, Saterfield shot .434 from distance last season at UTEP... also a perimeter player, Cole Farrell (FR, 6-5) comes from TLAP Sports Academy in Florida after graduating Hamilton Heights (TN) High School... Kendall Munson (SO, 6-8, Pepperdine) and Isaiah Johnson (JR, 6-6, Oregon State) bolster the Vikings' inside game. Emmanuel Taban (JR, 6-7) has walked on to the program. He played briefly at Cal State Fullerton in 2019-20.
• Portland State Basketball plays home games in the Viking Pavilion at the Peter W. Stott Center on the PSU campus. The Viking Pavilion opened in 2018-19 and at just over 3,000 seats provides one of the best and most attractive facilities in the Big Sky Conference and on the west coast.

 

THE 2022-23 SCHEDULE

Portland State has 13 home games, 15 road games and three neutral site games during the 2022-23 season. Although the Vikings play only four non-conference home games, they will have eight games in the city of Portland during the months of November and December. The non-conference schedule is highlighted by Phil Knight Legacy Tournament during Thanksgiving weekend.
     
PSU opens at University of Portland on Nov. 11, followed by a quick trip to Seattle University on Nov. 13.
     
The Vikings host Evergreen State in a home opener on Nov. 16, then travel to Oregon State on Nov. 19.
     
The prestigious Phil Knight Legacy 2022 takes place at the Rose Quarter, Nov. 24-27. The Vikings open with Gonzaga on Thanksgiving night, then will play on Friday and Sunday. Other possible opponents include Purdue, West Virginia, Duke, Oregon State, Florida and Xavier.
     
The final month of non-conference games includes two at home against Portland Bible (Nov. 30) and Air Force (Dec. 3). The following week includes a trip to Cal Poly (Dec. 10) and Santa Clara (Dec. 13).
     
PSU comes home to host UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 17 and closes out non-conference play at California Baptist on Dec. 22.
     
The Big Sky Conference schedule is changed from previous seasons. Now a 10-team league, the schedule has moved to an 18-game double-round robin format. It had previously been 20 games, but Southern Utah has left the Big Sky to join the Western Athletic Conference.
     
League play now begins the week after Christmas with an almost exclusive Thursday-Saturday format. The only change is a season-finale Monday contest to accommodate an earlier start to the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
     
The Big Sky Tourney runs Mar. 4-8 at Boise's Idaho Central Arena. It will also have a change in format with first-round games (9 vs. 10 and 7 vs. 8) on Mar. 4. Games on Mar. 5 will include the top seed vs. the 9/10 winner and the number two seed vs. the 7/8 winner. On Mar. 6, games will feature 4 vs. 5 and 3 vs. 6. Winners of Mar. 5 and 6 games will meet in the semifinals on Mar. 7. The championship game takes place on Mar. 8.
 

PORTLAND STATE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE NOTES

• Portland State plays five of its first seven league games on the road. Eight of 12 games in the middle of the schedule will be at home, including a four-game home stand from Jan. 26-Feb. 4.
• All games played in the Phil Knight Legacy 2022 Tournament will take place at The Rose Quarter's Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and the Chiles Center at the University of Portland… The Phil Knight Invitational (PKI) will be running simultaneous to the Phil Knight Legacy 2022 at the same venues. That tournament includes Alabama, Iowa State, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oregon, Portland, UConn and Villanova.
• PSU faces three West Coast Conference opponents, two Western Athletic Conference opponents, two Big West opponents, one Pac-12 opponent and one Mountain West opponent, with two others to be determined in the non-conference schedule.
• All home games and Big Sky road games are live streamed on ESPN+. The Phil Knight Legacy Tournament will air on ESPN Networks.

 

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHING WINS, BIG SKY ERA

First-year Head Coach Jase Coburn was 14-17 with the Vikings in 2021-22. That ranked third in wins and percentage among the seven head coaches the Vikings have had in the Big Sky Conference era (1996 to present).
 
2017-18: Barret Peery, 20-14
1998-99: Joel Sobotka, 17-11
2021-22: Jase Coburn, 14-17
2009-10: Tyler Geving, 13-19
2005-06: Ken Bone, 12-16
1996-97: Ritchie McKay, 9-17
2002-03: Heath Schroyer, 5-22