AIR FORCE ACADEMY (5-3) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (4-4)

Presented by Les Schwab
Saturday, December 3, 2022, 1 p.m. • Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
Television: KRCW
Live Stream: ESPN+ • 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

A contrast in styles will clash this Saturday at Viking Pavilion when the Portland State Vikings meet the Air Force Academy Falcons in a non-conference game.
     
An up-tempo, high-pressure Viking team (4-4) will be looking for its third straight win as it faces Air Force for the first time in 23 years. The more measured, half-court style of the Falcons (5-3), who are seeking a fifth straight victory, will put PSU to the test.
     
PSU has picked up a pair of wins over the past four days against teams at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Vikings beat Pac-12 Oregon State, 83-71, on Sunday night, then routed NCCAA Portland Bible, 114-31, on Wednesday. Now the Vikings will attempt to build on that momentum against Air Force of the Mountain West Conference. PSU has won seven straight home games dating to last season. An eighth in a row would be sweet as the Vikings play six of the next seven on the road going into January and Big Sky Conference play. The Vikings are 2-0 at home this season.
     
Wednesday night's win was expected, and relatively easy, as the Vikings jumped to a 38-0 lead, were up 63-9 at halftime, and rolled to a 114-31 victory. While the competition was slight, Portland State got extensive playing time for everyone on the roster. In fact, the bench played 122 of the 200 total team minutes, scoring 72 of the Vikings' 114 points.
     
Air Force has momentum as well, winning four straight, including a Wednesday night thumping of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 81-53. AFA defeated Montana on Sunday, 59-56, as part of its winning streak. After seven consecutive home games, the Falcons will be playing only their second road game of the season.
     
Portland State is now averaging 87.5 points per game and will need to be on offensively against Air Force, a defensive-minded team that has held opponents to 60.8 points per game, .391 shooting from the field and .253 shooting from three-point range.
     
Saturday's game, which is presented by Les Schwab, features a Teddy Bear Toss at halftime. PSU has partnered with Les Schwab on their holiday toy drive. Viking fans are encouraged to bring a teddy bear or stuffed animal to the game and participate in the halftime toss. All of the stuffed animals will be donated to Les Schwab's Toy Drive (https://www.lstoydrive.org/). Portland State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is partnering by hosting a holiday pre-game gathering and encouraging athletes to bring bears to donate.
     
The Vikings and Air Force tip off at 1 p.m. in Viking Pavilion. The game will be televised locally on KRCW and be live streamed on ESPN+. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 

COMING UP

After this week's games, the Vikings will have a week off from competition. They travel to Cal Poly for a Dec. 10 game, then play at Santa Clara on Dec. 13.
     
PSU is home on Dec. 17 against UC Santa Barbara, then wraps up non-conference play at California Baptist on Dec. 22.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. AIR FORCE ACADEMY

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 4-2, though the teams have not played since Dec. 11, 1999. The Vikings are 2-1 at home against Air Force... PSU is 2-0 against the Falcons during the Big Sky Conference era (1996 to present).
• PORTLAND STATE vs. MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE: Portland State is 23-54 all-time against current members of the Mountain West Conference. Air Force is the only MWC opponent this season... Head Coach Jase Coburn is 0-1 against the Mountain West, losing to Utah State last season, 81-62.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has an 18-21 record overall. He has never faced Air Force. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Falcons are coached by Joe Scott (Princeton, 1987), who is in his seventh season. Scott has a career record of 72-113.

 

SCOUTING AIR FORCE ACADEMY

• The Air Force Academy is a member of the Mountain West Conference located near Colorado Springs, CO.
• Air Force was 11-18 last season, including 4-13 and 10th place in the Mountain West. Three starters and 12 letterwinners return from that team.
• The Falcons are 5-3 this season and on a four-game winning streak. Among their wins is one over Big Sky foe Montana (59-56) at home, and among their losses is a 64-51 home loss to Portland.
• Freshman forward Corbin Green has been dominant for the Falcons, averaging 15.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 3.3 blocked shots and 2.3 steals per game. He is also shooting .697 from the field.
• Sophomore guard Jake Heidbreder is averaging 13.9 points and has made 19 three-point field goals. Senior guard Camden Vander Zwaag is averaging 10.8 points and has also hit 19 three-pointers.
• Sophomore guards Ethan Taylor and Jeffrey Mills each have 26 assists to lead the team.

 

WHO IS HOT

• FREE IS A GOOD PRICE: The Vikings are shooting .767 at the free throw line this season, easily a school-record pace. PSU shot 19-21 (.905) at Oregon State (11/19), then made 15-17 (.882) against Gonzaga (11/24)... SR G Cameron Parker made 13-13 at the line against West Virginia (11/25) - the fifth-most in school history without a miss. Parker shoots .868 at the line this season (33-38)... JR G Jorell Saterfield is shooting .917 (22-24) and leads the Big Sky Conference.
• THE BENCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season. They got a bench boost on Sunday against Oregon State from SR G Bobby Harvey (11 pts, 4-8 FG, 3-5 3-pt), JR G Keshaun Saunders (10 pts, 3-4 FG, 4-6 FT) and SO C Hayden Curtiss (6 pts, 3-6 FG, 4 reb, 1 blk)... the win over Portland Bible was another story altogether. PSU had 122 bench minutes, scoring 72 of the 114 total points. Harvey led the way with 18 points (7-12 FG, 4-8 3-pt), Curtiss had 14 points (6-8 FG, 2-3 3-pt) and six rebounds. JR Gs Emmanuel Taban (11 pts) and Isiah Kirby (10 pts) were also in double figures.
• HARVEY RESPONDS: After starting the first six games of the season, SR G Bobby Harvey has come off the bench the last two. Statistically, they have been his two best games. Harvey has scored 29 points in 32 minutes, hitting 11-20 field goals (.550) and 7-13 three-pointers (.538).
• CAREER HIGHS: JR C Jacob Eyman had career-highs of 11 rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes against Portland Bible... JR G Keshaun Saunders handed out a career-high 11 assists and made a career-high four steals... SO C Hayden Curtiss scored a career-high 14 points.
• SR G Cameron Parker averaged 15.3 points and 5.7 assists in three PKL Tournament games. He led the Vikings with 19 points against West Virginia (3-8 FG, 13-13 FT). Against Gonzaga he had 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-5 FT) and eight assists, then followed with 11 points (4-6 FG, 1-1 3-pt, 2-2 FT), six rebounds and six assists in the win over Oregon State... Parker matched his collegiate career high with 23 points (8-13 FG, 2-5 3pt, 5-7 FT) and six assists at Portland (11/11). Parker had previously scored 23 points in a game for Sacred Heart in 2019... Parker is shooting .585 from the field, .467 from three-point range and .868 at the free throw line. He averages 5.6 assists to lead the Big Sky Conference.
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in several categories. Individually, JR G Jorell Saterfield leads in free throw percentage (.917) and three-point field goals made per game (3.1), JR F Hunter Woods leads in steals (2.0), SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (5.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0). As a team, the Vikings lead in scoring (87.5), scoring margin (+15.0) three-point field goals made (10.0), rebounding margin (+5.1), turnover margin (+5.5), assists (16.6), steals (9.1) and blocked shots (3.25).

 

PARKER SHOOTS FOR 1,000

SR G Cameron Parker has had a long and successful collegiate career. He is on the cusp of a collegiate milestone: 1,000 career points. It is possible he will reach that standard in his hometown as he goes into Saturday's game needing just five more points for 1,000.
 
Parker's Career Points
2022-23: 102 in 7 games (Portland State)
2021-22: 291 in 32 games (Montana)
2020-21: 234 in 28 games (Montana)
2019-20: 179 in 18 games (Sacred Heart)
2018-19: 189 in 31 games (Sacred Heart)
Total: 995 points in 116 games
 

IT'S NOT WHO STARTS...

Portland State's bench has been very effective this season. Starters have logged 915 minutes and reserves have logged 685 minutes. Remarkably, in those minutes, the bench has scored almost has much as the starters, 365 to 335.

• The bench has outscored the starters on three occasions.
• Bench players (127-247, .514) have out-shot the starters (117-280, .418) from the field.

 

ABOUT THOSE WINS OVER OREGON STATE

Portland State earned one of its better wins in some time with a 79-66 victory at Oregon State on Nov. 19. Prior to that game, Portland State had never beaten Oregon State.
     
Well, once was not enough. The Vikings got a rematch against the Beavers in the 7th place game of the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament on Nov. 27. And, I'll be darned, the Vikings did it again. PSU led wire-to-wire in an 83-71 victory.
     
PSU is now 2-16 all-time against Oregon State after coming painfully close to beating the Beavers 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.
     
The two wins over the "Pac-12" mark the second time PSU has accomplished the feat in one season. The Vikings defeated Stanford and Cal in the 2017-18 season.
     
PSU is 9-58 all-time vs. the Pac-12 with wins over Oregon (2), Oregon State (2), Arizona State (2), USC (1), Stanford (1) and Cal (1) in its history - all coming during PSU's Big Sky Conference era (9-44).