PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (5-7) at CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS (8-4)

Thursday, December 22, 2022, 7 p.m. • CBU Events Center (5,000), Riverside, CA
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP

Portland State will finish out what can only be described as a formidable non-conference schedule this Thursday night when the Vikings play at California Baptist. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
     
The Vikings (5-7) will be playing their 13th game, the ninth of which is away from home. Currently, they are in a stretch of six out of seven games on the road.
     
More significantly, the Lancers (8-4) represent yet another opponent with an impressive record. In fact, the Vikings have yet to play a Division I opponent this season with a sub-.500 record at the time of the game or currently. PSU's Division I opponents have a combined 72-33 record.
     
That stretch could possibly extend into Big Sky Conference play as Portland State's first league opponent, Sacramento State on Dec. 31, has a winning record (6-5) as of Dec. 19.
     
PSU will try to stop a three-game losing streak when it faces the Lancers. The Vikings are 1-4 in road games this season (1-2 in neutral site games). California Baptist is 6-1 at home and has won three straight games.
     
The Vikings will need to elevate their play to what allowed them to win five of the first nine games this season. During their three-game skid they have shot .394 from the field, .667 at the line and been out-rebounded by an average of 15.3 per game.
     
Portland State has faced a string of opponents in Air Force, Cal Poly, Santa Clara and UC Santa Barbara that are effective half-court and defensive teams. California Baptist is no different, giving up only 62.0 points per game and out-rebounding opponents by 5.9 per contest.
     
JR G Jorell Saterfield leads the Vikings in scoring this season at 16.1 per game. He is the Big Sky's leader in three-point field goals with 2.8 per game and comes off a 23-point performance (9-18 FG, 3-5 3-pt, 2-4 FT) against UC Santa Barbara. SR G Cameron Parker continues to lead the Big Sky in assists at 5.6 per game. He had 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists against the Gauchos last Saturday. JR F Hunter Woods leads the Vikings with 5.3 rebounds per game to go with a Big Sky-leading 2.0 steals and 10.5 points per game.
     

COMING UP

Big Sky Conference play begins Dec. 31 at Sacramento State (6-5). The Vikings play their first three Big Sky games on the road with games at Eastern Washington on Jan. 5 and Idaho on Jan. 7. Portland State has its Big Sky home opener on Jan. 12 against Northern Arizona.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State and California Baptist will meet for the first time ever on the basketball court.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. THE WEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: Portland State is 17-15 all-time against current members of the Western Athletic Conference. California Baptist is the second WAC opponent of the season. The Vikings lost a game earlier this season at Seattle, 83-71.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 19-24 record overall. He has never faced California Baptist. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Lancers are coached by Rick Croy (San Francisco State, 1999) in his 10th season. Croy has a 208-84 record and has never faced Portland State. 

 

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST

• California Baptist University is a member of the Western Athletic Conference located in Riverside, CA. CBU is in its fifth season as Division I and WAC member. The program has a winning record in each of its four previous D-1 seasons.
• The Lancers were 18-16 last season, 7-11 and ninth in the WAC.
• CBU is 8-4 this season, 6-1 at home and has won three in a row overall. The Lancers have one common opponent with Portland State. The Lancers lost a game at Cal Poly, 64-53. PSU also lost to Cal Poly... the Lancers have faced one Big Sky Conference team, beating Weber State, 64-52, at home.
• California Baptist has balanced scoring with sophomore guard Taran Armstrong leading the team with 11.1 points per game. Senior guard Joe Quintana averages 11.0 points. Sophomore forward Hunter Goodrick averages 9.8 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game. Seven-foot junior center Tim Ighoefe has blocked 31 shots and ranks eighth in the nation (2.8).

 

WHO IS HOT

• AND ONE: SR G Cameron Parker leads the team with an .848 free throw percentage this season. He ranks fourth in the nation in free throws made and 14th in free throw attempts (67-79).
• 4x20: JR G Jorell Saterfield had his fourth 20-point game of the season with 23 points against UC Santa Barbara (9-18 FG, 3-5 3-pt, 2-4 FT). Saterfield ranks seventh in the Big Sky in scoring at 16.1.
• POST PRESENCE: JR C Jacob Eyman is known more for his defense than his scoring but has made 7-10 field goals over the last two games averaging 8.0 points.
• THE BENCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season and averages 33.8 points per game off the bench... JR G Keshaun Saunders came off the bench for nine points against UC Santa Barbara (4-8 FG, 1-2 FT)... JR G Isiah Kirby is the leading scorer off the bench at 7.8 points... SO C Hayden Curtiss leads the team with a .667 field goal percentage off the bench (16-24) while Saunders is shooting .526  (20-38).
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in several categories. Individually, JR G Jorell Saterfield leads in three-point field goals made per game (2.8), JR F Hunter Woods leads in steals (2.0), SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (5.6)... as a team, the Vikings lead in turnover margin (+4.7), turnovers forced (17.9), and steals (8.50)... the Vikings are 19th in the nation in turnovers forced.

 

WHO IS NOT

• Portland State shoots .740 from the free throw line as a team which is good. However, it has dropped from a near 80% mark earlier this season. In the last three games - all losses - the Vikings have made only 44-66 (.667).
• PSU has been out-rebounded by 15.3 per game in its three-game losing streak.

 

THE COMPETITION IS STIFF

Portland State will play its 11th Division I opponent among 13 games this Thursday when it faces California Baptist. The Vikings have yet to face a D-1 team with a losing record at the time of the game OR currently, and only two of those games have come at home. Those teams currently have a combined 72-33 record. Here is how the opponents stack up:
 
11/11  at Portland (0-0, 19-15 in 2021-22, now 8-6)
11/13  at Seattle (2-0, now 8-2)
11/19  at Oregon State (3-0, now 6-6)
11/24  vs. Gonzaga (3-1, now 9-3)
11/25  vs. West Virginia (4-1, now 9-2)
11/27  vs. Oregon State (3-3, now 6-6)
12/3    Air Force (5-3, now 8-4)
12/10  at Cal Poly (4-3, now 5-5)
12/13  at Santa Clara (8-3, now 11-3)
12/17  UC Santa Barbara (7-2, now 8-2)
12/22  at California Baptist (8-4)
12/31  at Sacramento State (6-5)
 

RARIFIED AIR

SR G Cameron Parker passed 1,000 career points earlier this season. He is about to pass 700 career assists. It could make him the only active player at the Division I level with a 1,000-700 resume, though he is likely to be joined soon by Jalen Pickett of Penn State. Here is a list of active players approaching 1,000-700.


 

IT'S NOT WHO STARTS...

Portland State's bench has been very effective this season. Starters have logged 1,472 minutes and reserves have logged 928 minutes. Remarkably, in those minutes, the bench has kept a good scoring pace in relation to the starters, 560 to 405.

• The bench has outscored the starters on three occasions.
• Bench players (153-309, .497) have out-shot the starters (180-432, .417) from the field.

 

SHOOTING, SCORING... IT ALL MAKES SENSE

After 11 games this season...

• The Vikings are 5-0 when they shoot a higher percentage than their opponents. They are 0-6 when they do not, 0-1 when shooting even.
• The Vikings are 5-1 when they lead at halftime. They are 0-5 when trailing, 0-1 when the game is tied at halftime.