WEBER STATE WILDCATS (19-9, 12-5) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (9-15, 7-9)

Thursday, February 24, 2022, 7 p.m. • Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
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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Game Presented by Les Schwab

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THE OPENING TIP

Portland State will try to extend its home court success and improve its positioning for the Big Sky Conference Tournament as it prepares for the final two games at Viking Pavilion this season. The Vikings (9-15, 7-9) host Weber State on Thursday and Idaho State on Saturday. The season concludes next week on the road at Idaho and Eastern Washington.
     
PSU has won three straight at home and five of seven games overall. Currently, the Vikings sit in seventh place in the Big Sky, one game behind sixth-place Eastern Washington (8-8). If the tournament began today, PSU (as the seventh seed) would take on 10th-seeded Idaho State. If the Vikings can climb to sixth place in the final two weeks of the season, they would get a first-round matchup with the 11th-seed (currently Sacramento State). Fifth-place is still attainable for the Vikings, but perhaps not likely as they are three games behind Montana (10-6). Fifth place gets a first-round bye and quarterfinal round matchup with a fourth-place team.
     
But the Vikings can't win their final four, or three, or even two games, without winning the first one. That opportunity comes at home against Weber State on Thursday. WSU has lost four of its last five games, but still holds on to second place in the Big Sky at 12-5 (19-9 overall). The Wildcats had won eight straight prior to its recent run, and been in first place for much of the conference season.
     
Weber State beat the Vikings in Ogden all the way back on December 4, 80-69. Portland State is a much different team since that game two-and-a-half months ago. The Vikings now employ a different approach with a "small-ball" lineup of four guards and one forward. Five active players average in the vicinity of 10 points or higher as a different player or players have been stepping up every night with big contributions.
     
The Vikings are averaging 81.6 points since changing to the smaller lineup nine games ago. Meanwhile, a full-court pressure defense has forced 20 turnovers per game during that span. The Vikings force 16.9 TOs per game for the season and lead the Big Sky in turnover margin (+4.1, +5.6 in league games) and steals (9.3).
 
The Wildcats, a talented offensive team at 77.2 points per game. feature one of the top players in the Big Sky Conference in Utah State transfer Koby McEwen, who averages 18.0 points per game. Freshman forward Dillon Jones is leading the league in rebounding at 10.8 per game.
     
Thursday night's game tips off at 7 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. It can be seen on ESPN+ with live statistics at www.ViksLive.com.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings conclude their home stand against Idaho State on Saturday night. PSU closes out the regular season at Idaho (Mar. 3) and Eastern Washington (Mar. 5). All games are live streamed on ESPN+.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. WEBER STATE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Weber State leads the all-time series 43-17 and the Big Sky Conference series, 39-17... Portland State is 13-11 in Big Sky Conference games played in Portland... despite the loss at Weber State earlier this season, PSU has won four of the last seven meetings. That is the most PSU wins in any seven-game stretch in the all-time series.
• THIS SEASON: Dec. 4, 2021 at Ogden: WSU 80, PSU 69: Weber State improved to 8-0 with its early-season win over the Vikings.... Michael Carter III led four Vikings in double figures with 14 points, adding three rebounds and three assists. Marlon Ruffin scored 11 points... Seikou Sisoho Jawara had 17 points to lead four Wildcats in double figures. He hit 5-10 three-pointers in the game. Dillon Jones scored 12 points with a game-high 14 rebounds and four assists... WSU finished 27-65 from the field (.415) to 24-63 for the Vikings (.381). The Wildcats had a 41-37 edge on the backboards.
• 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 314-188 record at Weber State. He is 23-10 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 is 19-9 on the season, 12-5 and second place in the Big Sky Conference. The Wildcats average 77.2 points per game and allow 70.9 points. They shoot well at .475 from the field and .742 at the free throw line.
• Senior guard Koby McEwen averages 18.0 points per game to lead the Wildcats.
• Sophomore guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara averages 12.6 points, 3.0 assists and shoots .434 from three-point range with a team-high 59 three-pointers.
• Freshman forward Dillon Jones averages 12.5 points, a league-leading 10.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and shoots .536 from the field.
• Senior forward JJ Overton averages 12.5 points and shoots .526 from the field.

 

WHO IS HOT

• In the last nine games, PSU has averaged 81.6 points. PSU's 68 points against Northern Arizona were the fewest over that stretch, but still good for a win... during a four-game winning streak (Jan. 29-Feb. 5), PSU averaged 88.8 points, shot .492 from the field, and .480 from three-point range (making 11.8 per game).
• Portland State's defense has been on display in the last eight games, forcing 20.3 turnovers per game and making 9.9 steals... for the season, PSU forces 16.9 turnovers per game - the most in the Big Sky... PSU leads the Big Sky in turnover margin (+4.1), ranking 16th in the nation.
• JR G Damion Squire matched his season high with 19 points (7-13 FG, 4-5 FT) against Northern Arizona. Squire now leads the team in scoring among active players (11.3). He shoots .921 at the free throw line  (35-38) to lead the Big Sky in conference games.
• SR G Ezekiel Alley has been red-hot, averaging 18.8 points over the last six games while shooting 40-81 from the field (.494), and 22-26 at the line (.846)... Alley scored a season-high 26 points (10-18 FG, 4-8 3-pt, 2-3 FT) with two rebounds, two assists and five steals in the win over Sacramento State (2/5) and was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Feb. 8).
• JR G Michael Carter III is 16-25 from the field (.640) in the last three games, averaging 14.0 points per game.
• Portland State continues to lead the Big Sky Conference in steals with 9.3 per game, ranking 15th in the nation... SR F Khalid Thomas is second in steals in the Big Sky (1.83) while JR G Ian Burke is fourth in the Big Sky (1.80).

 

BEFORE AND AFTER

Through 15 games this season, Portland State was averaging 67.7 points and shooting .402 from the field. At that point, Head Coach Jase Coburn made a transition in the team's style of play, partly due to the team's sluggish offense and partly due to a number of injuries and illnesses on the team. Since then, PSU has averaged 81.6 points and shot .468 from the field, .340 from three-point range and .790 at the line in nine games. The Vikings have scored 73 or more points in eight of the nine games. The scoring increase coincided with a move to a "small-ball" up-tempo approach, featuring four guards in the starting lineup. Prior to that, PSU had scored more than 70 just once in their first 13 games against Division I opponents this season.
 

YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS

PSU is currently shooting .755 at the free throw line, which is a school-record pace. The Vikings are led by JR G Damion Squire who is 35-38 (.921), which leads the Big Sky in conference games, and FR G Paris Dawson who is 41-47 (.872). Neither have enough attempts to qualify for overall league leadership.
 
Portland State's Best Free Throw Shooting Seasons
2021-22: .755
2012-13: .743
2001-02: .743
2014-15: .742
2011-12: .737
 

OH, SO CLOSE

Portland State earned a one-point win over Northern Arizona last Thursday. It was the 13th game decided by eight points or less this season. PSU is 6-7 in those 12 games, 4-3 in those recent seven games.

 
BATTERED AND BRUISED

Portland State has had a rough go of it health-wise this season. While the Vikings have been impacted by COVID-19 like virtually every other program in the country, they have also had a variety of injuries preventing them from fielding a full squad virtually every game this year: Damion Squire (hip, nose), Marlon Ruffin (illness), Michael Carter (eye, illness), Ian Burke (illness), Paris Dawson (concussion), Jacob Eyman (knee), Hayden Curtiss (finger), Mike Starks (ankle), Kiimani Holt (knee, illness), James Jean-Marie (illness)
 

• Despite having 14 active players on the roster, the Vikings have frequently had just nine and 10 available for games.
• Only two players, SR F Khalid Thomas and SR G Ezekiel Alley, have been healthy enough to play in every game this season. Seven have missed games due to injuries, not including COVID.
• The Vikings have started 11 different players this season and had 12 different starting lineups.
• Head Coach Jase Coburn has started 11 different lineups in 16 Big Sky Conference games.

 

GRAND LARCENY

Remarkably, Portland State has led the Big Sky Conference in team steals per game for the past seven seasons. The same is true this year under first-year Head Coach Jase Coburn, as the Vikings are currently averaging 9.3 steals per game. Thievery on the basketball court was also prevalent during the Barret Peery and Tyler Geving coaching eras. In addition, PSU has had two individual steals leaders. A look:
 
Season, steals per game
2015-16: 8.5
2016-17: 9.9, individual: Calaen Robinson, 2.35
2017-18: 9.8
2018-19: 8.3
2019-20: 8.7, individual: Holland Woods, 2.06
2020-21: 8.2
2021-22: 9.3 (currently)