PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (12-15, 10-9) at EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES (16-14, 10-9)

Saturday, March 5, 2022, 2 p.m. • Reese Court (5,000), Cheney, WA
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP

The final game of the regular season still holds plenty of meaning for the combatants as Portland State and Eastern Washington will square off in Cheney on Saturday afternoon. The two teams, tied for sixth in the Big Sky Conference at 10-9, will play for the number-six seed in next week's Big Sky Tournament. The loser will take the seven seed.
     
The number-six seed gets an opening round game against the 11-seed in the tournament, while the number-seven seed will face the number-10 seed. The 10 and 11 seeds will come from a group of four yet to be sorted out, including Idaho, Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. All four teams have five wins going into the final day of the regular season. PSU has a 7-1 record overall against those four teams in the regular season.
     
Portland State (12-15, 10-9) goes into the Saturday contest as the hottest team in the league. The Vikings have won a league-best four games in a row and eight of their last 10 overall. PSU is 5-4 in Big Sky road games this season. The most recent was a 79-68 victory at Idaho on Thursday night. PSU's defense was the difference as the Vikings held the Vandals to .397 shooting, forced 22 turnovers, made 11 steals and blocked seven shots. JR G Marlon Ruffin had a big game off the bench with a team-high 19 points (7-10 FG, 5-9 FT). SR F Khalid Thomas recorded 14 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
     
Eastern Washington (16-14, 10-9) also won on Thursday, 69-62 over Northern Arizona. The Eagles are 8-3 in home games this season, 6-3 in Big Sky home games. EWU beat the Vikings all the way back on Dec. 30 at Viking Pavilion, 63-58.
     
PSU's 10-game run has included a scoring average of 80.6 points while forcing opponents into 19.9 turnovers per game. PSU has committed only 9.9 turnovers in the 10 games for a remarkable +10.0 turnover margin, fueling their offense. The Vikings have also made 9.9 steals during that stretch. PSU ranks ninth in the nation in steals (9.4) and eighth in turnover margin (+4.7) this season.
     
Other highlights from the 10-game run include a 16.8 scoring average for SR G Ezekiel Alley and a 15.1 point, 6.3 rebound and 2.2 steal average for Thomas.
     
Saturday's game at Eastern Washington will start Saturday at 2 p.m. It can be seen on ESPN+.
 

THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

The Big Sky Conference Tournament takes place Mar. 9-12 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, ID. First-round games are on Wednesday, March 9. The top five teams in league play earn a bye into the quarterfinals on Thursday.
 
2022 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
 
Wednesday, March 9, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 1 – No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed, 9:30 a.m.         
Game 2 – No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed, Noon
Game 3 – No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Seed, 2:30 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 10, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 4 – No. 1 Seed vs. Game 1 Winner, Noon       
Game 5 – No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6 – No. 2 Seed vs. Game 2 Winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 7 – No. 3 Seed vs. Game 3 Winner, 8 p.m.
 
Friday, March 11, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (Semifinals), 5:30 p.m.
Game 9 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner (Semifinals), 8 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 12, 2022, televised on ESPNU
Game 10 – Championship Game, 6 p.m.
 
All times listed are Mountain
 
THIS SEASON, PORTLAND STATE vs.
1. Montana State, 15-4 (0-2) - L, 73-60 at PSU; L, 77-74 at MSU
2. Southern Utah, 13-6 (0-2) - L, 86-76 at SUU; L, 85-82 (ot) at PSU
3. Weber State, 13-6 (1-1) - L, 80-69 at WSU; W, 81-75 at PSU
4. Northern Colorado, 13-6 (2-0) - W, 79-76 at PSU; W, 106-99 at UNC
5. Montana, 11-8 (0-2) - L, 66-64 at PSU; L, 85-76 at UM
t6. PSU, 10-9
t6. Eastern Washington, 10-9 (0-1) - L, 63-58 at PSU
t8. Northern Arizona, 5-14 (2-0) - W, 97-76 at NAU; W, 68-67 at PSU
t8. Idaho, 5-14 (1-1) - L, 84-79 at PSU; W, 79-68 at UI
t8. Sacramento State, 5-14 (2-0) - W, 67-62 at SAC; W, 73-65 at PSU
11. Idaho State, 5-15 (2-0) - W, 63-55 at ISU; W, 73-69 (ot) at PSU
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. EASTERN WASHINGTON

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Eastern Washington leads the all-time series, 28-27, and the Big Sky Conference series, 27-24... Eastern Washington leads the series in Cheney, 17-8... the Eagles have won four straight and seven of the last nine in the series.
• THIS SEASON: Dec. 30 at Viking Pavilion, EWU 63, PSU 58: Eastern Washington weathered a stout defensive effort from Portland State to come away with the win. The Vikings held the Eagles 14 points below their season average and allowed them to shoot only .379 from the field. However, Portland State couldn't muster enough offense to pick up a win... Both squads were short-handed due to a variety of injuries and illnesses. Eastern was fortunate to still have its starting lineup intact. The Vikings were missing their top three scorers. The result was a slower-paced game and some shaky shooting. The Eagles hit 22-58 from the field (.379), while the Vikings were 22-62 (.355)... Senior forward Khalid Thomas took over the scoring load for PSU, going for 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. He added three steals and two blocked shots in a scrappy 35 minutes of play. Senior center Jacob Eyman had 11 points on 5-8 shooting and added a pair of blocked shots... Eagles' star forward Steele Venters led the way to Eastern's win with 20 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Angelo Acliese added 19 points and seven rebounds.
• 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... David Riley (Whitworth, 2011) is in his first year as head coach at Eastern Washington but his 11th season in the program.

 

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

• Eastern Washington University is located in Cheney. The Eagles' program has won four Big Sky Conference Championships and made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Eastern won the Big Sky regular season in 2019-20 and the Big Sky Tournament in 2020-21.
• This season, Eastern Washington 16-14 overall, 10-9 in the Big Sky Conference. The Eagles average 77.0 points and allow 74.5 points per game. The Eagles have a solid shooting slash line of .452/.353/.755 and lead the Big Sky with 16.0 assists per game.
• Freshman forward Steele Venters leads the team with 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 77 three-point field goals this season. He shoots .445 from three-point range and .833 at the line.
• Linton Acliese averages 15.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting .523 from the field and a Big Sky-best .872 at the line.
• Ryland Bergerson averages 13.3 points and 4.4 assists per game.

 

WHO IS HOT

• In the last 10 games, PSU has averaged 80.6 points... 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 10 games, forcing 19.9 turnovers per game and making 9.9 steals per game... for the season, PSU forces 17.2 turnovers per game - the most in the Big Sky... PSU leads the Big Sky in turnover margin (+4.7), ranking eighth in the nation... the Vikings average a Big Sky-best 9.4 steals per game, which ranks ninth in the nation.
• SR F Khalid Thomas scored a career-high 27 points (11-19 FG, 5-6 FT) with seven rebounds and four steals in the win over Idaho State (2/26). Thomas averaged 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks in last week's two wins earning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. On Thursday at Idaho he had 14 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots... Thomas leads the team in scoring (12.0), rebounds (6.2) and steals (1.9). He ranks second in the Big Sky in steals, 12th in rebounding and 22nd in scoring.
• JR G Michael Carter III is 30-53 from the field (.566) in the last six games, averaging 13.5 points per game. He led the Vikings with 19 points (8-11 FG, 3-4 FT), six assists and five rebounds in the win over Weber State.
• SR G Ezekiel Alley has been red-hot, averaging 16.8 points over the last 10 games while shooting 28-33 at the line (.848)... 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).
• ZEKE FOR 1,000: SR G Ezekiel Alley reached a collegiate milestone earlier this month when he passed 1,000 career points. Though he has played only one season at Portland State with 288 points so far, Alley totaled 766 points in 43 career games at Northwest Nazarene. Alley now has 1,069 points in 70 collegiate games, an average of 15.3 points per game. He has shot .473 from the field, .408 from three-point range and .795 at the free throw line in his career.

 

NO FOOLS IN FEBRUARY

Portland State likes the month of February in Big Sky Conference play. Here is a look at PSU's record in February over the past five years:
 
2018: 5-3
2019: 5-3
2020: 5-2
2021: 5-2
2022: 5-2
 

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHING WINS, BIG SKY ERA

First-year Head Coach Jase Coburn is 12-15 with the Vikings this season. So far, that ranks fourth among the seven head coaches the Vikings have had in the Big Sky Conference era (1996 to present). He is third in winning percentage.
 
2017-18: Barret Peery, 20-14
1998-99: Joel Sobotka, 17-11
2009-10: Tyler Geving, 13-19
2021-22: Jase Coburn, 12-15
2005-06: Ken Bone, 12-16
1996-97: Ritchie McKay, 9-17
2002-03: Heath Schroyer, 5-11
 

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 81.2 points and shot .467 from the field, .339 from three-point range and .760 at the line while winning eight of 12 games. The Vikings have scored 73 or more points in 11 of the 12 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 .743 at the free throw line, which is a school-record pace. The Vikings are led by FR G Paris Dawson who is 43-50 (.860) and JR G Damion Squire who is 39-46 (.848). Neither have enough attempts to qualify for overall league leadership. Squire is fifth in Big Sky Conference games, while SR G Ezekiel Alley is fourth in Big Sky games (36-42, .857).
 
Portland State's Best Free Throw Shooting Seasons
2021-22: .743
2012-13: .743
2001-02: .743
2014-15: .742
2011-12: .737
 

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 9.4 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: 9.4 (currently)