PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (6-8, 0-1) at EASTERN WASHINGTON (8-7, 2-0)

Thursday, January 5, 2023, 6 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

Portland State will try to break the ice on its Big Sky Conference record this week as it plays two more games on the road. The Vikings play at Eastern Washington on Thursday night, then Idaho on Saturday.
     
PSU (6-8, 0-1) lost its' Big Sky opener last Saturday at Sacramento State, 74-63, when the Hornets put on a huge comeback in the second half. The Vikings will need to put that behind them as they continue on the road for their first three Big Sky games and six of the last seven games overall. The Eastern Washington game will be the 11th of 15 games this season away from home.
     
Eastern Washington (8-7, 2-0) is on top of the Big Sky after a remarkable performance on the road last week, winning at Montana, then at defending Big Sky Champion Montana State. The Eagles have won four games in a row, eight of their last 12, and are 3-1 at home.
     
PSU still has not faced a Division I opponent with a losing record this season. Eastern Washington will be the 13th such opponent. That streak will end at 14 on Saturday as the Idaho Vandals are 6-9 overall going into this week's play. Idaho will face Sacramento State on Thursday prior to playing PSU.
     
Not surprisingly it has been a tough stretch for the Vikings over the past month, mainly on the road, and all against winning teams. PSU is currently 1-4 in the first five games of the six-out-of-seven road stretch. The win was a quality victory at California Baptist (8-4 at the time) on Dec. 22.
     
When PSU hosts Northern Arizona at Viking Pavilion on Jan. 12 it will be the first home game in 26 days and only the second in 40 days. That game starts a span of six of the next eight and nine of the final 15 regular season games at home for the Vikings.
     
Thursday's game with Eastern Washington tips off at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Vikings face the Vandals at 2 p.m. Both games are live on ESPN+.
 

PARKER TO MISS GAME AT EASTERN WASHINGTON WITH SUSPENSION

Portland State SR G Cameron Parker will not play this Thursday at Eastern Washington. Parker has been suspended by the Big Sky Conference for one game following an incident in the postgame handshake line at Sacramento State on Saturday.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings will have their Big Sky Conference home opener on Jan. 12 against Northern Arizona, then host Northern Colorado on Jan. 14. That begins a span of six out of eight games at Viking Pavilion.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. EASTERN WASHINGTON

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Eastern Washington leads the all-time series, 29-27, and the Big Sky Conference series, 28-24... the Vikings are 8-18 in Big Sky games played at Eastern Washington... the Eagles have won five straight in the series dating back to the 2018-19 season. All five games were close with margins of 2, 2, 8, 5, and 8.
• LAST SEASON: Dec. 30 at Viking Pavilion, EWU 63, PSU 58: Eastern Washington weathered a stout defensive effort from Portland State. 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)... Khalid Thomas scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds with three steals and two blocked shots... 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. Mar. 5 at Reese Court, EWU 83, PSU 75: The Eastern Washington duo of Angelo Allegri and Linton Acliese combined for 54 points and 24 rebounds to lead the Eagles to the win... Khalid Thomas had a team-high 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Vikings. Marlon Ruffin came off the bench for 15 points and nine rebounds... the Eagles led 39-36 at the break and never gave up the lead in the second half, but also could not pull away from the Vikings until the final two minutes. PSU last tied the game with 11:18 left at 53-53... Acliese had 27 points and 11 rebounds while Allegri scored 27 points with 13 rebounds to lead the Eagles. The tandem combined to make 10-16 three-point field goals.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 20-25 record overall. He is 0-2 against Eastern Washington. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Eagles are led by Head Coach David Riley (Whitworth, 2011) in his second season. Riley is 26-22 overall, 2-0 against the Vikings. 

 

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON

• Eastern Washington is located in Cheney, WA. The Eagles program has won two Big Sky Conference regular season titles and three Big Sky Tournament titles, making three appearances in the NCAA Tournament since joining the Big Sky in 1987. The most recent came in 2021.
• This season, Eastern Washington is 8-7 overall, 2-0 and in first place in the Big Sky. The Eagles have won four games in a row and eight of their last 12. They average 73.3 points per game and give up 69.7 points. Eastern Washington has a Big Sky-best +6.2 rebounding margin.
• Forward Steele Venters, a second team All-Big Sky choice last season, averages 14.5 points to lead the team... forward Angelo Allegri averages 11.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game... forward Casey Jones is the top rebounder at 7.1 per game.

 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 18-17, and the Big Sky series, 8-7... the Vikings have won four of the last five and seven or the last 10 meetings... the teams split the season series last year with each winning on the other's home court... PSU is 4-4 in Big Sky games played at Idaho.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 24 at Viking Pavilion, UI 84, PSU 79: The Big Sky's top three-point shooting team by percentage, Idaho simply out-shot the Vikings to pull out the win. Idaho was 29-51 from the field (.569), 8-20 from three-point range (.400) and 18-24 at the line (.750). Portland State also shot it well, but not quite well enough, making 27-57 from the field (.474), 6-21 from distance (.286) and 19-24 at the line (.792). Virtually everything else in the boxscore was even.... the Vandal guard trio of Mikey Dixon, Trevante Anderson and Rashad Smith combined for 62 of Idaho's 84 points. They made a combined 20-33 from the field, 6-12 three-pointers and 16-18 free throws... Damion Squire led the Vikings with 15 points, and had three rebounds, three assists and five steals. James Jean-Marie scored 14 points (7-11 FG) with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Mar. 3 at ICCU Arena, PSU 79, UI 68: A 13-1 run by Portland State over the final 3:05 of the game led the Vikings to a 79-68 victory. Marlon Ruffin had a big game off the bench for PSU, leading the Vikings with 19 points in 22 minutes. He made 7-10 shots from the field and 5-9 at the line. Ezekiel Alley added 15 points and four rebounds. Khalid Thomas pitched in another strong performance with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots... Portland State looked like they may run away with the game early. The Vikings turned Idaho over on eight of its first nine possessions, making six steals. PSU jumped to leads of 8-0 and 15-5. Idaho rallied back to a 38-36 halftime lead... the second half played out a little differently though. Idaho's shooting percentage sunk to just .300 (9-30) after halftime, including 0-8 from distance. The lead changed hands five more times in the half and PSU was still down 67-66 with 3:25 to play before the 13-1 rally... Trevante Anderson led the Vandals with 24 points and 10 rebounds. 
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 20-25 record overall. He is 1-1 against Idaho. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Vandals are led by Head Coach Zac Claus (Eastern Washington, 1998) in his fourth season. Claus is 18-67 overall, 2-4 against the Vikings... Claus was a Portland State assistant coach from 2000-2002.

 

SCOUTING IDAHO

• Idaho is located in Moscow, ID. The Vandals have been members of the Big Sky Conference 1963-86 and 2014 to present. Idaho has won four Big Sky regular season championships, four Big Sky Tournament championships, and made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Idaho is 6-9 on the season, 0-2 in the Big Sky. The Vandals have lost three games in a row and are 4-3 at home. They average 76.7 points and allow 68.3 points per game while shooting .487 from the field and .750 at the free throw line.
• Isaac Jones is one of four Vandals scoring in double figures at 18.4 points per game. Jones is shooting .702 from the field, averages a team-best 7.2 rebounds and has 15 blocked shots... Divant'e Moffitt is averaging 16.5 points and 5.3 assists per game... Nigel Burris is averaging 10.2 points while shooting .552 from the field, .500 from three-point range and .923 at the line.

 

WHO IS HOT

• POST PRESENCE: JR C Jacob Eyman is known more for his defense than his scoring but has been on an offensive run lately. Eyman has made 14-20 field goals (.700) over the last four games while averaging 7.5 points... Eyman scored a season-high 12 points with six rebounds and two blocked shots in the win at California Baptist (12/22)... Eyman is shooting .553 from the field this season.
• AND ONE: SR G Cameron Parker ranks third in the Big Sky Conference with an .854 free throw percentage this season. He ranks fifth in the nation in free throws made and 15th in free throw attempts (82-96).... he also ranks 20th in the nation with 5.6 assists per game.
• THE BENCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season and averages 32.3 points per game off the bench to rank 12th in the nation... SO F Isaiah Johnson had a team-high 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-4 FT) and four rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench at Sacramento State... in the last four games Johnson has averaged 8.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, shot .619 from the field and .750 at the line... JR G Keshaun Saunders came off the bench for nine points against UC Santa Barbara (4-8 FG, 1-2 FT) then had eight in the win at California Baptist (3-8 FG, 2-5 3-pt)... JR G Isiah Kirby is the leading scorer off the bench at 7.1 points, followed by SR G Bobby Harvey at 6.8 points... SO C Hayden Curtiss leads the team with a .667 field goal percentage off the bench (16-24) while SO F Isaiah Johnson is shooting .529 (27-51) and Saunders is shooting .500 (24-48).
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in several categories. As a team, the Vikings lead in scoring (78.7), turnover margin (+4.6), turnovers forced (17.7), and steals (8.3)... the Vikings are 17th in the nation in turnovers forced... JR F Hunter Woods leads in steals (1.8), SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (5.6)..
• FREE THROW SHOOTERS: Portland State is shooting .751 at the line this season which is above a school-record pace (.743).

 

THE COMPETITION IS STIFF

Portland State will play its 13th Division I opponent among 15 games on Thursday when it faces Eastern Washington. The Vikings have yet to face a D-1 team with a losing record at the time of the game, and only two of those games have come at home. Those teams begin the week with a combined 103-58 record. Here is how the opponents stack up:
 
11/11  at Portland (0-0, 19-15 in 2021-22, now 8-9)
11/13  at Seattle (2-0, now 10-4)
11/19  at Oregon State (3-0, now 7-7)
11/24  vs. Gonzaga (3-1, now 12-3)
11/25  vs. West Virginia (4-1, now 10-3)
11/27  vs. Oregon State (3-3, now 7-7)
12/3    Air Force (5-3, now 9-6)
12/10  at Cal Poly (4-3, now 7-7)
12/13  at Santa Clara (8-3, now 13-4)
12/17  at UC Santa Barbara (7-2, now 11-2)
12/22  at California Baptist (8-4, now 8-7)
12/31  at Sacramento State (7-6, now 8-6)
1/5      at Eastern Washington (8-7)
 

GRAND LARCENY

Remarkably, Portland State has led the Big Sky Conference in team steals per game for the past seven seasons. They lead once again with an 8.3 mark heading into this week's play. 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 with JR F Hunter Woods leading this year. 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
2022-23: 8.3, individual: Hunter Woods, 1.80
 

1,000-700... THERE ARE ONLY TWO

SR G Cameron Parker passed 1,000 career points earlier this season then passed 700 career assists last Saturday at Sacramento State. Parker enters this week with 1,077 career points and 704 career assists in 122 career games. He was the only active player in the NCAA with 1,000-700... for one day. There are now two as Jalen Pickett of Penn State has 1,777 points and reached 700 assists on Sunday. He has played in 120 career games... there are a handful of other active players at 1,000 career points and more than 600 assists, though none would reach 700 assists until at least late January based on current pace.
 

IT'S NOT WHO STARTS...

Portland State's bench has been very effective this season. Starters have logged 1,727 minutes and reserves have logged 1,073 minutes. Remarkably, in those minutes, the bench has kept a good scoring pace in relation to the starters, 650 to 452.

• PSU ranks 12th in the nation in bench scoring at 32.2 points per game.
• The bench has outscored the starters on three occasions.
• Bench players (170-348, .489) have out-shot the starters (212-509, .417) from the field.