NORTHERN ARIZONA LUMBERJACKS (5-12, 1-3) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (7-9, 1-2)

Thursday, January 12, 2023, 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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THE OPENING TIP

There is no time like the present for the Portland State Vikings to make their mark on the 2022-23 basketball season. After an arduous schedule over the first two months consisting of 12 of 16 games away from home, the Vikings will spend most of the next month competing in The Ship, also known as Viking Pavilion.
     
PSU (7-9, 1-2) will play six of the next eight games at home, beginning with two this week hosting Northern Arizona on Thursday and Northern Colorado on Saturday. Thursday's game will be the first at home in 26 days, and only the second in 40 days. Though they go on the road next week for two games, the Vikings will be right back home the following two weeks for four games at Viking Pavilion.
     
Portland State comes home off one of its best performances of the season, a 74-58 road win at Idaho. The Vikings shot .520 from the field and 9-14 from three-point range as they blew open the game in the second half. PSU trailed 30-27 at halftime, but went on a 47-28 binge in the second half. SR G Cameron Parker led the charge, scoring 16 of his game-high 18 points after intermission, adding six rebounds and three assists. JR G Jorell Saterfield and JR F Hunter Woods combined for 21 points on 8-10 field goals and 5-5 three-pointers.
     
The Vikings will rely heavily on those three veterans in the coming weeks as they are the top three scorers and rebounders on the team, combining for 40.2 points and 12.7 rebounds. They also have a combined 73 three-point field goals and shoot .829 at the free throw line. Parker leads the Big Sky in assists (5.4), Woods leads in steals (1.8) and Saterfield is second in three-point shooting (40 3-pt FG, .374).
     
That said, the Viking bench has played a big role this season as well, averaging 31.7 points to rank 13th in the nation, and shoots 49% as a group. PSU leads the Big Sky in scoring overall at 78.5 points per game.
     
PSU takes a 3-1 home record into this week's game. The Vikings lost their last home contest to a talented UC Santa Barbara team (12-2, 3-0 Big West) on Dec. 17, but had won eight straight at The Ship prior to that. Northern Arizona comes to Viking Pavilion with a 5-12 overall record, 1-3 in the Big Sky. Three of the Lumberjacks' last six games have gone to overtime, with their Big Sky win being a 75-74 decision over Montana. The 'Jacks are 1-8 on the road this season.
     
NAU guard Jalen Cone is the Big Sky's top three-point shooter (44 3-pt FG, .383) and ranks third in the league in scoring (17.4 ppg).
     
Saturday's opponent, Northern Colorado, is 5-11 overall, 0-4 in the Big Sky. Those numbers are a surprise as the Bears were the Big Sky runner-up last season, and picked to place second this season. They feature two of the top talents in the Big Sky in Dalton Knecht (19.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Daylen Kountz (16.7 ppg, 3.3 apg, 1st team All-Big Sky last season).
     
Both games this week tip off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+. Live statistics are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 

COMING UP

Portland State travels to Weber State and Idaho State next week. Following are home games against defending Big Sky Champion Montana State (Jan. 26), Montana (Jan. 28), Idaho (Feb. 2) and Eastern Washington (Feb. 4).
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA

• THE SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 30-26, and the Big Sky Conference series, 28-25... PSU has won two in a row and seven of the last 10 games in the series... PSU is 19-6 in Big Sky home games played in Portland.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 29, 2022 at Flagstaff: PSU 97, NAU 76: Viking veterans Ian Burke, Khalid Thomas and Trey Wood showed the way for Portland State with an electric shooting performance. Burke scored a season-high 21 points with a team-best five assists, making 8-11 from the field, 3-5 from three-point range and 2-2 at the line. Wood scored a career-high 10 points on perfect 4-4 shooting with a pair of three-pointers. Thomas went for a career-high tying 25 points on 10-15 from the field, 3-6 from distance and 2-2 at the line. Their combined effort led a tour de force shooting performance by the team. PSU buried a season-high 14 three-pointers on 27 attempts (.519) and was 37-66 overall from the field (.561)... The Lumberjacks also shot well, posting .491 from the field and making 10 threes. But PSU's defensive pressure forced 19 turnovers leading to 29 points. Feb. 17, 2022 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 68, NAU 67: The Lumberjacks took advantage of a size mismatch by swamping the Vikings on boards, 41-23. However, Portland State's pressure defense was the difference, forcing NAU into 24 turnovers... The Vikings never trailed in the game, and were up 60-50 with 4:42 remaining to be played. But NAU's Jalen Cone sparked a 14-4 rally by the 'Jacks, hitting back-to-back three-pointers, and adding a free throw on the second trey after drawing a foul. Lumberjack forward Nik Mains finally tied the game at 64 with his three-pointer at the 1:54 mark... Khalid Thomas made a basket in traffic with 1:02 left to make it 66-64, then Damion Squire made a pair of free throws with 10.2 seconds left. A desperation three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left made the final score at 68-67... Squire led the Vikings with 19 points. He made 7-13 field goals and 4-5 at the line. Thomas added 15 points and four rebounds
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 21-26 record overall. He is 2-0 against Northern Arizona. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Lumberjacks are coached by Shane Burcar in his fourth season. He has a 36-58 career record, including 2-3 against the Vikings.

 

NORTHERN ARIZONA LUMBERJACKS

• Northern Arizona joined the Big Sky Conference in 1970. NAU has won four Big Sky regular season championships and two Big Sky Tournament titles, making two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Northern Arizona is 5-12 on the season, 1-3 in Big Sky play. The Lumberjacks average 71.2 points and allow 75.4 points per game. They have been out-shot by opponents, .464 to .417, from the field.
• Junior guard Jalen Cone was a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection last season. He ranks third in the Big Sky this year at 17.4 points per game, and leads in three-point field goals with 44.
• Senior guard Xavier Fuller is averaging 10.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game... sophomore forward Carson Towt averages 8.8 points and team-leading totals of 7.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

 

WHO IS HOT

• MARKSMEN: Portland State was 26-50 from the field (.520) and 9-14 from three-point range (.643) in the win at Idaho, both season-bests against Division I opponent. PSU was also 13-17 at the line (.765). The Vikings shot 16-23 after intermission (.696) making 6-7 three-pointers.
• THE BENCH BUNCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season and averages 31.7 points per game off the bench to rank 13th in the nation... the Vikings had 34 points and 14 rebounds in 74 minutes from their bench players at Eastern Washington, shooting 16-29 from the field (.552). They had 22 points and 12 rebounds in 67 minutes in the win at Idaho... SR G Bobby Harvey scored 12 points (5-9 FG, 2-5 3-pt) and grabbed a season-high six rebounds at EWU... SO F Isaiah Johnson had 20 points, nine rebounds and three steals in last week's two games... Harvey leads the bench bunch with 7.0 points per game... SO C Hayden Curtiss leads the team with a .667 field goal percentage off the bench (16-24) while Johnson is shooting .522 (35-67).
• PORTAL PRODUCTION: SO F Isaiah Johnson was a late addition to the Vikings' roster last summer after leaving Oregon State. He is proving to be a great addition...  in the last six games Johnson has averaged 8.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, shot .553 from the field and .833 at the line... he had a career-high 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-4 FT) and four rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench at Sacramento State (12/31), 10 points (5-9 FG), four rebounds and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench at Eastern Washington (1/5), then 10 points, five rebounds, a steal and a block in the win at Idaho.
• AND ONE: SR G Cameron Parker ranks third in the Big Sky Conference with an .850 free throw percentage this season. He ranks fifth in the nation in free throws made and 23rd in free throw attempts (85-100).... he also ranks 23rd in the nation with 5.4 assists per game.
• SECOND-HALF HEROICS: JR G Jorell Saterfield has scored 147 of his 247 points this season in the second half (and he didn't play in the second half in the win over Portland Bible).
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in several categories. As a team, the Vikings lead in scoring (78.5), turnover margin (+4.6), turnovers forced (17.6), and steals (8.4)... the Vikings are 16th in the nation in turnovers forced... JR F Hunter Woods leads the Big Sky in steals (1.8), SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (5.4).
• IN A HURRY: The Vikings are leading the Big Sky Conference in fast break points (16.4 per game) which ranks 13th in the nation.
• FREE THROW SHOOTERS: Portland State is shooting .752 at the line this season which is above a school-record pace (.743)... the Vikings also lead the Big Sky in free throws made (15.6) and attempted (20.7) per game.

 

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 8.44 mark through 16 games. 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: 8.5, individual: Hunter Woods, 1.81
 

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

SR G Cameron Parker passed 1,000 career points earlier this season then passed 700 career assists at Sacramento State on Dec. 31. Parker enters this week with 1,095 career points and 707 career assists in 123 career games. He is one of only two active players with 1,000 career points and 700 career assists. Jalen Pickett of Penn State has 1,839 points and reached 715 assists. He has also played in 123 career games entering this week... 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 1,986 minutes and reserves have logged 1,214 minutes. Remarkably, in those minutes, the bench has kept a good scoring pace in relation to the starters, 748 to 508.

• Bench players have logged 38% of the minutes and 41% of the points.
• PSU ranks 13th in the nation in bench scoring at 31.7 points per game.
• The bench has outscored the starters on three occasions.
• Bench players (192-396, .485) have out-shot the starters (247-585, .422) from the field.

 

SHOOTING, SCORING... IT ALL MAKES SENSE

After 16 games this season...

• The Vikings are 7-0 when they shoot a higher percentage than their opponents. They are 0-8 when they do not, 0-1 when shooting even.
• The Vikings are 5-2 when they lead at halftime, 1-6 when trailing. They are 1-1 when the game is tied at halftime.