PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (10-15, 4-8) at NORTHERN ARIZONA LUMBERJACKS (7-19, 3-10)

Saturday, February 11, 2023, 1 p.m. PT • JL Walkup Skydome (3,300), Flagstaff, AZ
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 gain some ground in the highest outpost of the Big Sky Conference on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings will "peak" at 7,000 feet as they match up with Northern Arizona in Flagstaff in a 1 p.m. PT game.
     
PSU (10-15, 4-8) comes off a Thursday night loss at Northern Colorado, 88-79. Still in seventh place in the Big Sky Conference, the Vikings didn't really lose any ground in the standings as the two teams in front of them also lost. However, the margin for error is slimming as the Big Sky Tournament is just three weeks away.
     
Portland State seeks sixth place or higher in the standings to avoid a first-round game and advance directly to the tournament quarterfinals. Going into Saturday's play, PSU is one game behind sixth-place Sacramento State (5-7) and two games back of fifth-place Idaho State (6-6). The Vikings will see both of those teams at home in the remaining six games on the regular season schedule.
     
The immediate task at hand though is Northern Arizona (7-19, 3-10). The Lumberjacks are at the bottom of the Big Sky standings, but they come off an impressive 77-55 win over Sacramento State on Thursday night. The 'Jacks are 6-6 at home this season, while the Vikings are 4-8 on the road.
     
PSU beat NAU back on Jan. 12 in Viking Pavilion, 75-74, on a buzzer-beating three-point field goal by JR F Hunter Woods. Since that time, the Vikings have lost six of their last eight games. NAU had lost three in a row and eight of nine games before Thursday's victory.
     
The Vikings have been following the lead of SR G Cameron Parker in recent weeks. The Portland native has led PSU in scoring for 10 straight games, including career-highs of 29 points last Saturday, followed by another career-high 32 points (10-12 FG, 3-3 3-pt, 9-12 FT) at Northern Colorado on Thursday.  His 32 points were the most by a Viking player in three years (Holland Woods, 39 pts, 1/30/20 vs. Montana). Parker was the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for last week's games.
     
PSU seeks more consistent offense behind Parker as the Vikings have not shot better than 44% from the field in the past five games (four losses) and are 15-57 from three-point range (.263) in their last two games - both losses.
     
Despite Thursday's loss, PSU continues to play close games, trailing by 11 points only briefly to the Bears. Seven of the last nine that the Vikings have played have been decided by single digits. Portland State is 3-4 in those games.
     
Saturday's game from JL Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff tips off at 1 p.m. PT and can be seen on ESPN+.
 

COMING UP

Portland State returns home on Feb. 16 to host Idaho State, then Feb 18 against Weber State.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA

• THE SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 31-26, and the Big Sky Conference series, 29-25... PSU has won three in a row and eight of the last 11 games in the series... PSU is 8-16 in Big Sky home games played in Flagstaff.
• Jan. 12, 2023 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 75, NAU 74: A buzzer-beating three-point field goal by Hunter Woods had Viking fans dancing in the aisles as Portland State beat Northern Arizona. In fact, Woods made two late three-pointers as PSU pulled off a miraculous finish. Woods' shots both came in the final 10 seconds, bringing the Vikings back from five points down to win. Ironically, Woods had just missed a tying three-pointer a minute earlier. But that did not prevent him from taking the two biggest shots of the night... Portland State trailed most of the second half and was resorting to fouls in the final minute... NAU's Oakland Fort swished a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left and the Lumberjacks led, 73-67... Viking point guard Cameron Parker raced back up court with the ball, got to the rim and scored to make it 73-69 with 19 seconds left... PSU then fouled Nik Mains who made one of two free throws with 17.8 seconds remaining... Again, the Vikings pushed the ball up court, Parker came off a Woods' screen at the top of the arc and pitched it back to Woods on the wing. He swished the three-pointer with 9.8 seconds to play. PSU now trailed only 74-72... This is where it gets crazy. Mains went to the line again and missed both free throws with 8.4 seconds on the clock. However, Carson Towt grabbed the offensive rebound for the 'Jacks. He was fouled and NAU had two more free throws with 7.1 seconds to go. Then, Towt missed both free throws... Woods rebounded, quickly passed to Parker and it was a footrace to the other end. Parker went left and Woods went right. When pressure got to Parker just before the three-point line he winged a pass cross court to Woods directly in front of the PSU bench. Woods let fly just before the buzzer sounded and ripped the net... Woods finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. He made 5-10 from the field, 4-8 from three-point range and 4-5 at the line... Parker scored 19 points with a season-high 11 assists, six rebounds and two steals. Jorell Saterfield added 11 points and Keshaun Saunders scored 10... NAU was led by 19 points and 16 rebounds from Towt. Xavier Fuller had 19 points and six rebounds.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 24-32 record overall. He is 3-0 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 38-72 career record, including 2-4 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA

• 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 7-19 on the season, 3-10 and 10th place in Big Sky Conference. The Lumberjacks average 71.7 points and allow 73.9 points per game.
• Junior guard Jalen Cone leads the team in scoring at 17.3 points per game and leads the Big Sky Conference with 69 three-point field goals made.
• Senior guard Xavier Fuller is averaging 12.5 points per games and 3.9 rebounds... Sophomore forward Carson Towt averages 9.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

 

WHO IS HOT

• PARKER PUSHING THE PEDAL: SR G Cameron Parker's play has been elevating in recent weeks. Parker has averaged 25.4 points and 6.6 assists in the last five games, making 42-71 from the field (.592)... he has led the team in scoring in each of the last 10 games (20.8)... Parker scored a career-high 29 points (9-18 FG, 10-12 FT) with 10 assists and a career-high five steals against Eastern Washington... he followed that with another career-high of 32 points (10-12 FG, 3-3 3-pt, 9-12 FT) at Northern Colorado... He now leads the team in scoring (17.0) and the Big Sky in assists (5.9)... Parker ranks third in the nation in free throws made and fifth in attempts (152-184) and is shooting .826 at the line this year. He ranks 11th in the nation in assists.
• THE BENCH BUNCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season and averages 29.5 points per game off the bench to rank 12th in the nation... the Viking bench had 37 points adn 17 rebounds at Northern Colorado on Thursday... JR G Isiah Kirby scored 12 points with two assists while SR G Bobby Harvey and SO F Isaiah Johnson eight scored eight points and combined for nine rebounds... Harvey leads the bench bunch with 7.2 points per game and has made 43 threes (.381)... SO C Hayden Curtiss leads the team with a .613 field goal percentage off the bench (19-31) while SO F Isaiah Johnson is shooting .552 (64-116) and SO F Kendall Munson shoots .523 (23-44)... players coming off the bench also have 41 of PSU's 75 blocked shots.
• 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 12 games Johnson has averaged 8.1 points and shot over 60% from the field.
• BOBBY THREE-BALL: SR G Bobby Harvey has made at least one three-point field goal in 21 straight games. His 43 for the season rank second on the team. He is averaging 8.0 points over the last eight games.
• IN A HURRY: Portland State is first in the Big Sky Conference and 11th in the nation in fast break points (15.1 pg).
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in turnover margin (+4.2), turnovers forced (16.4), and steals (7.5)... the Vikings are 22nd in the nation in turnovers forced... SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (5.9).