Winners of four of their last five games, the Portland State Vikings will try to do something they have never done - beat the Washington Huskies - next Tuesday. The Vikings and Huskies meet in a 7:30 game at Hec Edmundsen Pavilion. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net in Portland.

Portland State raised its record to 7-4 on Wednesday night with a 74-66 win over Cal Poly. The victory made the Vikings 3-0 at home and winners of six straight home games.

During PSU's stretch of four out of five, the only loss by the Vikings came at eighth-ranked Washington State last Sunday.

Washington is 4-4 on the season with a home game against the University of Portland on Saturday. The Huskies are 4-1 at home. Washington leads the all-time series with Portland State, 6-0, with all six games being played in Seattle.

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS VS. WASHINGTON HUSKIES
Tuesday, December 18, 7:30 p.m., Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundsen Pavilion (10,000), Seattle, WA
Television: Fox Sports Net (channel 34) ? Live Webcast: None ? Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
Radio: AM 910 KTRO, www.am910ktro.com
Pregame Show: 7:00 p.m. ? Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. ? Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt

STORYLINE
Portland State and Washington meet for the second year in a row, the fifth time since PSU brought basketball back in 1996-97, and the seventh time in history. Every game has been played in Seattle. The Huskies lead the series, 6-0... last year, Washington beat the Vikings, 105-73. Justin Dentmon (18 points), Quincy Pondexter (16) and Ryan Appleby (15) led the Huskies to the win. Washington shot .597 from the field compared to just .358 for Portland State. Ryan Sommer led the Vikings with 14 points and six assists. Deonte Huff had 11 points and four rebounds off the bench... Washington was 19-13 last season, 8-10 in the Pac-10... with losses to nationally-ranked UCLA and Washington State, PSU is now 4-38 all-time against Pac-10 schools... Viking Head Coach Ken Bone is a former assistant coach for Lorenzo Romar at Washington (2002-05).

THE HUSKIES
After starting the year at 3-0, Washington has lost four of its last five games. However three of those losses have come against nationally-ranked teams. The Huskies 75-74 loss to 12th-ranked Pittsburgh at home last week was Washington's first non-conference home loss in 26 games. The Huskies have a chance to turn things around with an afternoon game against the University of Portland on Saturday.

Junior forward Jon Brockman has been Washington's top player this year, averaging 19.0 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. Brockman shoots .516 from the field and ranks fifth in the nation in rebounding.

Senior guard Ryan Appleby returned to the Washington lineup after sitting out seven games with an injured thumb. He hit 6-12 three-pointers and scored 18 points against Pittsburgh.

Junior guard Justin Dentmon is averaging 13.6 points and 3.5 assists per game this year. Freshman point guard Venoy Overton averages 5.5 points, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Washington is a strong rebounding team, holding a +7.9 advantage per game on the glass. However, they have allowed opponents to shoot .481 from the field and .405 from three-point range. The Huskies have also struggled at the line, shooting just .595.

Head Coach Lorenzo Romar is in his fifth season at Washington and has a 107-59 record. Romar has a 200-147 record in 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

COMING UP: PORTLAND STATE VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON
Saturday, December 22, 7:05 p.m., Reese Court (6,000), Cheney, WA
Television: None ? Live Webcast: www.BigSkyTV.org ? Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
Radio: AM 910 KTRO, www.am910ktro.com
Pregame Show: 6:30 p.m. ? Tip-off: 7:05 p.m. ? Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt

STORYLINE
New Head Coach Kirk Earlywine is the only new coach in the Big Sky Conference this season. Formerly an assistant at Weber State, Earlywine has a challenging task ahead with just one returning starter and three returning letterwinners for the Eagles. So far, Eastern Washington is 3-8 this season... the Vikings and Eagles split the season series last year for the first time since 2000-01. The previous five seasons had all been series' sweeps, four of which were by Eastern Washington... although the Vikings won the last meeting in Cheney, EWU has won 10 of 13 and 13 of the last 17 in the series... next Saturday's game will mark the first time Portland State has opened the Big Sky Conference season before Christmas.

WRAPPING UP NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
Portland State has one more non-conference game this month, but not until after the Vikings have their Big Sky Conference opener at Eastern Washington on Saturday. PSU will have a chance to extend its homecourt winning streak in a non-conference game with San Jose State at the Stott Center on Dec. 28. The full Big Sky Conference schedule begins in January, with another ESPN BracketBuster game on Feb. 23 against an opponent to be determined.

JUMP SHOTS
WINS AND LOSSES
Portland State is 7-4 this season, having won four of the last five games... PSU is 4-4 in road games with three of those being neutral site contests... the Vikings are 3-0 at home, and have won six straight home games... PSU is now 102-42 in home games since basketball was reinstated for the 1996-97 season. Included in that total is a 73-27 record at the Stott Center... Head Coach Ken Bone is 38-33 in his third year at Portland State. He has at least one win against every Big Sky Conference school. Bone is 0-1 against Washington as a PSU head coach. Bone is now 2-4 all-time against Pac-10 schools... Bone is 1-4 against Eastern Washington.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
The Vikings are 6-2 in games decided by eight points or less. The Vikings also have a 43-point win, and losses by 12 and 21 points.

POLIS, STRONG THREE-POINT SHOOTING LEAD VIKINGS OVER CAL POLY
Getting just the second start of his career, junior transfer Mickey Polis led a hot three-point shooting Viking team to a 74-66 non-conference win over Cal Poly... Polis scored 15 points and had three assists as he started in place of Jeremiah Dominguez. Twelve of his 15 came after intermission to lead the Vikings to a quality win... Portland State had to overcome a sluggish start and early nine-point deficit. The Mustangs led 14-5 just six minutes into the game. Dawen Whiten hit a three-pointer with 5:45 left in the half and Cal Poly led 33-22. But the Vikings went on a 14-4 run to close out the half. Polis' three-pointer with 37 seconds left got the Vikings within 37-36 at halftime... strong three-point shooting was the difference for PSU. Although they had 11 first-half turnovers that the Mustangs converted into 16 points, the Vikings hit 9-14 from long range to stay close... Polis opened the second-half with another three-pointer, giving PSU a 39-37 lead, and the Vikings never trailed again... Cal Poly hit 7-12 from three-point range in the first half, but only 1-10 in the second half. Portland State's lead never grew larger than nine points. The Vikings made five of six free throws in final 24 seconds, including the last three by Polis... PSU got contributions from several players as seven Vikings scored eight or more points. The Vikings made a season-high 13 of 24 three-point field goals (.542). Six different players made at least two each... Scott Morrison had his third double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Guards Dupree Lucas and Andre Murray each had 10 points in the game... freshman guard Justynn Hammond played in his first game after getting eligible. He scored eight points on 3-4 field goals in 11 minutes of action... junior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez was ruled academically ineligible prior to the game on Wednesday. It is not certain if or when he will be able to return to play this season.

ROSTER SHUFFLE CONTINUES
? JR G Jeremiah Dominguez was ruled academically ineligible last Wednesday, just prior to the Vikings' game with Cal Poly. Dominguez is currently working to resolve is eligibility issues and may return, however there is no timetable for that. Dominguez had started nine of the first ten games for the Vikings. He leads the Vikings in scoring (11.8), assists (31), steals (23) and three-point field goals made (22).
? SO F Alex Tiefenthaler played in his first game for the Vikings against Washington State. A transfer from the University of Portland, Tiefenthaler had to sit out an NCAA-mandated one full year due to his transfer status. The year concluded at the end of fall term. He is averaging 5.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in two games.
? FR G Justynn Hammond also became eligible at the end of fall term after receiving his grades and meeting the necessary academic standards. Hammond played in his first game against Cal Poly, scoring eight points in 11 minutes.
? JR G Andre Murray did not play against Washington State (12/9) after starting the prior two games. Murray suffered an ankle sprain against Lewis and Clark (12/5). He had averaged 13.0 points in those two starts. Murray returned against Cal Poly and scored 10 points with two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 17 minutes off the bench.
? Eight different players have now started for the Vikings, who have used five different starting lineups in 11 games. Only four Vikings have played in every game (Deonte Huff, Dupree Lucas, Mickey Polis, Tyrell Mara), and only one has started every game (Mara).

SHARING THE WEALTH
Despite the ever-changing lineups, the Vikings have proven to have a lot of weapons. JR G Mickey Polis became the seventh different Viking to lead the team in scoring this year in just 11 games. In fact, six different players have shared the scoring lead in the last five games - of which PSU has won four. Polis had 15 to lead PSU in the win against Cal Poly.

THREE AT A TIME
Despite losing their top two three-point shooters from last season - Juma Kamara and Paul Hafford who had combined to make 145 three-pointers - the Vikings are an improved three-point shooting team. Portland State hit a season-high 13 three-pointers against Cal Poly and are now averaging 8.3 three-point field goals per game. That total leads the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings shoot .367 from long range this year... last year, the Vikings averaged 6.6 three-point field goals and shot .333 from long range.

THE BIGGEST THREE SO FAR
JR G Andre Murray hit perhaps the biggest three-point field goal of the season so far when he buried one with 17 seconds left against Utah Valley (12/1). That three-pointer tied the game at 47-47 and sent it into overtime. The Vikings went on to win, 60-53... Murray had 12 points in 33 minutes as he was making his second start of the season. He hit 5-8 shots from the field and 2-3 from three-point range... Murray started again against Lewis and Clark (12/5) and had another good game before an ankle sprain took him out with 4:44 to play. Still, Murray led the team with 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals... Murray has started three games this season in which the Vikings have gone 3-0. In his last two starts, he averaged 13.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals. He made 12-20 field goals (60%)... in his last three games played, Murray has scored 36 points (12.0 ppg)... for the season, Murray averages 6.1 points and 2.7 rebounds.

HUFF STUFF
SR G Deonte Huff had nine points and five rebounds in the Vikings win over Cal Poly. That ended a string of seven straight games in double figures. However, Huff is averaging 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds to rank second on the Vikings in both categories... Huff scored a season-high 18 points, grabbed five rebounds, a career-high four steals and passed out three assists in perhaps his best game of the year against eighth-ranked Washington State (12/9)... Huff's free throw percentage is up to .766 this year after shooting .642 last season. That improvement has been important as he leads the team in free throw attempts (47)... Huff had 29 points, 17 rebounds and six assists as he earned All-Tournament honors at the Top of the World Classic in November.

OH MICKEY, YOUR SO FINE
JR G Mickey Polis was a surprise starter to everyone - including himself - last Wednesday, when he replaced the ineligible Jeremiah Dominguez against Cal Poly. Polis responded with easily his best game as a Viking in leading PSU to the win. Polis scored 15 points with three assists, two rebounds and a steal in a season-high 32 minutes. A walk-on from Lower Columbia Community College, Polis is averaging 3.8 points and leads the team in three-point shooting (10-19, .526).

NO DOUBTING THOMAS' SHOT SELECTION
SO F Julius Thomas set a Portland State record last season by shooting .639 from the field (62-97). And despite an uncharacteristic 0-5 performance against Cal Poly, Thomas has picked up where he left off, shooting .609 from the field this year. He has missed just nine shots in 10 games... Thomas had his best game of the year against Lewis and Clark (Dec. 5), scoring 11 points on 5-5 field goals. He also grabbed seven rebounds and had two assists in 18 minutes off the bench... in his brief career, Thomas has made 76-120 shots for a .633 field goal percentage.

BIG CANADA
SR C Scott Morrison, a native of British Columbia, posted his third double-double of the year against Cal Poly with 12 points and 10 rebounds... Morrison has been red-hot lately, hitting 26-38 shots in his last five games (.686) and 44-69 on the season (.638). Other season highlights:
? Morrison leads the Vikings in rebounding (6.1), blocked shots (10), double-doubles (3) and dunks (10).
? Morrison is PSU's all-time leading shot-blocker with 144 in his career and ranks second all-time in shooting percentage (.542). Morrison has also passed the 500-rebound plateau for his career.
? On his current pace, Morrison will be Portland State's all-time leader in games played and blocked shots, and rank in the top 10 all-time in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.

IT DOESN'T ADD UP
Through 11 games, the Vikings have very balanced scoring with seven different players having led the team on a given night. No Viking has scored as many as 20 points. Despite balance in the scoring column, the Vikings' overall numbers are down so far this year. PSU scored 93 against Linfield (11/20), but are averaging only 67.8 points per game so far. Last year, PSU averaged 78.2 per game. Ironically, all three Viking shooting percentages are comparable or better (.443, .367, .696) than last year (.457, .333, .645), and turnovers are down (15.0 this year, 15.7 last year). In addition, the Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference in three-point field goals made per game (8.3). No doubt, the Vikings want the pace of the game to increase and be more suitable to their style of play. They are 4-0 when scoring more than 70 points, 3-4 when scoring less than 70.

ON THE OTHER HAND...
Portland State is allowing only 65.4 points per game - third-best in the Big Sky Conference - after giving up 75.2 last year. PSU opponents have only scored over 70 points four times this year, shoot .455 from the field and have commited an average of 16.2 turnovers.

A KINDER, GENTLER SEASON
Through the first 11 games of the season, there have been exactly zero technical fouls called on Portland State and its' opponents. Are the NCAA's new stricter behavior guidelines working? Last season, there were a total of 21 technical fouls called on PSU and its' opponents in 30 games played.