After a resounding victory in its' Big Sky Conference opener, Portland State returns to non-conference play this week and for its next six games. The Vikings trounced Eastern Washington, 98-75, on Saturday to start their Big Sky schedule. They return to the hardwood on Wednesday, hosting Division III Linfield in a 7:05 p.m. game.

The Vikings are now 3-4 on the season and 2-0 at home. PSU has won nine straight home games overall. This season's first two games at home have been particularly impressive as the Vikings have set school record's for shooting twice. In a 92-83 win over Cal Poly on Nov. 21, the Vikings shot 31-46 (.674) from the field to establish a new school record. Last Saturday, the Vikings bettered that mark, going 33-48 for a .688 percentage against Eastern Washington.

As a team, PSU has shot 119-201 over the last four games (.592). PSU is 40-76 (.526) from three-point range and 62-78 (.795) at the line in those games. The result has been wins over Cal Poly, 25th-ranked Portland and Eastern Washington, and a loss to Stanford.

SR G Dominic Waters has earned Big Sky Conference co-Player of the Week honors after averaging 23.0 points and 8.5 assists in wins over Portland and Eastern Washington (see below).

Linfield comes to the Stott Center with a 1-3 record this season. The Vikings will try to extend a modest-two game winning streak when they meet. After starting 0-3, PSU has won three of its' last four games.

COMING UP: MORE NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
Portland State goes out on a four-game road string after the Linfield game. The Vikings travel to West Coast Conference opponents Pepperdine (Dec. 13) and Saint Mary's (Dec. 15) over the next week. The Vikings also make a trip east, facing Washington State of the Pac-10 (Dec. 19 in Kennewick) and Boise State of the Western Athletic Conference (Dec. 21).

PSU finally returns home to host Willamette on Dec. 29 at 5:05 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the Portland State women (vs. Oregon State). Big Sky Conference play resumes on Jan. 2 when the Vikings host Sacramento State.

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (3-4) vs. LINFIELD WILDCATS (1-3)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 7:05 p.m., Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR

Television: None
Radio: 800 AM KPDQ, www.kpdq-am.com
Pre-game Show: 6:30 p.m. • Tip-off: 7:05 p.m. • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt
Live Webcast and Live Stats: www.GoViks.com

STORYLINES
• All-time series: The all-time series is tied 11-11, with all but two of those games taking place between 1946 and 1971. Since the Vikings brought back basketball in 1996-97, the two schools have met twice, and both were PSU wins in the Stott Center. The most recent meeting was a 93-50 Viking victory on Nov. 20, 2007.
• Linfield is 1-3 on the season, including 0-3 on the road.
• Head Coach Larry Doty is in his 24th season at Linfield and has a 289-266 record. He is 0-2 all-time against Portland State.
• The Wildcats were 12-14 last season, 10-6 in the Northwest Conference. Four starters and nine letterwinners return from that team.
• Senior guard Cody Tesoro is averaging 21.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Wildcats. Freshman guard Joseph Vance averages 10.8 points and 2.8 assists. Center KC Wiser averages 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, but is expected to miss the game with a back injury.

GAME WEEK ACTIVITIES
VIKINGS ON RADIO: All Portland State basketball games can be heard on 800 AM KPDQ and www.kpdq-am.com.The Viking Pregame Show begins one-half hour prior to tipoff with Tom Hewitt calling all the action.
VIKINGS ON TV: Portland State has four regular season games scheduled to be televised in the Portland area: Nov. 15 @ Washington, Dec. 19 vs. Washington State (FSN-channel 34 in Portland); Jan. 17 vs. Northern Arizona, Feb. 28 vs. Weber State (CSN-channel 37 in Portland).
INTERNET STREAMING: Live streaming video of all Portland State home and Big Sky Conference games can be seen free at www.BigSkyTV.org. Live stats for Portland State home games are at www.GoViks.com.
TYLER GEVING ON WHEELS AT WORK WEEKLY: Portland State Basketball Coach Tyler Geving will be a weekly guest on The Wheels at Work Show on 95.5 FM The Game in Portland. Geving will talk Viking basketball and more with hosts Brian Wheeler, Kenny Vance and Jay Allen every Tuesday at 1:35 p.m. beginning on November 10.
TICKETS: Tickets for all home games can be purchased in prices ranging from $10 to $15, with youth prices as low as $7. To purchase tickets by phone, call 1.888.VIK.TIKS or 503.725.3307. Special group ticket pricing and season tickets are available by calling Scott Boyd at 503.725.5627. Tickets are on sale at the PSU Ticket Office, located in Smith Memorial Student Union, 1825 SW Broadway. You can also purchase tickets on-line at www.GoViks.com, www.TicketMaster.com or at all TicketMaster outlets. 
VIKINGS BASKETBALL BREAKFAST SERIES: The Viking Basketball Breakfast Series takes place on four dates during the course of the basketball season. Head Coach Tyler Geving will speak about Viking basketball at each breakfast event. Dates are Dec. 9, Jan. 13, Feb. 10 and Feb. 24 from 7:30-8:45 a.m. at the Multnomah Athletic Club. Cost is $20. RSVP with Scott Boyd (boyds@pdx.edu).

WATERS NAMED BIG SKY co-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Portland State senior guard Dominic Waters has been named Big Sky Conference co-Player of the Week after leading the Vikings to a pair of victories last week. Waters averaged 23.0 points and 8.5 assists as the Vikings defeated 25th-ranked Portland, 86-82, at the Chiles Center on Wednesday, then Eastern Washington, 98-75, at the Stott Center on Saturday. He shares the honor with Weber State guard Damian Lillard.

Waters, from Portland's Grant High School, hit 14-22 shots from the field, 3-6 from three-point range and 15-15 at the line in the two wins. His Player of the Week honor is the second in his two seasons at Portland State.

Against Portland, Waters scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half as PSU came back from a 12-point deficit to win. Waters scored 16 in the final 8:20 of the game. His three-pointer with 2:59 to play put Portland State ahead for good at 81-80. Waters was 6-11 from the field, 3-4 from three-point range and 8-8 at the line with nine assists in the game.

Against Eastern Washington, Waters scored 23 points on 8-11 from the field, and 7-7 at the line. He also had eight assists and two steals. The Vikings set a school record for field goal shooting in the game, hitting 33-48 for a .688 mark.

Waters currently leads the Vikings in scoring (18.4) and assists (5.6). He is shooting .548 from the field, .556 from three-point range, and .944 at the line this year. Waters leads the Big Sky in assists, ranks second in free throw percentage and three-point percentage, and ranks third in scoring.

A BIG WEEK FOR THE VIKINGS IN REVIEW
Portland State came up with two important wins last week as the Vikings' season has kicked into high gear. PSU knocked off 25th-ranked Portland, and opened Big Sky Conference play with a resounding win Eastern Washington, setting a school shooting record in the process.

Vikings fans who made the trek across town on Wednesday were rewarded. They witnessed Portland State knocking off a nationally-ranked team for the second time in two years as the Vikings made a stirring, come-from-behind win over the Pilots at the Chiles Center. PSU beat the Pilots, 86-82, after trailing 74-62 with 9:20 to play.

PSU turned on the defense and rebounding in the late-going - something that had been missing in previous games - allowing just two field goals in the last 9:20, and none after the 4:36 mark. SR F Jamie Jones grabbed a season-high 11 boards for the Vikings, while SR F Julius Thomas hauled down seven. Those two, along with JR F Paul Guede, clamped down on defense as well in the final minutes. Guede, who scored a season-high 12 points, shut down Pilot star Nik Raivio, who had 15 points at halftime, but scored only two free throws in the second half.

The Vikings' biggest star of the game had to be SR G Dominic Waters, who scored 21 of his game-high 23 in the second half. Waters scored 16 points in the last nine minutes as PSU overcame that 12-point deficit. His three-pointer with 2:59 put PSU head for good at 81-80. It was the Vikings' first lead since 3-2 in the opening moments of the game.

Waters had a remarkable game, scoring 23 points with just 11 shots attempts and dished out a career high nine assists. Waters made 6-11 from the field, 3-4 from three-point range and 8-8 at the line.

PSU's Big Sky opener last Saturday turned into a rout as the Vikings shot a school-record .688 from the field on 33-48 shooting. Portland State beat Eastern Washington, 98-75.

Waters led the way again with 23 points (8-11 FG, 7-7 FT) and eight assists. JR G Melvin Jones scored 19 points (7-12 FG, 5-7 3-pt FG), while Jamie Jones had 17 points (4-5 FG, 9-11 FT) and three blocked shots. Julius Thomas came off the bench for 16 points (7-9 FG, 2-5 FT).

Once again, Guede shut down a key player, defending All-Big Sky Conference guard Benny Valentine into 1-8 shooting and two points.

The Vikings also shot .571 from three-point range and .800 at the line in the game.

The win was Portland State's ninth straight at home. It was also the seventh straight home win over a Big Sky opponent.

WINNING LINES
• FOUR IN A ROW, TIMES TWO: Portland State has now won four straight against the Pilots and four straight against the Eagles.
• The Vikings have improved to 2-14 against nationally-ranked teams since reinstating the program and joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.
• Portland State is 2-0 at home and has won nine straight home games at the Stott Center. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, PSU is 27-2 at home.
• PSU has gone 95-29 in 124 games at the Stott Center since the 1996-97 season. Including home games at Memorial Coliseum (12-6) and the Rose Garden (19-9), the Vikings are 126-44 at home over the past 14 seasons.
• The Vikings are 1-4 in road games this year, with two of those losses being neutral site games... PSU was 11-9 away from home, 7-7 in road games, 4-2 in neutral site games last season... PSU went 4-4 in Big Sky road games.
• Portland State is 22-20 all-time in overtime games, including 2-1 last year.
• Portland State is coming off back-to-back 23-10 seasons. Those tie for the most wins in a season in school history... with 65 wins over the past three seasons (19, 23, 23), the Vikings have their best three-season win total in school history.

SHOOTING STARS: Portland State has been shooting lights out in its last four games, setting a school-record twice for shooting in a game and compiling a .509 field goal percentage thus far this season. The Vikings are shooting .450 from three-point range (63-140), and .754 at the line (89-118)... PSU shot a school-record .688 against Eastern Washington (33-48), breaking the mark of .674 (31-46) set against Cal Poly on Nov. 21... PSU has shot 119-201 over the last four games (.592), including 40-76 (.526) from three-point range and 62-78 (.795) at the line... the Vikings were 29-55 from the field (.527), 15-25 from three-point range (.600) and 13-17 at the line (.765) against Portland... overall, PSU opponents have shot it well too, hitting .507 from the field and .395 from three-point range... the team to shoot the higher percentage has won all seven games this season.

A PRESEASON SCHEDULE TO BE WARY OF: Portland State knew its preseason schedule would be challenging, but a breakdown shows just how tough. Of the 12 non-conference games against Division I opponents, nine come against teams with at least 19 wins last year (Belmont, 20; Wright State, 20; 13th-ranked Washington, 26; Stanford, 20; 25th-ranked Portland, 19; Saint Mary's, 28; Boise State, 19; Seattle, 21 (twice)). Washington State was 17-16 last year, while Cal Poly and Pepperdine won seven and nine games, respectively... including Big Sky Conference opponents, PSU will play seven 20-win teams this season (and two 19-win teams).

COOL RUNNING WATERS: SR G Dominic Waters has had as good a start to the season as anyone could have hoped.  He leads the Vikings in scoring (18.4) and assists (5.6) this season while shooting .548 from the field, a remarkable .556 from three-point range and .944 at the line (34-36). He was named Big Sky Conference co-Player of the Week on Monday.
• Against Eastern Washington, Waters scored 23 points on 8-11 from the field, 7-7 at the line, and had eight assists and two steals.
• Waters led PSU to victory in the second-half against Portland (12/2), scoring 21 of his game-high 23 points. He did so on just 11 shots (6-11 FG, 3-4 3-pt FG, 8-8 FT). Waters scored 16 in the last nine minutes and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:59 to play. 
• Waters scored 32 points on just 15 field goal attempts in leading the Vikings to a 92-83 win over Cal Poly on Nov. 21. Waters hit 10-15 from the field, 2-4 from three-point range and 10-11 at the line. He also had five assists... the 32 points is just the second-best total of his career. Last season, Waters scored 41 in a four-overtime win at Northern Arizona.
• Waters leads the Big Sky in assists, ranks second in free throw and three-point percentage, and third in scoring.
• Waters has made 18 consecutive free throws and ranks third all-time at Portland State for free throw percentage (101-119, .849).

MORE WATER WORKS: With 75-161 three-point field goals made in his career, SR G Dominic Waters is shooting .466 from long range - the best of any Viking in school history. His .448 mark (60-134) last season led the team.

BASKETBALL JONES: SR F Jamie Jones averages 12.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He has also blocked a team-high 12 shots. Jones is shooting .643 from the field after going 21-29 (.724) over the last four games... Jones had a season-high 11 rebounds in the win over Portland and a season-high 17 points against Eastern Washington.
• Jones made his last five field goals against Cal Poly (11/21), then his first seven against Stanford (11/29). With 12 consecutive field goals made, he tied a PSU mark held by Seamus Boxley.
• With 42 blocked shots in his career, Jones now ranks sixth in PSU history... his career shooting percentage (.600), ranks second in PSU history.

THE SHARP SHOOTER(S) RETURN: SR F Julius Thomas holds Portland State records for field goal percentage in a season (.643) and a career (.657). He entered the season having missed just 103 shots in 90 games played. So far this year, Thomas is 22-34 from the field (.647)... while Thomas stands as Portland State's all-time best percentage shooter, teammate Jamie Jones rates as second-best all-time at PSU. Jones is 162-270 for a .600 mark... Thomas ranks second in the Big Sky in shooting this year, while Jones ranks third (.643).

JULIUS THOMAS CAREER SHOOTING MARKS
2006-07: 62-97, .639 (set school record)
2007-08: 45-63, .714 (not enough attempts to qualify for school record)
2008-09: 90-140, .643 (broke his own school record)
2009-10: 22-34, .647
Career: 218-332, .657 (school record)

KEEPING UP WITH MELVIN JONES: Fast? Yes. Fastest on the team? Probably. So, it's not easy to keep up with JR G Melvin Jones. He has proven that through seven games of his PSU career. Jones is averaging 13.3 points to rank second on the team. He has made 24-48 from three-point range (.500) and leads the Big Sky Conference in three-pointers made (3.4 pg).
• Jones scored 36 points in last week's two wins, making 10-17 three-pointers.
• Jones had 16 points in the win over Cal Poly. He rang up 23 points against Wright State on Nov. 14, hitting 7-11 three point field goals.
• Jones' 24 three-pointers leads the Big Sky Conference.

ANOTHER COUNTRY IS HEARD FROM: A native of London, England, JR F Paul Guede has come a long way to be a Viking. He also came a long way in his performance in the win over Portland on Wednesday. Guede hit 4-5 from the field, 3-3 from three-point range and 1-2 at the line for a career-high 12 points. He added four rebounds and a blocked shot. Most important, though, was his defense against Portland star Nik Raivio. After scoring 15 in the first half, Raivio was held without a field goal by Guede in the second half... against Eastern Washington, Guede spent most of the night guarding All-Conference guard Benny Valentine. He held Valentine to 1-8 shooting and just two points... the Vikings are 3-1 with Guede in the starting lineup.

ONE GAME AT A TIME: Since beginning his career at Portland State last year, JR F Phil Nelson has played in all 40 games, starting all 40. He has averaged 11.0 points and hit 69 three-point field goals over that span... SR F Julius Thomas has competed in the most games of any Viking having played in 97 during his career. If he remains healthy, Thomas has a chance to break PSU's games played record of 119.

GREAT DANE: SO G Dane Johnson has seen increasing playing time after playing in only one of the first three games of the season. To say he has been efficient is an understatement.  In 61 minutes of action as a backup point guard, Johnson has a respectable six assists and a remarkable one turnover. Johnson has also made 7-9 from three-point range. He is averaging 4.6 points in 12.2 minutes per game.

BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring (76.0), field goal percentage (.509), three-point field goal percentage (.450), blocked shots (3.6) and three-pointers made (9.0)... SR G Dominic Waters leads the Big Sky in assists (5.6)... JR G Melvin Jones leads the Big Sky in three-point field goals made (3.4).

2009-10 SEASON HIGHLIGHT REEL
• Portland State gave new Head Coach Tyler Geving his first career win with 92-83 victory over Cal Poly (Nov. 21). In so doing, the Vikings set a new school record for field goal percentage in a game (31-46, .674).
• SR G Dominic Waters posted 32 points on just 15 shot attempts in the Vikings' win over Cal Poly (Nov. 21). Waters hit 10-15 from the field, 2-4 from three-point range and 10-11 at the line. He also had a game-high five assists.
• SR F Jamie Jones tied a Portland State record by making 12 straight field goals. Jones made his last five attempts against Cal Poly (11/21), then his first seven attempts against Stanford (11/29).
• SR G Dominic Waters led the Vikings on a rousing, second-half comeback as they upset 25th-ranked University of Portland, 86-82, at the Chiles Center (12/2). Waters scored 21 of his game-high 23 in the second half, including 16 in the final nine minutes. Waters also handed out a career-high nine assists. The Vikings trailed by 12 with 9:20 to play in the game. The win was the second over a nationally-ranked team in two seasons. PSU made 15-25 three-point field goals in the win.
• For the second time in as many home games, Portland State set a school record for shooting, beating Eastern Washington, 98-75 (12/5). The Vikings hit 33-48 from the field for a .688 mark to win the conference opener. SR G Dominic Waters had 23 points (8-11 FG, 7-7 FT), eight assists and two steals to lead the Vikings.
• SR G Dominic Waters was named Big Sky Conference co-Player of the Week after averaging 23.0 points and 8.5 assists in two wins over 25th-ranked Portland and Eastern Washington (12/7). Waters hit 14-22 shots from the field, 3-6 from three-point range and 15-15 at the line. His Player of the Week honor is the second in his two seasons at Portland State.