Portland State contines its considerable, mid-winter road schedule this week as the Vikings play games at Sacramento State and Northern Arizona. These games are the most significant, however, as the Vikings return to Big Sky Conference play.

PSU has played five of its last six games on the road. With a Friday contest at Sacramento State (7 p.m.) and a Sunday game at Northern Arizona (1 p.m., CSN TV), the Vikings will make it seven out of eight away from home. So far, PSU has gone 2-3 in the previous five road games - with a conference win over Montana sandwiched in there - and highlighted by a 77-70 win at seventh-ranked Gonzaga. On Monday, the 19th-ranked Baylor Bears beat the Vikings, 79-66, in Waco.

The Vikings are 10-4 overall this season, 1-0 in the Big Sky Conference. PSU is 5-4 in road games. The Vikings went 9-4 during their non-conference schedule with one non-conference game left: Feb. 21 when PSU hosts an ESPN BracketBuster contest against an opponent to be determined.

Sacramento State is just 1-11 on the season under first-year Head Coach Brian Katz. The Hornets will be playing their first conference game.

Northern Arizona is 3-9 on the season, and lost its conference opener at Northern Colorado on Monday, 81-79. The NAU game will be televised on Comcast Sports Net and streamed on ESPN360.com.

VIKINGS PUT MORE WINNING STREAKS ON THE LINE
Portland State lost its last outing - a non-conference affair at 19th-ranked Baylor - but will go into Friday's contest against Sacramento State with three winning streaks on the line. The winning streaks in jeopardy on Friday night include: 1) a 15-game winning streak over Big Sky opponents (a school record); 2) a six-game Big Sky road winning streak (a school record); 3) a three-game winning streak over Sacramento State.

The Vikings also have a four-game winning streak against Northern Arizona.

PORTLAND STATE (10-4, 1-0) vs. SACRAMENTO STATE (1-11, 0-0)
Friday, January 2, 7:05 p.m., The Hornets Nest (1,200), Sacramento, CA
Television: None ? Live Webcast: www.BigSkyTV.org ? Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
Radio: AM 910 KTRO, www.am910ktro.com ? Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt
Pre-game Show: 6:30 p.m. ? Tip-off: 7:05 p.m.

STORYLINE
Portland State has won three straight games in the series, including a pair last year by an average margin of 24 points... the Hornets were 4-24 last year, 2-14 and ninth in the Big Sky Conference... the Vikings have swept the season series five times in 12 previous years... Portland State leads the all-time series, 17-9, and the Big Sky series, 16-8... Sacramento State leads the series, 7-5, in Sacramento... Ken Bone is 3-3 all-time against Sacramento State.

THE GAME
Sacramento State will be playing its fifth home game of the year and is 1-3 at home this season. The Hornets come in with a six-game losing streak.

Sacramento State ranks last in the Big Sky Conference in scoring at just 56.7 points per game. The Hornets are also last in shooting (.401) and rebounding margin (-5.9).   

Senior guard Loren Leath is the team's top scorer at 13.1 points per game. He also has a team-high 25 three-point field goals. Junior center Justin Eller is averaging 10.8 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game.    Junior guard Antonio Flaggs leads the Big Sky Conference with a .903 mark from the free throw line.

Head Coach Brian Katz is in his first year at Sacramento State. He compiled a 435-185 record as a junior college coach over 19 seasons.

PORTLAND STATE (10-4, 1-0) vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA (3-9, 0-1)
Sunday, January 4, 1:05 p.m., JL Walkup Skydome (7,000), Flagstaff, AZ
Television: Altitude/CSN (channel 37 in Portland, replays on 1/4, 8:30 p.m.; 1/5, 11 a.m.)
Play-by-play: Jeff Friedman ? Analyst: Joe Cravens
Live Webcast: www.BigSkyTV.org, www.ESPN360.com ? Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
Radio: AM 910 KTRO, www.am910ktro.com ? Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt
Pre-game Show: 6:30 p.m. ? Tip-off: 7:05 p.m.

STORYLINE
Portland State won the most important game in its history on Mar. 12, 2008 over Northern Arizona, beating the ?Jacks 67-51, in the Big Sky Tournament Championship and earning a first-ever berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament... NAU was 21-11 last season, and 11-5 in the Big Sky Conference, placing second... PSU and Northern Arizona had maintained a very tightly contested series until the Vikings swept three games from the Lumberjacks in 2007-08... PSU leads the all-time series, 17-13, and the Big Sky series, 15-12... the Vikings have won four in a row against NAU... the Lumberjacks lead the Big Sky series in Flagstaff, 8-4... Ken Bone is 4-3 all-time against Northern Arizona.

THE GAME
Northern Arizona has lost four in a row - all road games - going into this weekend's action. The ?Jacks will host Eastern Washington on Friday, prior to facing the Vikings. Just 3-9 overall, NAU is 3-1 at home this season.

The Lumberjacks lead the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage at .470 per game, but rank dead last in free throw percentage at .568 per game. The ?Jacks are also tops in assists per game (15.75) and steals (8.25).

Senior guard Matt Johnson leads the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game. He has hit a team-high 21 three-point field goals and shoots .404 from long range. Senior forward Zarko Comagic averages 10.9 points and a team-leading 5.1 rebounds per game. Senior guard Josh Wilson (a high school teammate of PSU's Mickey Polis) is Northern Arizona's all-time leader in assists (591) and is averaging 3.5 per game this year.

Head Coach Mike Adras is the longest tenured coach in the Big Sky Conference. In 10 seasons, he has compiled a 153-126 record. Adras is 8-12 all-time against Portland State.   

BIG SKY STUFF
Portland State is 92-91 all-time in Big Sky Conference regular season games in its 13th season. Including a 4-6 Big Sky Tournament record, PSU is 96-97 in all Big Sky games.

In 12 previous Big Sky Conference seasons, Portland State has won two titles (2005, 2008), had two third-place finishes, a fourth-place finish and a fifth-place finish. Ken Bone has led PSU to three Big Sky tournament appearances, placing fifth, fourth and first, respectively. The Vikings are 3-2 in Big Sky Tournament games under Bone.

2008: A VERY GOOD YEAR
Portland State wrapped up the 2008 calendar with a disappointing 79-66 loss to 19th-ranked Baylor on Monday night. However, that didn't dampen what was the finest year in the history of the Viking program. Here are a few highlights from a remarkable 12 months of Viking basketball.

? Portland State won the Big Sky Conference regular season title in March (14-2).
? Portland State then won the Big Sky Conference tournament title, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
? PSU's 23-10 record in 2007-08 was the best win-loss mark in school history.
? PSU had the two biggest wins in school history: a 67-51 Big Sky Tournament championship win over Northern Arizona on Mar. 12 that propelled the Vikings to a first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament berth; and a 77-70 win at seventh-ranked Gonzaga on Dec. 23 for a first-ever win over a nationally-ranked team.
? The Vikings had the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year (Jeremiah Dominguez), Defensive Player of the Year (Scott Morrison), and Coach of the Year (Ken Bone) in 2007-08. Dominguez and Deonte Huff were first-team All-Big Sky Conference selections.
? PSU had a school-record-tying, nine-game winning streak at the Division I level.
? The Vikings ended the year with a 15-game Big Sky Conference winning streak (a school record), 15-game home winning streak, 14-game Big Sky home winning streak and six-game Big Sky road winning streak (a school record).
? Portland State was 26-7 overall during the calendar year, including 15-0 at home.
? The Vikings earned five Big Sky Conference Player of the Week awards, including four by Jeremiah Dominguez.
? PSU was ranked 10th in the mid-major Top 25 in the final poll of the year.

RADIO HOME OF THE VIKINGS WILL MOVE TO 800 AM IN JANUARY
Portland State's radio home will move permanently on Jan. 5 to 800 AM KPDQ. This week's two games on AM 910 KTRO will be the final broadcasts on that signal. Salem Communications, with whom Portland State has a radio contract, will switch the broadcast of Viking basketball games from AM 910 KTRO to its sister station, 800 AM KPDQ. The signal strength of KPDQ is slightly larger than the current KTRO signal, extending a little further north and south, and reaching approximately 130,000 more customers. The total reach of the station is over two million customers in the Willamette Valley. KPDQ is also available on a free live audio stream on the internet at www.kpdq-am.com. 

VIKINGS MATCH BEST NON-CONFERENCE WIN TOTAL
Despite a 79-66 loss to 19th-ranked Baylor on Monday, Portland State wrapped up its preseason schedule at 9-4 (10-4 overall). That matches the best non-conference win total by the Vikings (9-5 in 2006-07) since basketball returned  to the Park Blocks in 1996-97. PSU has one more non-conference game - a Feb. 21 ESPN BracketBuster contest - giving them a shot at 10 non-conference wins.

MORE ON WINNING
? The Vikings were 26-7 during the calendar year of 2008.
? PSU is ranked 10th in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Gonzaga is still ranked number one.
? The Vikings have won six straight Big Sky Conference road games - a school record - heading into this weekend's Big Sky road double-dip.
? Portland State has won 15 straight games against Big Sky Conference opponents (including the Big Sky Tournament) - a school record.
? Portland State has won 15 straight at home dating to last season (record, 21 straight).
? With 14 straight Big Sky wins at home, Portland State is one win short of the school record for consecutive Big Sky home wins (15). PSU's next home game is Jan. 8 against Weber State.
? Head Coach Ken Bone is 64-43 in four seasons at Portland State, 322-161 in 17 seasons as a collegiate coach. Bone is 32-20 in Big Sky games.
? During the non-conference schedule, the Vikings beat teams from Conference USA, the West Coast Conference (twice), the Big West Conference, the Mid-American Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

100 AND COUNTING
Viking Coach Ken Bone coached his 100th game on the Park Blocks in a 73-68 win over Seattle University on Dec. 6. Bone is now 64-43 in 107 games. In his previous three seasons, PSU has improved from 12 to 19 to 23 wins under Bone... Six coaches in Portland State history have coached 100 or more games for the Vikings. Bone maintains the second-best winning percentage (.598), behind Arba Ager (1948-53, 85-52, .620). His winning percentage is the best for any Viking coach at the Division I level... Bone also maintains the best overall winning percentage of any head coach in the Big Sky Conference, and second-best conference winning percentage (.617).

A FINE POINT
SR G Jeremiah Dominguez was shut down at Baylor on Monday, scoring just two points. Chalk it up to a bad night and a talented Baylor team. Earlier in the day, Dominguez had been named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for leading the Vikings to wins over Gonzaga and Texas Southern last week. Dominguez scored 25 points with a career-high six rebounds and five assists at Gonzaga (12/23). He also hit a career-high 7-10 three-point field goals in the game.He scored 15 points with a career-high six steals, two assists and two rebounds in a win at Texas Southern (12/27). In the two games, he averaged 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals. Dominguez shot .522 from the field, .529 from three-point range and .875 at the line... Dominguez has now been named BSC Player of the Week twice this season, and four times in two seasons... prior to the Baylor game, Dominguez had 88 points in the five games (17.6 ppg) since his return from a chip fracture in his right index finger. He had hit 20-37 three-point field goals during that span (.541)... Dominguez leads the team in scoring (12.6), steals (23), three-point field goals (32) and ranks second in assists (31), and third in three-point percentage (.432). He leads the Big Sky Conference in three-pointers made, while ranking second in steals.

PHIL-ING IT UP
SO F Phil Nelson has picked up his play in the last six games, scoring in double figures each time and averaging 14.8 points. His season average is now 12.1 per game... Nelson posted a 16-point, 8-rebound game at Baylor, and averaged 16.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg against PSU's two nationally-ranked opponents. Nelson hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:09 left to play in the win at Gonzaga... also important, Nelson had his first big game at home, scoring 16 points (5-10 FG, 2-4 3-pt FG, 4-5 FT) with four rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win over Montana (12/20). He had been averaging just 4.8 points and shooting 27% in home games prior to that... Nelson was named All-Tournament at the Great Alaska Shootout over Thanksgiving weekend. He led the tournament in scoring at 18.7 points per game. He also averaged 4.3 rebounds, made a tourney-high 10 three-pointers and shot .875 at the line. He scored a season-high 24 points against Hampton... the trend for Nelson has been good on the road (15.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 23-60 3-pt FG, 22-25 FT) and not-as-good at home (7.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, .317 FG, .167 3-pt FG).

LONE STAR STATE STAR
JR F Jamie Jones would like to play every game in the state of Texas. In three contests in the Lone Star State this year, Jones has totaled 38 points and 33 rebounds while shooting .615 from the field. The city of Houston had it the worst as Jones led the Vikings to wins over Rice (13 pts, 13 reb) and Texas Southern (13 pts, 10 reb). Jones added 12 points and 10 rebounds at Baylor on Monday night... Jones has five double-doubles on the year and leads the team with 7.2 rebounds, while shooting .571 from the field and blocking a team-high 16 shots... his rebounding average is the highest by a Viking in four seasons and ranks third in the Big Sky Conference... Jones had a season-high 21 points against Cal State Fullerton (11/23), hitting 9-12 from the field and 3-3 at the line. He scored the game-winning basket with 10 seconds left to play on a short hook in the lane.

A FINE TOUCH FOR THOMAS
JR F Julius Thomas has hit 27 of his last 37 field goals this season (.730), raising his shooting percentage to .620 for the season. He has also raised his season averages to career-highs of 5.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 17.9 minutes a night off the bench... despite shooting a team-best .620 from the field this year, Thomas is actually shooting a career low. As a freshman, he shot a school-record .639 from the field. As a sophomore, he shot .715 although he did not have enough attempts to establish a new record... for his career, Thomas is 138-210 from the field (.657) and on pace to set a career record for field goal percentage. For a better perspective of his accuracy, Thomas has played in 71 games and missed just 72 shots. He has three 5-5 shooting games in his career, and two 4-4 shooting games.

COOL, RUNNING WATERS
JR G Dominic Waters has been a great addition this season, averaging 11.6 points and leading the team with 38 assists despite making just two starts. Waters is shooting .500 from the field, a team-best .479 from three-point range and .784 at the line... Waters has played well against big-name opponents with 19 points (5-7 FG, 2-3 3-pt FG, 7-8 FT) and three assists at Washington (12/14), 16 points (6-11 FG, 2-5 3-pt FG, 2-2 FT), three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win at seventh-ranked Gonzaga (12/23), and 18 points (6-11 FG, 3-6 3-pt FG, 3-4 FT) with five assists at 19th-ranked Baylor... Waters scored a season-high 22 points with six assists and four rebounds in the third-place game of the Great Alaska Shootout as the Vikings beat Seattle. Waters averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, shot .556 from the field, .500 from three-point range, and .800 at the line in the tournament to earn All-Tournament honors.

5 TIMES 10
Portland State continues to maintain five double-figure scorers this season. SR G Jeremiah Dominguez leads the way (12.6), followed by SO F Phil Nelson (12.1), JR G Dominic Waters (11.6), JR F Jamie Jones (10.6) and SR G Andre Murray (10.2).

ALSO NOTEWORTHY
The Vikings won for the first time this season while scoring less than 71 points in a 63-55 victory over Texas Southern (12/27)... PSU is 9-2 when scoring 70 or more, 1-2 when scoring less than 70. Last year, PSU was 19-1 when scoring at least 70 points, 4-9 when failing to do so... in the past two seasons, PSU is 28-8 with SR G Andre Murray in the starting lineip, and 24-6 with JR F Kyle Coston starting... Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in winning percentage (.714), scoring (74.2), scoring margin (+5.7), and three-point field goals made (9.0)... SR G Jeremiah Dominguez leads the Big Sky in three-point field goals made per game (2.67) for the second year in a row.

SOME FUN ON THE ROAD...
When Portland State opens its Big Sky Conference road schedule this week, the Vikings will try to build on a school-record six straight Big Sky road wins.

BIG SKY ROAD WINNING STREAK
1.    1/13/08    at Idaho State    71-61
2.     2/7/08    at Northern Arizona    71-68
3.    2/9/08    at Sacramento State    79-56
4.    2/20/08    at Northern Colorado    88-79
5.    2/28/08    at Montana State    96-68
6.    3/1/08    at Montana    108-56*
* PSU records for points in a Big Sky game and margin of victory over a Division I team (52)

AND FINALLY, ANOTHER STREAK...
Portland State has won a school-record 15 straight games over Big Sky opponents, including two Big Sky Tournament wins last season.

OVERALL BIG SKY WINNING STREAK
1.    1/13/08    at Idaho State    71-61
2.     1/19/08    Northern Colorado (ot)    88-79   
3.    1/31/08    Montana    70-68   
4.    2/2/08    Montana State    96-85
5.     2/7/08    at Northern Arizona    71-68
6.    2/9/08    at Sacramento State    79-56
7.     2/14/08    Idaho State    81-58
8.    2/16/08    Weber State    76-73
9.    2/20/08    at Northern Colorado    88-79
10.    2/28/08    at Montana State    96-68
11.    3/1/08    at Montana    108-56
12.    3/4/08    Eastern Washington    76-74
13.    3/11/08    Idaho State    72-61#
14.    3/12/08    Northern Arizona    67-51#
15.    12/20/08    Montana    72-45   
# Big Sky Tournament game at the Rose Garden