The Sports Network
DATE & TIME: Thursday, January 20th, 9:05 p.m. (et).
FACTS & STATS: Site: Dee Events Center (12,000) -- Ogden, Utah. Television: Local. Home Record: PSU 9-1, WSU 4-3. Away Record: PSU 3-3, WSU 1-8. Neutral Record: PSU 0-0, WSU 0-0. Conference Record: PSU 4-0, WSU 1-4. Series Record: Weber State leads, 16-6.
GAME NOTES: In hopes of establishing a new school record for consecutive wins, the Portland State Vikings hit the floor tonight against the Weber State Wildcats at the Dee Events Center in Ogden in a Big Sky Conference showdown. On Saturday Portland State, all alone in first place in the league standings, posted a 70-59 decision over the Eastern Washington Eagles on the road. The victory was the eighth in a row overall to tie a school record. The Vikings have just four losses this season to quality opponents like Gonzaga, Boise State and Ohio State, as well as in-state rival Portland six weeks ago. As for the Wildcats, they are finding it harder and harder to land in the win column these days with a total of just five victories to show for their efforts in 2004-05. Also in action last weekend, Weber State was turned away by Sacramento State on the road, 78-72. It was the team's second straight loss and the seventh in the last eight outings. Weber State led the all-time series coming into this season by a count of 16-5, however the Vikings cut into that advantage just less than three weeks ago with a 73-62 victory at home in the first meeting this year.
Except for Scott Morrison who tallied eight points and nine rebounds before fouling out, every starter for the Vikings scored in double figures in the win over the Eagles last weekend. Blake Walker and Jake Schroeder each dropped in 16 points, while Seamus Boxley accounted for 15 points and nine boards and Will Funn 10 points and a team-high eight assists in the road victory. Portland State overcame 18 turnovers by shooting 55 percent from the field and outscoring Eastern Washington 21-10 at the charity stripe. Although he has been supplanted as the top scorer for the team in the last two outings, Boxley is still one of the best point producers in the conference at 18.9 ppg, shooting 60.5 percent from the field and clearing a team-high 7.3 rpg. Walker checks in with 13.5 ppg but is just 15.8 percent accurate beyond the arc where the Vikings as a team are hitting at 33.9 percent. More importantly, PSU is shooting 51.2 percent from the floor through 16 games to help make up for 64.8 percent at the free-throw line.
Although he shot just 3-of-11 from the field, Lance Allred was a man among men on Saturday as he ripped down 21 rebounds and added 16 points in the loss to the Hornets. Allred also had some miscues in the game though, seven to be exact, while Coric Riggs also registered a double-double for the Wildcats with 23 points and 15 boards. Between the two they outrebounded Sacramento State 36-30. Brett Cox added 12 points in 28 minutes of work before he fouled out. Allred is one of a few players left at the Division I level able to say that they are averaging a double-double with team highs of 17.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per contest. Thanks to the huge effort on Saturday, Allred is accounting for 14 rpg in five league outings. The availability of Troy Goodell (15.0 ppg in Big Sky games) is still up in the air, listed as day-to-day with academic issues which leaves players like Riggs (6.3 ppg) and Cox (7.7 ppg) to pick up the slack for a team that is producing only 62.5 ppg this year.
Allred is a force to be reckoned with in the Big Sky, but even with him getting all that help from Riggs in the meeting with Sacramento State, it still didn't make a difference. Opt for the Vikings in this case, a team that has shown consistently how to win both at home and one the road.