Upon his hiring to be the new head basketball coach at Portland State last April,made a simple and definitive statement about what he wanted his program to be."Our commitment is this: We want to give the best product we can possibly give. We want to have a great presence in the city of Portland. We want to give our fans a team that they can put their arms around, follow them, love them and care about them. We want to give a team that will be easy to cheer for," Peery said at the opening press conference.Now two months into the 2017-18 season, with the non-conference schedule complete, Peery's team is living up to that commitment.The latest example was a 106-81 drubbing of the California Golden Bears on Thursday night in Berkeley. The Vikings led wire-to-wire, and by 20+ points most of the way. The win was not stunning based on previous results, but the efficiency and effectiveness were. It was the latest in what has been a brilliant opening campaign for Peery and his Viking squad.• Portland State went 10-3 in non-conference play, matching its best 13-game record ever, and establishing its best non-conference record ever since joining the Big Sky in 1996-97. The previous best winning percentage prior to Big Sky Conference play was .700 (7-3, 1998-99 and 2008-09). This season, the Vikings are 4-0 at home, 5-1 on the road, and went 1-2 in the PK80 Invitational. Five road wins already matches last year's road win total (5-13).• PSU has winning records against four other conferences: 3-0 vs. the West Coast, 2-1 vs. the Pac-12, 1-0 vs. the Mountain West and 1-0 against the Big West.• The Vikings rank third in the nation in scoring (93.6), first in steals (12.9), second in turnover margin (+9.8), seventh in assists (19.5) and 11in three-point field goals made (11.2). PSU leads the nation in turnovers forced (23.0).• Portland State's full-court trapping defense has forced eight opponents to commit 21 or more turnovers. The Vikings average 27.9 points per game off opponent turnovers.• The Vikings lead the Big Sky in scoring (93.6), scoring margin (+15.9), blocked shots (4.5), assists (19.5), steals (12.9), turnover margin (+9.8), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), offensive rebounds (14.4) and three-point field goals (11.2).• SR Fleads the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage (.627), FR Gleads in assists (6.0) and SR Cleads in blocked shots (2.0). Edwards tied the Portland State record for blocks in a game against Cal (7), while Woods had 13 assists, the third-most in school history.• Three different players earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week in the first five weeks of play this season: SR G, SR Gand FR G. North (20.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.1 apg) and Canda (18.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.4 spg) have led the team throughout non-conference play.• Even the losses have raised some eyebrows. The Vikings led top-ranked Duke (12-1) for more than 20 minutes of the game and as late as 14:51 to go in the second half before losing 99-81. The Vikings lost to Butler (10-3) of the Big East Conference, 71-69, missing a three-pointer to win at the buzzer. The Viking were within two points at Oregon (10-3) in the late-going before falling 95-84.Portland State now turns its attention to Big Sky Conference play. The Vikings open at Sacramento State on Saturday, Dec. 30, then play at Eastern Washington (Jan. 4) and Idaho (Jan. 6). The Big Sky Conference home opener is Jan. 11 against Montana State at PSU's temporary home, Lewis and Clark College.PSU is completing construction on the $51 million Viking Pavilion arena, which will be the Vikings' new home in 2018-19.