boxscore

Grand Forks, ND - Aaron Anderson scored a career-high 25 points to lead North Dakota to an 85-76 Big Sky Conference win over Portland State at the Betty Englestad Center.

Anderson made 7-10 from the field, 3-4 from three-point range and 8-8 at the line for his 25 points.

Troy Huff added 25 points and six rebounds for UND which picked its' third straight victory. North Dakota is 7-10 on the season, 4-4 in the Big Sky.

North Dakota was shooting just 40% from the field going into the game. However, UND had one of its best performances of the season, hitting 53% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and a school-record 21-21 at the line.

Anderson, Huff and Jamal Webb scored 66 of UND's 85 points, making a combined 22-34 shots from the field, 7-12 from three-point range and 15-15 at the line.

"Anderson is really quick getting into the lane. He is good player, Huff is a good player and Jamal Webb hit a dagger (three-pointer) there at the end," said Head Coach Tyler Geving.

The Vikings also shot it well, hitting 26-52 from the field (.500), 9-16 from three-point range (.563) and 15-20 at the line (.750). PSU's loss dropped it to 5-10 on the year, 3-5 in the Big Sky. The Vikings are now 0-8 on the road.

Portland State played without leading scorer Renado Parker, who is suffering from an ankle sprain. Parker had played only three minutes on Thursday against Northern Colorado. And, perhaps due to the absence of Parker, the Vikings' main low-post threat, PSU was able to increase the tempo of the game and get a number of transition baskets early on.

After a series of slow starts in recent games, PSU went on a 9-0 run that had the Vikings ahead 10-4 in the first three-and-a-half minutes.

PSU led 19-12 with just over 13 minutes to play in the half. But UND got going, mounting a 15-3 run over the next six minutes to take a 27-22 lead. The remainder of the half was tight with North Dakota leading 40-38 at intermission.

Both teams shot 14-26 from the field in the half (.538). The Vikings got 11 points from Michael Harthun, including 3-3 from three-point range. PSU made 6-9 threes overall. Lateef McMullan and Aaron Moore each had nine points. Anderson and  Webb combined for 24 of UND's 40 in the half, making 8-10 from the field and 6-6 at the line.

A 16-8 North Dakota run opened the second half and PSU found itself down by 10. That would be the biggest advantage UND had the entire half. The Vikings narrowed it to two points on several occasions but could never get the lead back. 

McMullan hit a three-pointer to get the Vikings within 72-70 and 3:36 to play. Then, North Dakota finished strong, scoring 13 points on their last six successive possessions. That included 6-6 at the line. 

Harthun scored a season-high 19 points for the Vikings on 6-8 from the field, 4-4 from three-point range and 3-3 at the line. Moore scored 18 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. McMullan scored 14 points, and Gary Winston added 11 points and four assists.

GAME NOTES: Portland State and North Dakota were meeting for the first time ever in a Big Sky Conference basketball game. UND is a first-year member of the conference… PSU and UND were in a five-way tie for fourth place in the Big Sky entering the game… sophomore center Brandon Cataldo started his second game of the season in place of Renado Parker. Cataldo played a career-high 23 minutes, scoring seven points with four rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot… the Vikings continue their stretch of four straight on the road next week. PSU plays the third game in that stretch on Thursday at Southern Utah.