Boxscore - HTM | PDF

Portland, OR - Portland State's offensive locomotive came to a screeching halt on Saturday afternoon. The Northern Colorado Bears took advantage with a 73-59 Big Sky Conference win at the Stott Center.
 
Averaging over 90 points a game and coming off a 99-62 rout of North Dakota on Thursday, the Vikings simply didn't look like the same team. PSU scored a season-low 59 points, shooting 24-66 from the field (.364). Even worse was the free throw shooting as the Vikings managed just 4-21 (.190) at the charity stripe. It was PSU's lowest field goal and free throw percentages of the season.
 
On the other hand, Northern Colorado saw their opportunity and took it. Once the Bears got a comfortable lead in the second half they ran a methodical offense, burning clock and getting good shots.
 
It was a disappointing loss for Portland State, who saw a five-game winning streak extinguished. It was also PSU's first home loss of the season (5-1). The Vikings are now 8-5 overall, 1-1 in the Big Sky Conference.
 
Northern Colorado improved to 2-0 in conference play with an opening-weekend road sweep. UNC is 6-7 overall, having won three straight games.
 
In the first half, the Bears slowed the Viking offense to one of its poorest outputs of the season. Portland State, so adept at forcing turnovers, were troubled by mistakes of their own. The Vikings forced nine turnovers, but committed eight.
 
Still, PSU led 28-22 on a Calaen Robinson three-pointer with 6:05 left in the half. That proved to be the high water mark for the Vikings. PSU closed out the half shooting only 1-8 and the Bears went on an 11-2 run. Northern Colorado led at halftime, 33-30.
 
The Bears came out to score the first seven points after halftime to extend the run to 18-2. The Vikings trailed 40-30 with 16:23 remaining in the game. Soon, UNC's lead grew to 15, and with 9:05 to go the Bears were up 58-41.
 
Portland State showed some life, running off 12 straight points and cutting the deficit to 58-53 with 3:28 to play. The Bears answered with a pair of three-pointers - one by DJ Miles and a second by Jonah Radebaugh. That got the UNC lead back to double digits inside the final three minutes and the Vikings hopes were dashed.
 
Portland State might have had a better chance were it not for the abysmal free throw shooting. The Vikings forced the issue in their comeback attempt, drawing numerous fouls. But they could only make 3-19 from the line in the second half, missing 10 in a row at one point.
 
The Bears were led by the 19 points and seven assists of guard Jordan Davis. Miles scored 17 points off the bench. UNC shot .473 from the field.
 
PSU got 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists from De'Sean Parsons. Robinson tallied 15 points with four assists and four steals.
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State's eight-game home winning streak came to an end… Traylin Farris scored 11 points and had a game-high nine rebounds for PSU… Portland State is off until next Saturday when it hosts Sacramento State at the Stott Center. Tip-off is 7:05 p.m. Live video and audio can be found at GoViks.com and live stats will be available at ViksLive.com.