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Portland, OR – Portland State knew it had its hands full with the Big Sky Conference's leading scorer in Jordan Davis, but points from another source proved just as costly. Northern Colorado got 27 points from Davis, and 19 more big points from freshman Bodie Hume as the Bears beat the Vikings, 73-60, at the Viking Pavilion.
 
PSU dropped its Big Sky opener at home and third straight home game overall. The Vikings are now 5-7, 0-1 on the season. Meanwhile, Northern Colorado improved to 8-5, 2-0.
 
What figured to be a high-scoring, free-wheeling affair between two of the top three scoring teams was anything but that. Instead, it was a half-court game in which each team struggled to get rolling offensively.
 
Northern Colorado's saving grace in the first half was hitting six three-point field goals among its 11 made baskets. The Vikings got to the free throw line and converted, making 8-10. Other than that, both teams shot 38% from the field and the game was tied 29-29 at intermission.
 
Davis, who entered the game averaging 24.3 points, was on pace at halftime with 12.
 
Turnovers by the Vikings on the first four possessions of the second half allowed the Bears to climb to a 36-29 lead - their largest to that point - and forced the Vikings into a timeout. When Hume hit a three-pointer at the 14:54 mark Northern Colorado's lead was 10 at 42-32 and PSU appeared to be in big trouble.
 
Derek Brown staged a mini-rally for the Vikings though, scoring seven straight points to cut the deficit to 42-39. But the Bears continued to sight and sink threes. A Hume three with 8:09 left had the UNC lead back at 10 at 50-40.
 
Again the Vikings made a run, getting five points from Brown and five from Robert McCoy, to cut the Bears lead to 54-50 with 4:31 remaining in the game. PSU was down only 65-60 with 1:29 left after Michael Mayhew hit a three-pointer.
 
That's when Hume hit his biggest three - and fifth on the afternoon - from the right wing. That had the Bears up 68-60 with just under a minute to play and ended the Vikings' comeback hopes.
 
UNC finished the game shooting only 23-55 from the field (.418), but 12 made three-pointers and solid ball-handling (nine turnovers) were key. Davis hit 9-22 from the field and 8-12 at the line for his 27 points. Hume made 5-10 threes for his 19 points.
 
Brown had a big second half to keep the Vikings in the game. He scored 15 of his team-high 16 points after the break. The senior guard hit 5-7 shots, 2-2 three-pointers, and 4-5 at the line. Robert McCoy added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Vikings.
 
PSU shot 19-51 from the floor (.373), made 7-19 three-pointers (.368) and 15-18 at the line (.833).
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State leads the Big Sky series with Northern Colorado, 14-10, but has lost four straight to the Bears… the Vikings are now 4-3 at home this season. They have lost four straight overall… UNC entered the game as the Big Sky leader in scoring (82.8) and three-point field goals made per game (10.8)... Portland State plays on the road in eight of its next 11 Big Sky Conference games. Next up is Montana State on Thursday in Bozeman. Tip off is 6 p.m. PT. The game will be live stream on Pluto TV Channel 238 and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.