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Sacramento, CA – The bad news is Portland State lost its third straight road game, 78-67, at Sacramento State. The good news is the Vikings now come home for six of their final eight regular season games.
 
PSU's loss at Sacramento State drops it to 4-8 in Big Sky Conference. But, among those 12 games, eight of come on the road, where the Vikings are only 2-6. The irony, is those two wins came at Big Sky powerhouses Montana and Weber State. And so, Portland State comes home this Thursday to host Northern Arizona with hopes of mounting a run heading into the Big Sky Conference Tournament, Mar. 13-16.
 
Sacramento State had one of its best offensive performances of the season against the Vikings. The Hornets shot 32-54 (.593) from the field and never trailed in the game. The win propelled the Hornets (10-10, 4-7) one-half game ahead of the Vikings (9-14, 4-8) in the Big Sky standings.
 
A rare team that does not rely on the three-point shot, Sacramento State shot a scalding hot .704 from the field in the first half, making 17-24 shots from the field. The Vikings gave the Hornets too many easy looks early as they were only 3-5 from three-point range.
 
Osi Nwachukwu made 6-6 from the field in the half and had 13 points, twice his season average. When Chibueze Jacobs fired a three-pointer from mid-court that swished at the halftime buzzer the Hornets had a 43-31 lead.
 
Only once could Portland State trim the deficit to less than double-digits in the second half, and it was brief, at 52-43 with 13:39 to go. Sacramento State pumped the lead back up as high as 17 points and were never seriously threatened by PSU down the stretch.
 
The Sacramento State zone defense slowed the Viking offense just enough that it never got into a rhythm. Portland State was just 8-28 from the field in the second half, preventing any comeback bid.
 
Only Michael Nuga had a big offensive night for PSU. Nuga has seen limited time in recent games as he has been troubled by knee pain. On this night he appeared to be back to his normal, spring self, finishing with 19 points. Nuga hit 6-12 from the field, including 5-11 three-pointers, in 24 minutes off the bench.
 
Otherwise, PSU was 19-53 from the field (.358), the exact total the Vikings shot in a loss to Northern Colorado in their last game. The Vikings were 9-24 from three-point range (.375) and 20-24 at the line (.833).
 
Holland Woods was the only other Viking in double figures with 11 points and five assists.
 
Marcus Graves and Ethan Esposito each had 16 points for the Hornets. Nwachukwu finished at 7-7 from the field for 15 points.
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State's bench scored 40 of the team's 67 points… PSU has averaged 65.3 points over its three-game losing streak… Portland State now returns home for six of their final eight Big Sky Conference games. It all starts with a Thursday night contest against Northern Arizona at the Viking Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game airs on www.pluto.tv Channel 232 and wwwWatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.