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Portland, OR – Big games tend to bring out big-time players. On Thursday night at Viking Pavilion, Portland State's Holland "Boo Boo" Woods was just that player, leading the Vikings to an 88-81 victory over Montana.
 
PSU knocked off the Big Sky Conference's top team behind a career-high 39 points from Woods. Remarkably, he made 21-21 free throws in the game, setting a new Portland State and Big Sky Conference record for free throws made without a miss.
 
Woods had 17 points, four assists and four steals at halftime as the Vikings bolted out to a 49-30 lead. They built the advantage to as many as 22 in the second half before the Grizzlies made a run. But in that run, they needed to foul to try to catch up. Woods was the beneficiary, making all 16 of his second-half free throws, including 10 in the last 1:22 of the contest.
 
"The big thing about this league is everyone has guys that want the ball in their hands," said Vikings Coach Barret Peery. "Boo Boo is that guy for us. He went and made plays throughout the game. Then, when we needed him, he got himself fouled in the last two minutes and converted."
 
Playing just its third home game in a month, and its only home game for the next 15 days, Portland State needed a win. They got it against league-leading Montana to improve to 5-6 in Big Sky play, 11-12 overall. 
 
"Our guys were really ready to play. They didn't like how they felt the first time we played Montana (an 85-70 loss) and we really came out and played hard and created lots of opportunities tonight. We forced turnovers and on the other end shared the ball nicely," said Peery.
 
Early on, Woods took charge on a court loaded with talented players on both sides. Portland State had a double-digit lead with 9:11 to go in the first half and maintained it until a late Montana rally cut it to nine with 4:49 to play.
 
The Vikings forced eight Montana turnovers in the first half and were nearly flawless in taking advantage by scoring 18 points off those giveaways. By halftime PSU was shooting .559 from the field and also had a 20-11 edge on the glass.
 
Woods made back-to-back three pointers, pushing the Viking lead to the largest of the game at 63-41 with 15:15 to play. With 7:57 to play, PSU still led by 20. 
 
Montana stars Sayeed Pridgett and Kendal Manuel then tried to get the Grizzlies back into the game. Stymied in the first half by the Vikings' pressure, the duo came on for the Griz late. 
 
"Our team did an excellent job on their stars, Pridgett and Manuel. Those guys have been getting 20 a night for them. So I was proud of our guys defensively, even though at the end it wasn't as great," Peery said.
 
Pridgett and Manuel combined for 27 points after intermission. And though Montana cut into the Viking lead, the Grizzlies had to resort to fouling in the final two minutes. That is when Woods went to work, keeping the visitors at arms length.
 
Woods made 7-19 from the field, 4-7 from three-point range and all 21 free throws for 39 points. The junior point guard added five assists, four steals and three rebounds. His previous career-high was 30 points. It was the most points scored by a Viking since Dominic Waters had 41 on Jan. 4, 2009 in a quadruple overtime win at Northern Arizona, and the fourth-most by a Viking in their Big Sky era (1996-2020). 
 
Sal Nuhu added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Vikings.
 
PSU finished the game shooting 29-61 from the field (.475), out-rebounded Montana 33-29, and had 11 steals.
 
The Grizzlies shot .561 from the field on 32-57 shots. However their 14 turnovers were converted by the Vikings into 28 points.
 
Manuel scored 19 points and had six rebounds. Pridgett scored 14 points with eight assists for Montana. 
 
The Grizzlies are now 7-3 in the Big Sky, 11-10 overall.
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State never trailed in the game on its way to improving its home record to 7-2, 4-1 in the Big Sky… PSU's previous record for free throws made in a game without a miss was 17-17 by Deonte Huff on Feb. 2, 2008 against Montana State. The Big Sky record was 20-20, set by four players… Matt Hauser missed his seventh straight game due to an ankle sprain… Portland State is now off for eight days before resuming play on the road Feb. 8 at Southern Utah.