MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (13-5, 5-2) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (4-10, 2-4)

Saturday, January 22, 2022, 7 p.m. • Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
Live Stream: ESPN+ • Play-by-Play: Matt Richert • Analyst: Devon Pouncey
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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Game Presented by Les Schwab Tires

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THE OPENING TIP

The grind continues on Saturday as Portland State hosts Montana State in a Big Sky Conference game at Viking Pavilion.
     
The Vikings (4-10, 2-4) come off a gut-wrenching 66-64 loss to a talented Montana team on Thursday - a game in which PSU played well and led for 30 minutes. It gets no easier against the Bobcats (13-5, 5-2) who come in as hot as any team in the league. MSU defeated Northern Arizona 89-84 on the road Thursday for its fourth straight win, ninth win in 10 games, and 12th in the last 14.
     
PSU needs to get it turned around at home, where it has lost four straight but been, oh, so close. In the last three contests, the Vikings have fallen by a combined 10 points. Thursday's performance was a good one - though just one play short - in the two-point loss to the Griz. The Vikings shot .491 from the field and out-rebounded Montana, 36-31. However, they managed only 1-10 from three-point range and had 11 fewer free throw attempts.
     
The positive signs are there for the Vikings, though. They have improved their overall shooting in the past week with games of .426, 458 and .491 from the field, after shooting sub-.400 over the first 11 games of the season.
     
Also looking good have been JR G Damion Squire (17 pts, 7-12 FG, 3-3 FT), after finally returning from hip surgery, and the return of a healthy SR F James Jean-Marie (16 pts, 8-10 FG, 9 reb). SR F Khalid Thomas (11 pts, 7 reb) and JR G Michael Carter III (10 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast) have been productive as well.
     
The Vikings will need that offense and more as they take on one of the top offensive teams in the league. MSU is averaging 77.8 points, second-best in the conference, and makes more than eight three-point field goals per game. The Bobcats are 5-4 on the road this season, including 3-1 in Big Sky road games.
     
Saturday's game is a 7 p.m. tip and will be live streamed on ESPN+. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 

COMING UP

Portland State continues its home stand against Idaho on Monday (makeup of a postponement). That game will be the fifth in a 10-game-in-22-day stretch. It will be the third of the four-game home stand. PSU hosts Southern Utah on Jan. 27. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. at Viking Pavilion and can be seen on ESPN+.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA STATE

• THE SERIES: Montana leads the all-time series, 36-27, and the Big Sky Conference series, 29-24... ironically, PSU has won all four times the teams have met in the Big Sky Conference Tournament... the Viking lead the series, 17-9, in Big Sky games played in Portland... last season, MSU swept the series as both games were played in Bozeman. Prior to that, the Vikings had won five of the last six in the series.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 14, 2021 at Bozeman, MSU 71, PSU 64: Montana State pulled away late in a tightly-contested game. PSU led much of the first half and the Bobcats all of the second half, but neither squad could muster a double-digit advantage until the final seconds. An eight-point run down the stretch proved to be the difference as the Montana State took the victory... James Scott had a big game for the Vikings with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Elijah Hardy came off the bench to get a season-high 17 points... Mike Hood scored 19 points to lead MSU. Jubrile Belo had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Borja Fernandez came off the bench to score 13. Jan. 16, 2021 at Bozeman, MSU 69, PSU 64: In a game that looked similar to the contest just two days prior, Montana State pulled out a 69-64 victory. Like the earlier game, PSU led for most of the first half, trailed for most of the second half, but it was so close neither team led by more than 10 points... James Scott scored 15 points with six rebounds and six assists to lead Portland State. Khalid Thomas scored 14 points with a team-high seven rebounds. Amari McCray added 13 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots before fouling out... Montana State's Xavier Bishop, the reigning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, tallied 22 points to lead all scorers. Big man Jubrile Belo went for 10 points and 10 rebounds... PSU easily won the rebound battle, 43-30, but had 18 turnovers and managed to shoot only .361 from the field... The Bobcats were not a lot better at .422 from the field. However, they capitalized on Viking fouls, making 25-36 for the game (.694), including 19-27 in the second half. In fact, MSU had only one field goal made in the final 9:30 of the game. They made 15 free throws in that span.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his first season as Head Coach. He has spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Bobcats are led by Head Coach Danny Sprinkle (Montana State, 2000) in his third season. He is 42-30 overall, including 2-2 against the Vikings. Sprinkle starred for the Bobcats as a player in the late 1990s.

 

MONTANA STATE BOBCATS

• Montana State is located in Bozeman. The Bobcats are an original member of the Big Sky Conference and have won four regular season championships and two tournament titles over the years. MSU has made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Bobcats were 13-10 overall last year, 8-6 and tied for fourth in the Big Sky Conference. All five starters and eight letterwinners return from that team.
• This season, the Bobcats are 13-5 overall, 5-2 in the Big Sky Conference. The Bobcats score 77.8 points per game and allow 69.2 points. They shoot .468 from the field, .369 from three-point range and .742 at the free throw line.
• Junior forward Jubrile Belo averages 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while shooting .599 from the field. He also ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in blocked shots at 1.6 per game.
• Senior guard Xavier Bishop averages 12.9 points and ranks second in the Big Sky in assists at 4.8 per game.

 

WHO IS HOT

• PSU's .491 shooting percentage (27-55) against Montana was its best of the season against a Division I opponent.
• JR G Damion Squire scored 17 points (7-12 FG, 3-3 FT) in just his third game as a Viking. He is 11-19 (.579) from the field overall.
• SR F James Jean-Marie hit 8-10 shots from the field, scoring 16 points in 22 minutes off the bench against Montana. He is 12-17 from the field in the last two games (.706) and shoots .522 for the season.
• SR F Khalid Thomas has picked up his play of late, averaging 15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in the last four games. Included were a pair of double-doubles, a 20-point game and a career-high 12 rebounds against Eastern Washington... Thomas ranks ninth in the Big Sky in rebounding (6.6) and second in steals (1.6).
• SO F Jacob Eyman matched his career high with 11 points (5-8 FG, 1-3 FT) against Eastern Washington (12/30), then followed that with another career high in the win at Sacramento State (1/15) with 14 points (6-10 FG, 2-4 FT) and eight rebounds. He had a season-high three blocked shots against Montana... Eyman is shooting a team-best .561 from the field this season and ranks sixth in the Big Sky in blocked shots (1.0).
• DEFENSE TRAVELS: Head Coach Jase Coburn likes to say, "defense travels" meaning regardless of where you play, or how much you score, you can always have a consistent defensive effort. The Vikings have had that in 2021-22, leading the Big Sky Conference in steals (8.9), offensive rebounds (12.5). They rank second in points allowed (68.0), blocked shots (3.6) and turnovers forced (15.2).