PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (8-14, 6-8) at MONTANA GRIZZLIES (16-9, 9-5)

Saturday, February 12, 2022, 6 p.m. PT • Dahlberg Arena (7,322), Missoula, MT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

---

THE OPENING TIP

Portland State moves on to a Saturday night matchup with the University of Montana as the Big Sky Conference race heads down the stretch. The Vikings and the Griz meet in a 6 p.m. PT contest at Dahlberg Arena that can be seen on ESPN+.
     
The Vikings (8-14, 6-8) took a narrow loss at first-place Montana State on Thursday night, 77-74. The game was tied with less than 40 seconds to play as PSU was in upset mode. But the Bobcats got a big jump shot from Abdul Mohamed, then stopped another tying bid from the Vikings to hang on and win their 10th straight game. PSU's four-game winning streak came to an end, but the Vikings can take consolation in the fact that they continued to play well on the road against the league leaders.
     
With the loss, PSU slipped from sixth place to seventh in the Big Sky standings. There is now a clear division between the top five teams in the conference - PSU is three games behind fifth-place Montana with six games to play - and the six through 11 teams. The Vikings are still within reach, but a more realistic goal would be to get back to sixth place (Eastern Washington, 6-7) to get a first-round Big Sky Tournament matchup with the league's #11 seed (currently Sacramento State or Idaho, both 2-11).
     
Portland State needs to maintain its improved offensive production at Montana for a shot at victory. The Vikings have scored 73 or more in the last seven games (averaging 85.7 points). The scoring increase coincided with a move to a "small-ball" up-tempo approach, featuring four guards in the starting lineup. Prior to that, PSU had scored more than 70 points just once in their first 13 games against Division I opponents this season.
     
Production will be particularly important against the Griz who hold opponents to a league-low 64.5 points per game. Montana (16-9, 9-5) won its earlier meeting with the Vikings, 66-64, at Viking Pavilion.
     
The Griz took their first home loss of the season on Thursday night to Northern Arizona, 72-67 in overtime. Montana is 12-1 at Dahlberg Arena, but has lost three of its last four games overall.
     
Portland State is 4-7 on the road this season, 4-3 in Big Sky games.
 

COMING UP

Portland State returns home next week for a Thursday game with Northern Arizona. The Vikings have a three-game home stand, hosting Weber State (Feb. 24) and Idaho State (Feb. 26) the following week. All games tip at 7 p.m. and are live streamed on ESPN+.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA

• THE SERIES: Montana leads the all-time series, 41-27, and the Big Sky Conference series, 33-18... the Griz lead 19-4 in Big Sky games played in Missoula... the teams have alternated wins over the last six games with Montana winning the first meeting this season.
• THIS SEASON: Jan. 20, 2022 at Viking Pavilion, UM 66, PSU 64: Portland State was ahead for 30 minutes in the contest, but could never pull away from the Griz with the largest lead of the night being only seven points. Montana, which struggled to shoot early, finally hit some key shots down the stretch making it a battle to the finish... Michael Carter III gave the Vikings their final lead, 63-62, on a score inside with 1:26 to play. Robby Beasley responded with a difficult scoop layin for Montana, just beating the shot clock, for 64-63 lead with 54 seconds to play... PSU turned the ball over on the next possession. There was still time, but Josh Bannan drew a foul and his two free throws had Montana ahead, 66-63... The Vikings' Khalid Thomas was fouled with 6.4 seconds to play. He made the first, then intentionally missed the second, but PSU couldn't come up with the ball and Montana went on to win... Damion Squire had 17 points to lead Portland State. He made 7-12 from the field and 3-3 at the line.... The Vikings dominated inside, out-scoring Montana, 50-22, in the paint and out-rebounding the Griz, 36-31. The Vikings also had one of their best shooting nights, hitting 27-55 (.491). However, PSU made just 1-10 from three-point range and couldn't get to the line as often as Montana. The Vikings were 9-15 from the charity stripe and the Griz were 16-26... Bannan led the Griz with 22 points. Beasley scored 18 points and Cameron Parker had 13 points. 
• 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 Grizzlies are led by Head Coach Travis DeCuire (Montana, 1994) in his eighth season. He is 158-93 overall and has led the Grizzlies to two Big Sky Conference Championships. DeCuire is 11-5 against the Vikings.

 

MONTANA GRIZZLIES

• The University of Montana is located in Missoula. An original member of the Big Sky Conference, Montana has won 10 Big Sky regular season titles, 11 Big Sky Tournament titles, and made 12 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Griz were 15-13 overall last season, 7-9 and sixth place in the Big Sky Conference. They return five starters and eight letterwinners from that team.
• This season, the Griz are 16-9 overall, 9-5 and fifth place in the Big Sky Conference. Montana averages 72.1 points and allows a league-low 64.5 points per game. The Griz commit the fewest turnovers (9.8) while forcing 14 per game. They also lead the league in free throw percentage (.804).
• Sophomore forward Josh Bannan leads the team in scoring (14.0) and rebounding (8.0).
• Sophomore guard Robby Beasley averages 11.6 points, has made 52 three-point field goals and shoots a Big Sky-best .873 at the free throw line.
• Senior guard Cameron Parker averages a Big Sky-leading 5.2 assists per game.

 

WHO IS HOT

• In the last seven games, PSU has averaged 85.7 points and shot .478 from the field. During the four-game winning streak, PSU averaged 88.8 points, shot .492 from the field, and .480 from three-point range (making 11.8 per game).
• Portland State's defense was on display against Sacramento State, making 16 steals and forcing 24 turnovers for 26 points. The 62 points allowed were the fewest by an opponent in nine games... despite the loss, PSU forced Montana State into 16 turnovers, making eight steals.
• FR F Hayden Curtiss blocked a PSU season-high four shots at Montana State on Thursday.
• SR G Ezekiel Alley has been red-hot, averaging 22.3 points over the last four games while shooting 33-63 from the field (.524), 11-24 from three-point range (.458) and 12-15 at the line (.800)... Alley scored a season-high 26 points (10-18 FG, 4-8 3-pt, 2-3 FT) with two rebounds, two assists and five steals in the win over Sacramento State... he is shooting 62-117 from the field (.530) in the last 11 games.
• JR G Marlon Ruffin scored 20 points (7-12 FG, 3-3 3-pt, 3-3 FT) with five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win at Northern Colorado. Ruffin followed that with another quality outing in the win over Sacramento State with 13 points (3-8 FG, 1-2 3-pt, 6-8 FT), three rebounds and two steals. He had 10 points and four rebounds at Montana State... in his last four games off the bench Ruffin is averaging 13.8 points and has made 18-39 field goals, 6-10 three-point field goals and 13-16 free throws.
• FR G Paris Dawson is 41-47 at the free throw line this season (.872) to rank second in the Big Sky Conference... in the last seven games, he has made 21-41 from the field (.512) and 10-21 from three-point range (.476).
• JR G Damion Squire is 24-26 at the free throw line this season (.923).
• JR G Ian Burke has made 24-45 field goals (.533), 13-25 three-pointers (.520) and 11-13 free throws (.846) in his last six games... Burke is shooting .500 from the field this season and .451 from three-point range... since moving into the starting lineup nine games ago, he has averaged a team-high 36 minutes per game.
• Portland State continues to lead the Big Sky Conference in steals with 9.2 per game, ranking 19th in the nation... JR G Ian Burke is second in the Big Sky (1.84) and SR F Khalid Thomas is third (1.78).

 

ZEKE ALLEY NAMED BIG SKY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The red-hot play of guard Ezekiel Alley led the Portland State Vikings men's basketball on a four-game winning streak. As a result, Alley was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 8.
     
In the past week's two wins (Feb. 1-7), Alley averaged 24.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.5 assists. He shot 17-33 from the field (.515), 8-15 from three-point range (.533) and 7-10 at the line.
     
Alley scored a season-high 23 points with four rebounds and two assists in a 106-99 road victory at Northern Colorado on Thursday. The 6-1 senior followed that with a season-high 26 points and five steals in a 73-65 win over Sacramento State on Saturday.
     
In fact, Alley scored season-highs in three straight games, getting 22 points and six rebounds in last Monday's 79-76 win over Northern Colorado.
     
During the Vikings' four-game winning streak Alley averaged 20.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals, with a shooting slash line of .519/.500/.800. He is shooting 53-100 from the field (.530) in the last 10 games.
 

BEFORE AND AFTER

Through 15 games this season, Portland State was averaging 67.7 points and shooting .402 from the field. At that point, Head Coach Jase Coburn made a transition in the team's style of play, partly due to the team's sluggish offense and partly due to a number of injuries and illnesses on the team. Since then, PSU has averaged 85.7 points and shot .478 from the field in seven games. The Vikings have scored 73 or more points in each of the last seven games. The scoring increase coincided with a move to a "small-ball" up-tempo approach, featuring four guards in the starting lineup. Prior to that, PSU had scored more than 70 just once in their first 13 games against Division I opponents this season.
 

OH, SO CLOSE

Portland State took a three-point loss to Montana State on Thursday. It was the 12th game decided by eight points or less this season, but more than that, the sixth in the last seven games. PSU is 5-7 in those 12 games, 3-3 in those recent six games.
 

BATTERED AND BRUISED

Portland State has had a rough go of it health-wise this season. While the Vikings have been impacted by COVID-19 like virtually every other program in the country, they have also had a variety of injuries preventing them from fielding a full squad virtually every game this year. Hips, knees, fingers and non-COVID illnesses have all played a role in player availability.

• Despite having 14 active players on the roster, the Vikings have frequently had just nine and 10 available for games.
• Only two players, SR F Khalid Thomas and SR G Ezekiel Alley, have been healthy enough to play in every game this season. Seven have missed games due to injuries, not including COVID.
• The Vikings have started 11 different players this season and had 11 different starting lineups.
• Head Coach Jase Coburn has started 10 different lineups in 14 Big Sky Conference games.