IDAHO STATE BENGALS (7-20, 5-13) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (10-15, 8-9)

Saturday, February 26, 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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THE OPENING TIP

With four straight home wins in its pocket, Portland State will  try to close out the home schedule on another high note Saturday night when the Vikings host Idaho State.
     
PSU (10-15, 8-9) comes off a big 81-75 win over then-second-place Weber State on Thursday night. That marked the fourth win in a row at home and sixth win in the last eight games overall. The suddenly hot and high-scoring Vikings now want to put a bow on the Viking Pavilion for the 2021-22 season with a win over the Bengals.
     
PSU beat ISU all the way back on Dec. 2, 63-55, to open the Big Sky season and give first-year Head Coach Jase Coburn his first conference victory. Now, 86 days later, the teams meet again. The Vikings are playing a very different style from that cold December night in Pocatello as they have transitioned to a smaller lineup and up-tempo game. Coburn hopes that game works just as well against the Bengals (7-20, 5-13), who have been offensively challenged this season. Idaho State ranks last in the Big Sky in scoring (64.4 ppg) and shooting (.417 FG%). Meanwhile, the Vikings have been averaging 81.5 points over the past 10 games.
     
Portland State goes into the game with a 6-7 home record overall, but has wins in the last four at home. Idaho State is 2-13 on the road, but picked up a 70-66 road win on Thursday at Northern Arizona.
     
The Vikings' Thursday night win followed a familiar script of recent games. PSU was productive on offense, shooting .477 from the field, made 11 three-pointers and fueled transition by forcing the Wildcats to more turnovers than normal. Five Vikings scored in double figures led by a stellar game from JR G Michael Carter III. Carter had 19 points (8-11 FG, 3-4 FT), six assists and five rebounds without a turnover. He also scored the final four points of the game in the last 30 seconds after Weber State had cut the Viking lead to two points at 77-75.
     
Portland State's win has it almost assured of a seventh-place finish in the Big Sky (now 8-9). Only Idaho (now 5-12) could tie the Vikings for seventh if the Vandals win their last three games and the Vikings lose their last three. Idaho would hold the tie-breaker in that scenario.
     
PSU can still reach sixth place as it trails Eastern Washington (9-8) by just one game. The Vikings and Eagles meet in the season finale on Mar. 5 in Cheney.
     
Fifth-place is also attainable for the Vikings, but perhaps not likely as they are two games behind Montana (10-7) with three to play and the Griz hold the tie-breaker. Fifth place gets a first-round bye and quarterfinal round matchup with the fourth-place team (currently Northern Colorado).
     
A seventh-place finish would give PSU a first-round matchup with the 10th seed in the Big Sky (currently Idaho State). A sixth-place finish would give PSU a matchup with the 11th-seed (currently Sacramento State).
     
Saturday night's game tips off at 7 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. It can be seen on ESPN+ with live statistics at www.ViksLive.com.
 

THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

The Big Sky Conference Tournament takes place Mar. 9-12 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, ID. First-round games are on Wednesday, March 9. The top five teams in league play earn a bye into the quarterfinals on Thursday.
 
2022 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
 
Wednesday, March 9, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 1 – No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed, 9:30 a.m.         
Game 2 – No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed, Noon
Game 3 – No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Seed, 2:30 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 10, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 4 – No. 1 Seed vs. Game 1 Winner, Noon       
Game 5 – No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6 – No. 2 Seed vs. Game 2 Winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 7 – No. 3 Seed vs. Game 3 Winner, 8 p.m.
 
Friday, March 11, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (Semifinals), 5:30 p.m.
Game 9 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner (Semifinals), 8 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 12, 2022, televised on ESPNU
Game 10 – Championship Game, 6 p.m.
 
All times listed are Mountain
 

THIS SEASON, PORTLAND STATE vs.

1. Montana State, 13-3 (0-2) - L, 73-60 at PSU; L, 77-74 at MSU
2. Southern Utah, 12-5 (0-2) - L, 86-76 at SUU; L, 85-82 (ot) at PSU
3. Weber State, 12-6 (1-1) - L, 80-69 at WSU; W, 81-75 at PSU
4. Northern Colorado, 11-6 (2-0) - W, 79-76 at PSU; W, 106-99 at UNC
5. Montana, 10-7 (0-2) - L, 66-64 at PSU; L, 85-76 at UM
6. Eastern Washington, 9-8 (0-1) - L, 63-58 at PSU
7. PSU, 8-9
t8. Northern Arizona, 5-12 (2-0) - W, 97-76 at NAU; W, 68-67 at PSU
t8. Idaho, 5-12 (0-1) - L, 84-79 at PSU
10. Idaho State, 5-13 (1-0) - W, 63-55 at ISU
11. Sacramento State, 4-13 (2-0) - W, 67-62 at SAC; W, 73-65 at PSU
 

SENIOR NIGHT

Portland State will honor its seniors on Saturday night before the game with Idaho State. Forward Khalid Thomas (11.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and guard Ezekiel Alley (10.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg) are the only true seniors on the roster and will have their eligibility expire at the end of the season. The Viking program will also recognize juniors Michael Carter III (10.1 ppg, 3.0 apg), Ian Burke (7.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and Gio Nelson (1.8 ppg, 1.0 rpg) as all three have completed their degrees. Those three still have one year of eligibility remaining and have the option of returning to play for one more season.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings close out the regular season at Idaho (Mar. 3) and Eastern Washington (Mar. 5) next week. All games are live streamed on ESPN+.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO STATE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Idaho State, 37-22, and the Big Sky Conference series, 33-18... the Vikings are 20-7 in Big Sky home games against the Bengals... PSU has won five of the last six meetings and eight of the last 10 overall.
• THIS SEASON: Dec. 2 at Pocatello, PSU 63, ISU 55: Portland State withstood a six-minute scoring drought in the second half to pull out the road win. The victory was the first Big Sky win in the career of new Head Coach Jase Coburn... PSU never trailed after the opening two minutes, but went cold from the field in the second half. The difference was a huge rebounding advantage of 45-31 over the Bengals while forcing 18 ISU turnovers. During the Vikings' scoreless stretch they only gave up five points and still led 49-44 with 6:02 to go... The Vikings also shot well at the line, hitting 21-27 (.778), including 14-18 in the second half. In fact, PSU made only one field goal in the last 10 minutes of play, but were solid at the line down the stretch, making 11-14 in the last four minutes... James Jean-Marie had 10 of his team-high 16 points after halftime, including a 9-12 effort at the line. He also grabbed eight of his 10 rebounds after halftime to lead both teams... The Vikings got a big boost from their bench. They outscored the Bengal bench 24-6 and had 14 rebounds... ISU's Tarik Cool led all scorers with 27 points, but ISU didn't provide him with much help otherwise. 
• 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 Bengals are coached by Ryan Looney in his third season. Looney is 28-53 overall, 1-4 against the Vikings.

 

WHO IS HOT

• In the last 10 games, PSU has averaged 81.5 points... during a four-game winning streak (Jan. 29-Feb. 5), 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 has been on display in the last nine games, forcing 19.6 turnovers per game and making 9.7 steals... for the season, PSU forces 16.8 turnovers per game - the most in the Big Sky... PSU leads the Big Sky in turnover margin (+4.0), ranking 16th in the nation.
• JR G Michael Carter III is 24-36 from the field (.667) in the last four games, averaging 15.3 points per game. He led the Vikings with 19 points (8-11 FG, 3-4 FT), six assists and five rebounds in the win over Weber State.
• JR G Damion Squire matched his season high with 19 points (7-13 FG, 4-5 FT) against Northern Arizona. Squire now leads the team in scoring among active players (11.4). He shoots .921 at the free throw line  (35-38) to rank second in the Big Sky in conference games.
• SR G Ezekiel Alley has been red-hot, averaging 18.1 points over the last seven games while shooting 24-28 at the line (.867)... 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 (2/5) and was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Feb. 8).
• Portland State continues to lead the Big Sky Conference in steals with 9.2 per game, ranking 14th in the nation... SR F Khalid Thomas is third in steals in the Big Sky (1.84) while JR G Ian Burke is fourth in the Big Sky (1.71).
• Portland State's 10th win of the season marks the 21st time in 26 seasons since reinstating its basketball program that it has reached double figures in victories. PSU won only nine games last season, but the schedule was shortened to 22 games due to COVID.

 

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 81.5 points and shot .469 from the field, .348 from three-point range and .791 at the line while winning six of 10 games. The Vikings have scored 73 or more points in nine of the 10 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.
 

YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS

PSU is currently shooting .756 at the free throw line, which is a school-record pace. The Vikings are led by JR G Damion Squire who is 35-38 (.921), which ranks second in the Big Sky in conference games, and FR G Paris Dawson who is 41-47 (.872). Neither have enough attempts to qualify for overall league leadership.
 
Portland State's Best Free Throw Shooting Seasons
2021-22: .756
2012-13: .743
2001-02: .743
2014-15: .742
2011-12: .737
 

OH, SO CLOSE

Portland State earned another single-digit win in the 81-75 victory over Weber State. It was the 14th game decided by eight points or less this season. PSU is 7-7 in those 12 games, 5-3 in those recent eight games.