Boise, ID – The late season run continues.
 
Seventh-seeded Portland State shocked number-two seed Southern Utah in a Big Sky Tournament Quarterfinal game on Thursday night, 77-65, at Idaho Central Arena.
 
As well as PSU has played since late January, winning 10 of the last 13 games, it is doubtful anyone expected the Viking upset. Except, of course, for the Vikings. The result is a trip to the Big Sky Semifinal on Friday night, the first time the PSU program has reached that game since 2014.
 
Star forward Khalid Thomas set the tone for Portland State in the opening two minutes. He blocked Southern Utah's first shot of the game, then at the other end smashed an alley-oop dunk. On the Vikings next possession, Thomas buried a three-pointer, then came back up court and blocked another Thunderbird shot. That led to 40 minutes of dominance for the Vikings as they never trailed in the game.
 
The start could not have been better, offensively and defensively. The Vikings raced to an 11-2 lead forcing a quick Southern Utah timeout. Then PSU poured it on as a Hayden Curtiss dunk-and-one at the 9:18 mark of the half built the lead to 22-6.
 
By halftime, PSU had held Southern Utah to 8-26 from the field (.308), making five steals. The Vikings were up 35-20 at intermission.
 
Thomas hit a hoop in the lane to open the second half and the Vikings led 37-20. It would be the largest lead of the game and Portland State would maintain the double-digit advantage for almost the entire game. The Thunderbirds briefly cut the lead to nine at the 12-minute mark, but Ian Burke made back-to-back three-pointers for the Vikings and soon the lead was back up to 15.
 
Portland State made a flurry of free throws down the stretch, finishing the game at 27-52 from the field (.519) and 17-21 at the line (.810).
 
Thomas scored a game-high 20 points, making 8-13 from the field, 2-5 from three-point range and 2-2 at the line. He added seven rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and two assists.
 
Michael Carter III had 13 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Vikings. Ian Burke contributed 10 points, four boards, three steals and a blocked shot.
 
"Ian stepped up and played really well," said Viking Coach Jase Coburn. "We know he is a dependable player and he hit a couple of big threes for us tonight when they were chipping away. He had three steals, four rebounds and he keeps coming up with big plays for us."
 
Portland State's defense was as good as ever. After holding Idaho State to .320 shooting and forcing 20 turnovers in Wednesday's first-round win, the Vikings held Southern Utah to .368 shooting, blocked seven shots and made seven steals. PSU has held the two tournament opponents to a combined 3-40 from three-point range.
 
"I think we have prepared really well the last couple of weeks. That really has helped us a lot. Yesterday we picked it up in the second half and really carried it over to today," said Michael Carter III.
 
The Vikings are now 14-16 on the season, including 10-3 since Jan. 29.
 
"We have been playing meaningful basketball games for a long time now," said Coburn. "Our backs were against the wall about two months ago, but we have just kept responding, responding, responding. We just want to keep going and I couldn't ask for a better group of guys to be around," said Coburn.
 
Southern Utah entered the game at 20-10, winners of four of their last five. But their season, and their Big Sky Conference participation, end with the loss. SUU will move to the Western Athletic Conference next year.
 

GAME NOTES

• Portland State is now 14-15 all-time in the Big Sky Tournament. PSU is 4-1 all-time in first-round games, 6-8 all-time in quarterfinal round games, 2-6 all-time in semifinal games and 2-0 in tournament championships.
• The Vikings had five dunks in the game, with two from Hayden Curtiss, two from Khalid Thomas and one from Michael Carter III.
• Mikal Starks had another big game off the bench with nine points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in 20 minutes. Hayden Curtiss scored nine points on 3-4 from the field, 3-3 at the line, adding three rebounds and a blocked shot.
• Southern Utah won both regular season matchups, 86-76, in Cedar City and 85-82 in overtime in Portland.
• Portland State advances to a Big Sky Tournament semifinal on Friday night against the winner of Northern Colorado vs. Eastern Washington. Tip time is 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT and the game can be seen on ESPN+.