Big Sky Conference Tournament First Round

#7 PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (12-16, 10-10) vs. #10 IDAHO STATE BENGALS (7-22, 5-15)

Wednesday, March 9, 2022, Noon MT/ 11 a.m. PT • Idaho Central Arena, Boise, ID
Live Stream: ESPN+ • Play-by-Play: Tony Parks • Analyst: Joe Cravens
Live Stats: www.bigskystats.com
Complete notes and stats in pdf

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THE OPENING TIP

The madness begins this Wednesday in Boise, ID as the Portland State Vikings will take on the Idaho State Bengals in a first-round Big Sky Conference Tournament game. The Vikings and Bengals meet at noon MT/11 a.m. PT in a game televised on ESPN+ for the right to advance to the quarterfinals and a matchup with Southern Utah on Thursday.
     
The Big Sky Tournament runs Wednesday through Saturday at Boise's Idaho Central Arena. The champion of the tournament will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
     
Portland State (12-16, 10-10) will go into the tournament as the number-seven seed. The Vikings, despite a loss at Eastern Washington on Saturday, have had an electric run over the past five weeks, winning eight of 11 games. PSU has changed its style to a guard-oriented, up-tempo approach that has befuddled many opponents, forced nearly 20 turnovers per game and opened a lot of eyes around the league.
     
First-year Head Coach Jase Coburn has relied on SR F Khalid Thomas (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.9 spg) and SR G Ezekiel Alley (11.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.6 apg) for a lot of his production, but it has routinely come from multiple sources every night, including JR G Damion Squire (11.1 ppg), JR G Marlon Ruffin (10.2 ppg), JR G Michael Carter III (9.7 ppg, 2.7 apg) and JR G Ian Burke (6.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.7 spg) in the Vikings' four-guard lineup.
     
Most significant has been the Vikings' improved offense (80.1 ppg, .466/.353/.765), which has been fueled by a pressure defense (19.5 forced turnovers, 10.0 steals, +9.5 turnover margin) over the last 11 games.
     
During the 11-game stretch, Alley has averaged 16.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and shot .853 at the line.Thomas has come in at 15.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.1 steals and .850 at the line. Each has won a Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honor.
     
The Vikings will be playing their first neutral site contest of the season when they match up with the Bengals. PSU beat ISU in both meetings this year, however both were tightly contested (63-55 in Pocatello; 73-69 in OT in Portland).
     
Idaho State (7-22, 5-15) enters the tournament as the number 10 seed. The Bengals will also be playing their first neutral site game of the season. Idaho State ranks last in the Big Sky in scoring at 64.8 points per game. Led by guard Tarik Cool (12.1 ppg, 2.9 apg), the Bengals have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games.
     
Portland State is 2-0 all-time in games against Idaho State in the Big Sky Tournament. Both wins came in semifinal games leading to PSU winning a Big Sky title. The Vikings beat the Bengals, 72-61, in a semifinal game played at The Rose Garden in Portland on Mar. 11, 2008. The Vikings beat the Bengals, 61-53, in a semifinal played at Dee Events Center in Ogden, UT on Mar. 10, 2009. PSU won the Big Sky Tournament both seasons.
     
The Viking program is 12-15 all-time in Big Sky Tournament games. PSU seeks its first Big Sky Tournament win since 2018. The Vikings lost in a quarterfinal in 2019, did not play in 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to COVID, and lost a first-round game in 2021.
 

THE 2022 BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

 
Wednesday, March 9, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 1 – No. 8 Sacramento State (10-17, 6-14) vs. No. 9 Idaho (9-22, 6-14), 9:30 a.m.    
Game 2 – No. 7 Portland State (12-16, 10-10) vs. No. 10 Idaho State (7-22, 5-15), Noon
Game 3 – No. 6 Eastern Washington (17-14, 11-9) vs. No. 11 Northern Arizona (9-22, 5-15), 2:30 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 10, 2022, live streamed on ESPN+
Game 4 – No. 1 Montana State (24-7, 16-4) vs. Game 1 Winner, Noon      
Game 5 – No. 4 Weber State (20-11, 13-7) vs. No. 5 Montana (18-13, 11-9), 2:30 p.m.
Game 6 – No. 2 Southern Utah (20-10, 14-6) vs. Game 2 Winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 7 – No. 3 Northern Colorado (18-14, 13-7) 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, 16-4 (0-2) - L, 73-60 at PSU; L, 77-74 at MSU
2. Southern Utah, 14-6 (0-2) - L, 86-76 at SUU; L, 85-82 (ot) at PSU
3. Northern Colorado, 13-7 (2-0) - W, 79-76 at PSU; W, 106-99 at UNC
4. Weber State, 13-7 (1-1) - L, 80-69 at WSU; W, 81-75 at PSU
5. Montana, 11-9 (0-2) - L, 66-64 at PSU; L, 85-76 at UM
6. Eastern Washington, 11-9 (0-2) - L, 63-58 at PSU; L, 75-83 at EWU
7. PSU, 10-10
8. Sacramento State, 6-14 (2-0) - W, 67-62 at SAC; W, 73-65 at PSU
9. Idaho, 6-14 (1-1) - L, 84-79 at PSU; W, 79-68 at UI
10. Idaho State, 5-15 (2-0) - W, 63-55 at ISU; W, 73-69 (ot) at PSU
11. Northern Arizona, 5-15 (2-0) - W, 97-76 at NAU; W, 68-67 at PSU
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO STATE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Idaho State, 38-22, and the Big Sky Conference series, 34-18... PSU has won six of the last seven meetings and nine of the last 11 overall... PSU is 2-0 all-time against Idaho State in the Big Sky Tournament.
• 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. Feb. 26 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 73, ISU 69 (ot): Khalid Thomas scored a career-high 27 points, including an emphatic fast break dunk in overtime to give the Vikings the lead for good with 38 seconds remaining... PSU trailed for more than 30 minutes of the contest and by as many as 12 late in the first half. But, after being down 34-24 at intermission, they inched their way back into the game... The Vikings got their first lead of the second half on a driving three-point play by Thomas with 4:02 left. The Vikings were up 53-51 at that point. Thomas made another conventional three-point play with 1:35 remaining and PSU led 60-58. Liam Sorensen answered with a score inside for the Bengals with 1:16 on the clock, tying the game. Neither team could score on their final possessions, sending the contest to overtime... Again, Idaho State grabbed the lead and was up 68-65 with 1:18 remaining in overtime... Vikings junior guard Damion Squire scored inside to cut it to 68-67 and set up the biggest play of the night. On Idaho State's next possession, Thomas knifed in to cut off a pass and make his fourth steal of the night. The 6-10 forward raced to the other end to hammer down a jam over ISU's Daxton Carr. PSU led 69-68 with 38 ticks left in overtime and the crowd went wild, forcing a Bengal timeout... When the Bengals tried to respond, Portland State came up with another huge play at the rim. Sophomore forward Jacob Eyman blocked Carr's drive to the basket out of bounds. Then, junior guard Mikal Starks drew a charge with 12 seconds left and the Vikings took over... Thomas ended the night making 11-19 field goals and 5-6 free throws for his 27 points. He also had a team-high seven rebounds and four steals... The Vikings made 11 steals and forced Idaho State into 23 turnovers for 26 points... Idaho State was led by the 14 points and six assists of Tarik Cool. Malik Porter scored 13 points, and Jared Rodriguez had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• 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. He is 2-0 all-time against the Bengals... the Bengals are coached by Ryan Looney in his third season. Looney is 28-55 overall, 1-5 against the Vikings.

 

WHO IS HOT

• In the last 11 games, PSU has averaged 80.1 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 11 games, forcing 19.5 turnovers per game and making 9.5 steals per game... for the season, PSU forces 17.1 turnovers per game - the most in the Big Sky... PSU leads the Big Sky in turnover margin (+4.6), ranking eighth in the nation... the Vikings average a Big Sky-best 9.3 steals per game, which ranks 10th in the nation.
• SR F Khalid Thomas scored a career-high 27 points (11-19 FG, 5-6 FT) with seven rebounds and four steals in the win over Idaho State (2/26). Thomas averaged 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks in two wins earning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Mar. 1... he then had double-doubles against Idaho (14 pts, 11 reb) and Eastern Washington (24 pts, 11 reb)... over the last four games he is averaging 20.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shots... Thomas leads the team in scoring (12.4), rebounds (6.4) and steals (1.9). He ranks second in the Big Sky in steals, 12th in rebounding and 22nd in scoring.
• JR G Marlon Ruffin scored 34 points off the bench in last week's two games, making 14-25 from the field (.560). Ruffin matched his season high with nine rebounds at Eastern Washington.
• SR G Ezekiel Alley has been red-hot, averaging 16.3 points over the last 11 games while shooting 29-34 at the line (.853)... 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).

 

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHING WINS, BIG SKY ERA

First-year Head Coach Jase Coburn is 12-16 with the Vikings this season. That ranks fourth among the seven head coaches the Vikings have had in the Big Sky Conference era (1996 to present). He is third in winning percentage.
 
2017-18: Barret Peery, 20-14
1998-99: Joel Sobotka, 17-11
2009-10: Tyler Geving, 13-19
2021-22: Jase Coburn, 12-16
2005-06: Ken Bone, 12-16
1996-97: Ritchie McKay, 9-17
2002-03: Heath Schroyer, 5-11
 

YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS

FR G Paris Dawson who is 43-50 (.860) and JR G Damion Squire who is 39-46 (.848). Neither have enough attempts to qualify for overall league leadership. Squire is fifth in Big Sky Conference games, while SR G Ezekiel Alley is fourth in Big Sky games (37-43, .860).
 
Portland State's Best Free Throw Shooting Seasons
2021-22: .745
2012-13: .743
2001-02: .743
2014-15: .742
2011-12: .737