NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (5-13, 0-5) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (8-9, 2-2)

Saturday, January 14, 2023, 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

It would be difficult to have any more exciting finish than Portland State had on Thursday night in a 75-74 win over Northern Arizona. But the Vikings will try when they take on Northern Colorado Saturday at Viking Pavilion in a 7 p.m. contest.
     
Or perhaps they won't...
 
In order to be more exciting PSU would need to trail by MORE than five points with 17 seconds remaining in the game. It is highly doubtful they want to be in that scenario again.
     
Portland State (8-9, 2-2) will try to build on Thursday's win and a modest two-game winning streak when they take on the reeling Bears (5-12, 0-5). The two teams are at the opposite end of the spectrum right now. PSU is riding high after a buzzer-beating three-point field goal by JR F Hunter Woods (and two three-pointers in the final 10 seconds) lifted the Vikings to the one-point win over NAU. UNC is trying to dig out of a hole after a seventh-straight loss, 72-64, at Sacramento State on Thursday.
     
Though many of the players have changed, Saturday's game will be a rematch of last season's Big Sky Conference Tournament semifinal matchup when the Bears squeaked out an 86-79 victory to advance to the championship. The Vikings had swept the season series leading up to the post-season meeting.
     
PSU is 4-1 at home this season and hopes to continue the momentum of Thursday's win. The Vikings have won nine of 10 at home dating to last season and they have just begun a stretch of six games at home out of the next eight.
     
SR G Cameron Parker has scored 37 points in the last two wins, with a combined 33 of those coming in the second halves. But it was his two assists, both on passes to Woods in the final 10 seconds of Thursday's game, that were most valuable. He is averaging 14.7 points and a Big Sky-leading 5.8 assists per game after a season-high 11 helpers against NAU.
     
Woods scored 18 points with five rebounds and three steals in the win. The final six points came on two of his patented high-arching three-point shots, making the difference in the game. Woods averages 10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and leads the Big Sky with 1.9 steals per game.
     
The Vikings are led in scoring by JR G Jorell Saterfield who averages 15.2 points and has made a team-high 43 three-point field goals.
     
Northern Colorado comes into the game as a confusing study. The Bears won 22 games last season and were picked for second in the Big Sky this year. They return two All-Conference players (Daylen Kountz, Matt Johnson) and the Big Sky's second-leading scorer (Dalton Knecht, 18.9 ppg). However, they have struggled mightily in recent weeks and have not won a game since Dec. 10. Still, with the roster the Bears have, they are a dangerous group.
     
Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN+. Live statistics are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 

ANATOMY OF A CRAZY COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN

A lot of things had to go right for the Vikings to pull off a come-from-behind 75-74 victory on Thursday night, and somehow they did.
     
PSU led by 17 points in the first half, but ceded the lead to the Lumberjacks shortly after halftime and trailed almost the entire second half before the heroics of JR F Hunter Woods. The closing moments went a little something like this:
     
Portland State trailed most of the second half and was resorting to fouls in the final minute. NAU's Oakland Fort swished a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left and the Lumberjacks led, 73-67.
     
SR G Cameron Parker raced back up court with the ball, got to the rim and scored to make it 73-69 with 19 seconds left.
     
PSU then fouled NAU's Nik Mains who made one of two free throws with 17.8 seconds remaining.
     
Again, the Vikings pushed the ball up court, Parker came off a Woods' screen at the top of the arc and pitched it back to Woods on the wing. He swished a three-pointer with 9.8 seconds to play. PSU now trailed only 74-72.
     
This is where it gets crazy. Mains was fouled again, went to the line and missed both free throws with 8.4 seconds on the clock. However, Carson Towt grabbed the offensive rebound for the 'Jacks. He was fouled and NAU had two more free throws with 7.1 seconds to go.
     
Then, Towt missed both free throws.
     
Woods rebounded, quickly passed to Parker and it was a footrace to the other end. Parker went left and Woods went right. When pressure got to Parker just before the three-point line he winged a pass cross court to Woods directly in front of the PSU bench. Woods let fly just before the buzzer sounded and ripped the net. The bench and fans erupted and the Vikings pulled out an improbable 75-74 win.
 

COMING UP

Portland State travels to Weber State and Idaho State next week. Following are home games against defending Big Sky Champion Montana State (Jan. 26), Montana (Jan. 28), Idaho (Feb. 2) and Eastern Washington (Feb. 4).
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN COLORADO

• THE SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 23-13, and the Big Sky Conference series, 19-13... the Vikings are 9-5 in Big Sky home games against the Bears... PSU swept the regular season series last year, but lost to the Bears in the Big Sky Tournament semifinal, 86-79.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 31, 2022 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 79, UNC 76: Portland State played its best half of the season in the opening 20 minutes then hung on for dear life over the final 20 minutes to pull the win... Ezekiel Alley led the way with a season-high 22 points as well as the biggest defensive play of the game. The senior guard was effective on offense all night, hitting 7-13 shots, 3-7 from three-point range and 5-5 at the line. But his most important play was the charge he drew from the Big Sky Conference's top scorer Daylen Kountz when PSU was clinging to a 78-76 lead with 6.1 seconds left... the Bears got 30 points from Kountz... the Vikings shot 19-37 in the first half (.514) and made 9-16 threes (.563), but they were outscored 46-28 in the second half.  Feb. 3, 2022 at Greeley, CO, PSU 106, UNC 99: Despite being down four starters in the second half, PSU came from behind in the closing minutes, beating the Bears for the second time in four days... Ezekiel Alley scored 23 points to lead the Vikings.He made 7-15 from the field, 4-7 from distance and 5-7 at the line... The 106 points scored were the most by a Viking team against a Division I opponent since scoring 106 in a win at Cal on Dec. 21, 2017 (106-81). Marlon Ruffin scored 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench, hitting 7-12 from the field, 3-3 from three-point range and 3-3 at the line... PSU finished the night at 33-63 from the field (.524), 14-25 from three-point range (.560) and 26-32 at the line (.813). The Bears actually shot better at 34-61 from the field (.557), but were only 18-31 at the line (.581)... Daylen Kountz led the Bears with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Mar. 11, 2022, Big Sky Semifinal, Boise, ID, UNC 86, PSU 79: Daylen Kountz scored 30 of his game-high 36 points in the second half as the Bears came back to beat the Vikings. The loss ended Portland State's season one game short of an appearance in the Big Sky Tournament Championship. The Vikings had won 10 of their previous 13 contests to reach the semifinal... Michael Carter III led five Vikings in double figures with a season-high 22 points but it wasn't enough as PSU had an off-shooting night at .357 from the field and .694 at the free throw line... Northern Colorado entered the game as the Big Sky's top field goal and three-point shooting team. They proved it by shooting .542 from the floor and making 8-20 three-pointers (.400). Kountz was dynamite in the second half, hitting 9-11 field goals, including four threes, and 8-8 at the line. For the night, he was 11-15, 4-6, and 10-11 for his 36 points.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 22-26 record overall. He is 2-1 against Northern Colorado. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Bears are coached by Steve Smiley in his third season. He has a 36-38 career record, including 2-3 against the Vikings.

 

NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS

• Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky Conference in 2006-07. The Bears have won one Big Sky Championship, playing in the NCAA Tournament in 2011.
• Northern Colorado is 5-12 this season, 0-5 in the Big Sky Conference. The Bears have lost seven games in a row. UNC averages 70.9 points and allows a league-high 79.7 points as opponents shoot .484 from the field.
• Senior guard Dalton Knecht ranks second in the Big Sky Conference at 18.9 points per game.  He is third with 41 three-point field goals made. Knecht also leads the Bears with 7.2 rebounds per game.
• Daylen Kountz, a first team All-Big Sky choice last season, is averaging 16.1 points and 3.2 assists per game... Matt Johnson II, a third team All-Big Sky selection, averages 11.6 points and 3.8 assists. He has made 39 three-pointers.

 

WHO IS HOT

• HUNTER WOODS, OF COURSE: JR F Hunter Woods hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 10 seconds to lead the Vikings to a 75-74 win over Northern Arizona. Woods had 18 points (5-10 FG, 4-8 3-pt, 4-5 FT), five rebounds and three steals... he has made 13-23 from the field (.565) and 8-14 three-pointers (.571) while averaging 13.8 points in the last three games.
• SECOND HALF PARKER: SR G Cameron Parker has scored 33 of his 37 points (18.5 ppg) in the Vikings' last two wins in the second half. Both times the Vikings came from behind to win. He made 12-21 field goals (.571), 2-2 three-pointers and 11-14 free throws... Parker also had 12 rebounds and 14 assists in the two games. He handed off a PSU-high 11 assists in the win over Northern Arizona.
• THE ERASER: SO F Kendall Munson blocked four shots - a PSU high this season - in the first half of the Vikings win over Northern Arizona.
• THE BENCH BUNCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season and averages 31.8 points per game off the bench to rank 12th in the nation... the Vikings had 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists off the bench in 79 total minutes on Thursday... JR G Keshaun Saunders led the bench bunch with 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-2 3-pt), two rebounds, three assists and a steal... SO F Kendall Munson swatted away a season-high four shots... SR G Bobby Harvey leads the bench bunch with 6.8 points per game... SO C Hayden Curtiss leads the team with a .667 field goal percentage off the bench (16-24) while OS F Isaiah Johnson is shooting .521 (38-73).
• PORTAL PRODUCTION: SO F Isaiah Johnson was a late addition to the Vikings' roster last summer after leaving Oregon State. He is proving to be a great addition...  in the last seven games Johnson has averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, shot .545 from the field and .833 at the line.
• AND ONE: SR G Cameron Parker ranks third in the Big Sky Conference with an .845 free throw percentage this season. He ranks fifth in the nation in free throws made and 23rd in free throw attempts (93-110).... he also ranks 20th in the nation with 5.8 assists per game.
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in several categories. As a team, the Vikings lead in scoring (78.3), turnover margin (+4.8), turnovers forced (17.6), and steals (8.4)... the Vikings are 16th in the nation in turnovers forced... JR F Hunter Woods leads the Big Sky in steals (1.9), SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (5.8).
• FREE THROW SHOOTERS: Portland State is shooting .750 at the line this season which is a school-record pace (.743).

 

1,000-700... THERE ARE ONLY TWO

SR G Cameron Parker passed 1,000 career points and 700 career assists earlier this season. Parker currently has 1,114 career points and 718 career assists in 124 career games. He is one of only two active players with 1,000 career points and 700 career assists. Jalen Pickett of Penn State has 1,851 points and 723 assists in 124 career games... there are a handful of other active players at 1,000 career points and more than 600 assists, though none would reach 700 assists until at least late January based on current pace... Parker had 11 assists on Thursday night, rising from 85th on the NCAA's all-time career list to 76th. He figures to rise many more spots before the season concludes