MONTANA GRIZZLIES (9-12, 3-6) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (9-12, 3-5)

Saturday, January 28, 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

As the Big Sky Conference season reaches its mid-point, a pair of teams trying to keep pace with the top half of the league will square off at Viking Pavilion. Portland State hosts Montana in a Saturday night game that tips off at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
     
The Vikings (9-12, 3-5) played defending Big Sky Champion Montana State close until the final minutes on Thursday before losing 75-66. Despite the loss, PSU remained in sixth place, one game behind Idaho State (4-4). So, even though it was a missed opportunity to climb in the standings, the Vikings have a chance to at least create some space between themselves and those below them when they take the floor against the Grizzlies.
     
Montana (9-12, 3-6) is a half-game behind the Vikings in seventh place. The Griz took a 67-48 loss at Sacramento State on Thursday and have lost three in a row.
     
A PSU win over Montana on Saturday would give it a game-and-a-half edge over the Griz as the Vikings complete the first half of their conference schedule. That could be significant as a sixth-place finish or higher in the Big Sky regular season earns a direct route to the conference tournament quarterfinals in March, and one or two extra days rest in preparation. That would be a key goal for the league's second-half of games. Currently, PSU is one game out of fifth place (Idaho State, 4-4), two games out of fourth (Sacramento State, 5-3) and three games out of third (Weber State, 6-2) in the stair-step Big Sky standings.
     
The Vikings got 23 points (9-16 FG, 4-5 FT) and four assists from SR G Cameron Parker in Thursday's game but will need more offensive production. The numbers bear it out. In the last six games, PSU has scored 70+ three times, winning all three, and scored less than 70 three times, losing all three. For the Vikings, part of the path to better offense will be to increase the pace of the game to their liking with the other part being slightly better overall shooting (.422 combined shooting in the three losses, .468 shooting in the three wins).
     
Saturday's game is the second in a four-game home stand for Portland State. The Vikings are 4-3 at home this season, and have still only played one-third of their overall games at home (7 of 21).         
     
The Griz will also look for increased offense against PSU. They shot a paltry .396 from the field against the Hornets on Thursday while scoring a season-low 48 points. Montana has averaged only 56.3 points in its three-game losing streak. Montana has a 2-8 road record overall.
     

COMING UP 

Next week Portland State will host Idaho (Feb. 2) and Eastern Washington (Feb. 4) in the second half of its four-game home stand. PSU plays five of nine games in February at home.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA

• THE SERIES: Montana leads the all-time series, 42-27, and the Big Sky Conference series, 34-18... Montana is the only Big Sky opponent to hold an edge over the Vikings in games played in Portland (14-13)... the Grizzlies swept the season series last year by a combined 11 points. PSU had won four of six games prior to that.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 20, 2022 at Viking Pavilion, UM 66, PSU 64: Portland State led for a long time, but in the end came up one play short. PSU 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... Robby Beasley made a difficult scoop layin for Montana, just beating the shot clock, for 64-63 lead with 54 seconds to play. Then, 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. James Jean-Marie came off the bench for 16 points and nine rebounds... Bannan led the Griz with 22 points. Beasley scored 18 points and Cameron Parker had 13 points. Feb. 12, 2022 at Dahlberg Arena, UM 85, PSU 76: Montana's superior shooting overcame shaky ball-handling for the win. The Griz made 27-47 from the field (.574), 11-16 from three-point range (.688) and 20-23 (.870) at the line while committing 22 turnovers... Michael Carter III led the Vikings with 13 points. Damion Squire, Ezekiel Alley and Khalid Thomas all scored 11... Robby Beasley scored a career-high 24 points for Montana, adding five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
• YEAH, HE PLAYED THERE: Portland State SR G Cameron Parker played the last two seasons at Montana before transferring to the Park Blocks. Parker played 60 games for the Griz, starting six. He averaged 8.7 points and 4.6 assists while shooting 52% from the field. He led the Big Sky in assists both seasons and was named co-Top Reserve in the Big Sky last season.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 23-29 record overall. He is 0-2 against Montana. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Grizzlies are coached by Travis DeCuire in his ninth season. DeCuire has a career record of 169-110 and is 12-5 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING MONTANA

• Montana is an original member of the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies have won 10 regular season Big Sky Championships, 11 Big Sky Tournament titles and made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• The Grizzlies are 9-12 this season, 3-6 and seventh place in the Big Sky Conference. Montana averages 68.1 points and allows 68.1 points per game. The Griz shoot .449 from the field and .783 at the free throw line.
• Junior forward Josh Bannan does it all for the Grizzlies, leading the team in scoring (15.3), rebounding (8.4) and assists (3.5). He shoots .498 from the field, .417 from three-point range and .783 at the line.
• Senior guard Aanen Moody averages 14.2 points and is the team's top three-point shooter with 43 made (.384).
• Junior forward Dischon Thomas averages 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds. Junior guard Brandon Whitney averages 10.9 points and shoots .547 from the field.

 

WHO IS HOT

• THE BENCH BUNCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season and averages 30.8 points per game off the bench to rank eighth in the nation... the bench scored 62 points and shot 23-46 from the field (.500) and 11-15 at the line (.733) in last week's two games... SO F Isaiah Johnson scored a career-high 16 points (7-10 FG, 2-2 FT) with four rebounds and three assists while SR G Bobby Harvey added 12 points (4-6 FG, 2-4 3-pt, 2-4 FT) and three rebounds in a win at Idaho State... Harvey also had nine points (3-6 3-pt) and four rebounds in Thursday's loss to Montana State.... Harvey leads the bench bunch with 7.6 points per game and has made 38 threes (.404)... SO C Hayden Curtiss leads the team with a .621 field goal percentage off the bench (18-29) while SO F Isaiah Johnson is shooting .564 (53-94)... JR G Isiah Kirby is .864 at the line (19-22).
• 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 11 games Johnson has averaged 8.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and shot .600 from the field.
• BOBBY THREE-BALL: SR G Bobby Harvey has made at least one three-point field goal in 17 straight games. His 38 for the season rank second on the team. He is 11-20 (.550) from distance (15-26 overall, .577) in the last four games, averaging 10.8 points.
• AND ONE: SR G Cameron Parker ranks second in the Big Sky Conference with an .838 free throw percentage this season. He ranks fourth in the nation in free throws made and 12th in free throw attempts (119-142).... he also ranks 18th in the nation with 5.6 assists per game.
• IN A HURRY: Portland State is first in the Big Sky Conference and 11th in the nation in fast break points (15.9 pg).
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in several categories. As a team, the Vikings lead in scoring (76.4), turnover margin (+3.9), turnovers forced (16.7), and steals (7.7)... the Vikings are 20th in the nation in turnovers forced... SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (5.6).
• FREE THROW SHOOTERS: Portland State is shooting .744 at the line this season which is a school-record pace (.743).

 

NO FOOLS IN FEBRUARY

The month of February approaches and that bodes well for the Vikings. Portland State has had a lot of success in Big Sky Conference play in February in recent seasons. This season the Vikings play nine games during February's 28 days, with five at home and four on the road.

• In the past five seasons the Vikings are 25-12 (.675) in February, including 5-2 last year. (2018: 5-3; 2019: 5-3; 2020: 5-2; 2021: 5-2; 2022: 5-2)
• PSU was 48-44 in Big Sky games overall the last five seasons, which means the Vikings were 23-32 (.418) in non-February games.

 

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

SR G Cameron Parker passed 1,000 career points earlier this season then passed 700 career assists at Sacramento State on Dec. 31. Parker currently has 1,181 career points and 738 career assists in 128 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 1,897 points and 736 assists in 127 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 February based on current pace... Parker currently ranks 62nd on the NCAA's all-time assist list... Yuri Collins of Saint Louis has career totals of 873 points and 756 assists. He is the active NCAA assist leader (50th all-time). Parker is currently number two among active assist leaders.