IDAHO STATE BENGALS (9-17, 6-7) at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (11-15, 5-8)

Thursday, February 16, 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

Portland State heads down the home stretch of the 2022-23 Big Sky Conference schedule with five games remaining over a span of 12 days. The Vikings play three at home, including a Thursday night game at Viking Pavilion against Idaho State.
     
If ever momentum would be on the Vikings' side, it would be this week. PSU (11-15, 5-8) comes off the most amazing, last-second-shot victory one could ever hope to see last Saturday at Northern Arizona. Down a point with 0.4 seconds left on the clock, JR F Hunter Woods tossed a length-of-the-court inbound pass to SO F Isaiah Johnson, who leaped up to make the catch-and-release all in one motion over two defenders. The ball kissed off the glass and went through the net for an 88-87 Viking victory.
     
The win catapulted the Vikings into national consciousness. The shot was the "Play of the Day" on ESPN Sportscenter, and was promoted over virtually every sports media platform in the nation and on social media.
     
PSU is proving to have a flair for the dramatic as that was the second buzzer-beater this season against NAU, and the third game-winning shot in the closing seconds in 2022-23 by the Viking program (the other two came from Woods vs. NAU, and JR G Jorell Saterfield against California Baptist).
     
The win over Northern Arizona was just one game, but it moved the Vikings into a tie for sixth in the Big Sky with Sacramento State. Now the Vikings will regroup at home with a pair of games this week. PSU plays fifth-place Idaho State (9-17, 6-7) and a win would guarantee the Vikings move into a tie for fifth.
     
The closing two weeks of the season will be a dicey proposition for four teams. ISU (6-7), PSU (5-8), SAC (5-8) and Northern Colorado (5-9) are all within one-and-a-half games of one another in the 5-6-7-8 positions in the standings. The top six teams at next month's Big Sky Tournament will get a first-round bye and thus potentially play only three games, while numbers seven and eight will have to play a first-round game and thus potentially play four games in a run to the championship.
     
The Vikings and Bengals met on Jan. 21 in Pocatello, a 72-65 Portland State win. It was the fifth straight time that PSU has beaten Idaho State.
     
Idaho State comes to Portland State off a pair of home losses to Montana and Montana State. The Bengals are 4-9 on the road, and a very respectable 3-3 in Big Sky road games.
     
PSU has lost four of its last five at home and is 5-5 at home overall this season.
     
This Thursday's game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
 

COMING UP

Portland State will host Weber State on Saturday night at Viking Pavilion for StrickCity Night. The Vikings are on the road next week at Montana and Montana State, then close out the regular season on Feb. 27 at home against Sacramento State.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO STATE

• THE SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series, 40-22, and the Big Sky Conference series, 36-18... PSU is 21-6 in Big Sky games played in Portland... the Vikings have won five straight, eight of nine, and 11 of 13 in the series.
• Jan. 12, 2022 at Pocatello, PSU 72, ISU 65: Portland State's bench delivered again. The Vikings had a career-high 16 points from Isaiah Johnson and a dozen from Bobby Harvey in picking up the road win... Against Idaho State, the reserves poured in 32 points. Highlighting that effort was Johnson who hit 7-10 shots from the field, adding four rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes. Harvey made 4-6 from the field and 2-4 three-pointers with three rebounds in 21 minutes... The Vikings were solid throughout the contest, leading for the final 31 minutes and were up by double digits for most of the second half. PSU shot .469 from the field and .826 at the line, including 15-19 in the second half when the Bengals were resorting to fouls to try to make a comeback... The Bengals scored 11 points in the final minute of the game to close the margin to seven... PSU's bench made 13-24 field goals (.542) and had 13 of the team's 29 rebounds. The Vikings won the battle on the backboards, 29-22... Cameron Parker led the way for Portland State with 17 points, six assists and four rebounds... Brayden Parker and Miguel Tomley each scored 17 points for the Bengals. Idaho State's bench managed only 11 points.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his second season as Head Coach and has a 25-32 record overall. He is 4-0 against Idaho State. Coburn spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Bengals are coached by Ryan Looney in his fourth season. Looney is 37-73 overall, 1-7 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING IDAHO STATE

• Idaho State is an original member of the Big Sky Conference. The Bengals have won four Big Sky regular season championships, four Big Sky Tournament Championships and made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Bengals are 9-17 this season, 6-7 and fifth place in the Big Sky Conference. They average 69.1 points and allow 70.6 points per game.
• Four players average double figures scoring in a balanced Bengals attack... senior guard Brock McKenzie leads the team with 13.0 points per game while shooting .482 from the field, .386 from three-point range and .840 at the free throw line. McKenzie has made a team-high 49 three-point field goals... sophomore guard Miguel Tomley averages 11.7 points and has made 46 three-pointers. He shoots .863 at the line... junior center Brayden Parker averages 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and shoots .523 from the field. He has 22 blocked shots... senior forward Jared Rodriguez averages 10.5 points and 4.4 rebounds although he has not played since December.

 

WHO IS HOT

• A HOT DAY IN CHILLY FLAGSTAFF: Sure, the last-second, game-winning shot got all the attention, but the Vikings put on a great shooting performance throughout the afternoon. PSU made 35-61 (.574) from the field - a season-high against a Division I opponent and the second-best mark of the season. The Vikings were 9-20 from three-point range (.450).
• PARKER PUSHING THE PEDAL: SR G Cameron Parker's play has been stellar in recent weeks. Parker has averaged 24.7 points and 6.7 assists in the last six games, making 49-83 shots from the field (.590)... he has led the team in scoring in each of the last 11 games (20.8)... Parker was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 7 after he scored a career-high 29 points (9-18 FG, 10-12 FT) with 10 assists and a career-high five steals against Eastern Washington (2/4)... he followed that with another career-high of 32 points (10-12 FG, 3-3 3-pt, 9-12 FT) at Northern Colorado (2/9)... He now leads the team in scoring (17.2) and the Big Sky in assists (6.0)... Parker ranks third in the nation in free throws made and fourth in attempts (158-191) and is shooting .826 at the line this year. He ranks 10th in the nation in assists.
• THE BENCH BUNCH: Portland State has had solid bench play all season and averages 29.7 points per game off the bench to rank 11th in the nation... the Viking bench had 37 points and 17 rebounds at Northern Colorado on Thursday, then followed that with 34 points and eight rebounds at Northern Arizona on Saturday... JR G Isiah Kirby scored 12 points with two assists while SR G Bobby Harvey and SO F Isaiah Johnson each scored eight points and combined for nine rebounds at UNC... Harvey had a big game at NAU with 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-7 3-pt), five rebounds and three assists... Johnson had nine points (4-5 FG, 1-4 FT), two steals and the dramatic game-winning shot... Harvey leads the bench bunch with 7.5 points per game and has made 47 threes (.392). Johnson (6.4 ppg) and Kirby (6.3 ppg) follow close behind... SO C Hayden Curtiss leads the team with a .613 field goal percentage off the bench (19-31) while Johnson is shooting .562 (68-121) and SO F Kendall Munson shoots .553 (26-47)... players coming off the bench also have 44 of PSU's 83 blocked shots.
• IN A HURRY: Portland State is first in the Big Sky Conference and 11th in the nation in fast break points (15.2 pg).
• BIG SKY LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in turnover margin (+4.2), turnovers forced (16.2), blocked shots (3.2) and steals (7.5)... the Vikings are 21st in the nation in turnovers forced... SR G Cameron Parker leads in assists (6.0).

 

GAME WINNERS

Portland State seems to have cornered the market on thrilling endings to games this season, winning three times on shots in the final seconds, two of which went through the net after the buzzer sounded. Here is a summary:

• FOUR BOUNCES, A BUCKET, AND A FAMILIAR STORY: When JR G Jorell Saterfield tossed up a soft running jumper in the lane at California Baptist (12/22) it bounced on the rim four times before settling through the net. That bucket gave the Vikings a 73-72 lead with 8.2 seconds to play. It was the seventh and final lead change in the last 3:40 of the game as PSU won 74-72. That basket also marked the first game-winner in the final 10 seconds of a game by a Viking since Jan. 11, 2020. On a remarkably similar play and game, Holland "Boo Boo" Woods hit a runner in the lane with 2.4 seconds to play at Montana State for a 77-76 win. That game, also on the road, saw the lead change hands eight times in the last 3:25 of the contest.
• WOODS DELIVERS (TWICE) IN THE LAST 10 SECONDS: A lot of things had to go right for the Vikings to pull off a come-from-behind 75-74 victory over Northern Arizona (1/12), 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... 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 the three-pointer with 9.8 seconds to play. PSU now trailed only 74-72... 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 for an improbable 75-74 win.
• THE SHOT THAT SET THE SPORTS WORLD ON ITS EAR (AT LEAST FOR A DAY): The Vikings won it. They lost it. Then, they won it again. In what may be the craziest finish of the college basketball season, Portland State stunned Northern Arizona at the buzzer, 88-87 (2/11)… again... The Vikings appeared to have the game in the bag, leading 86-78 with just 1:22 remaining at JL Walkup Skydome. But NAU had other ideas... PSU turned the ball over twice and missed three free throws on their next four possessions as the Lumberjacks scored six points in a row, closing to 86-84 with 5.9 seconds to play. JR F Hunter Woods was at the line for the Vikings, but missed and the 'Jacks rebounded... NAU's Liam Lloyd raced up the court and rose up for a three-pointer from just in front of the Lumberjacks' bench. He splashed the three, giving NAU an 87-86 victory... The Vikings had lost... Or had they? Officials looked at the replay monitor and determined that 0.4 seconds remained in the game after the ball went through the hoop... Desperation was all that was left for PSU. Following a timeout, Woods took the ball out of bounds, heaving a high-arcing pass to the opposite end of the floor. SO F Isaiah Johnson leaped in the air between two NAU defenders, caught the pass, and in the same motion tossed up a fallaway shot off the glass from 12 feet out on the right side of the key. Buzzer, glass, swish... 88-87, Vikings. Game over... the game-winning shot dominated the sports media news cycle and was picked as ESPN SportsCenter No. 1 Play of the Day.

 

NO FOOLS IN FEBRUARY

The month of February has been a good one for the Vikings in Big Sky Conference play 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 six seasons the Vikings are 27-14 (.658) in February, including 5-2 last year. (2018: 5-3; 2019: 5-3; 2020: 5-2; 2021: 5-2; 2022: 5-2; 2023: 2-2)
• PSU is 53-52 in Big Sky games overall the last six seasons, which means the Vikings were 26-38 (.406) in non-February games.

 

BIG SKY PLAY NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

For a testament to how closely-contested games are in the Big Sky Conference look no further than Portland State. The Vikings have held second-half leads in 10 of the 13 games played so far. Of those 10 games, PSU is 5-5. Among the eight games decided by single-digits, PSU is 4-4, including 3-1 in games decided by three or less... for the season, the Vikings are 5-2 in games decided by four points or less.
 

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 1,306 career points and 774 career assists in 133 career games. He is one of only two active players with 1,000 career points and 700 career assists... Parker currently ranks 45th on the NCAA's all-time assist list... Jalen Pickett of Penn State has 1,981 points and 771 assists in 132 career games... Yuri Collins of Saint Louis has career totals of 922 points and 792 assists. He is the active NCAA assist leader (35th all-time). Parker is currently number two among active assist leaders.