Portland, OR – Idaho big man Isaac Jones is a problem. But Portland State found just enough other ways to solve the Vandals as they pulled out a 69-66 Big Sky Conference victory at Viking Pavilion.
 
PSU's top three scorers all had big games as Cameron Parker, Jorell Saterfield and Hunter Woods combined for 56 of the Vikings' 69 points. Their performance trumped the 30-point, 11-rebound effort of Jones, the Vandals' 6-9 post and the second-leading scorer in the Big Sky.
 
"Jones is an unbelievable talent. He is hard to prepare for and hard to stop," said Viking Coach Jase Coburn. "But our guys hung tough… anybody can beat anybody in this league. You have to play well to win against anyone and our guys did that tonight. We executed the game plan."
 
The difference for PSU came in virtually every other area of the game as they out-rebounded the Vandals, 36-31, forced 17 turnovers, held them to only 1-9 from three-point range and blocked five shots.
 
Parker, who has averaged 22 points over his last three games, and more than 18 points over the last eight, continued his fine play. The senior guard made 7-11 from the field and 8-9 at the line, including two big free throws with nine seconds left. He added six assists and four rebounds.
 
Saterfield scored 19 points with seven rebounds in his best outing in a month. Woods added 15 points and seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. The tandem combined to make seven three-point field goals for the Vikings.
 
In a game typical of the Big Sky at mid-season, PSU and Idaho battled every possession in a grind-it-out affair. The Vikings led for more than 26 minutes of the game, including the last nine minutes, but never by more than seven points. The Vandals held leads for six minutes, but never by more than four points.
 
Portland State led most of the first half but couldn't get the lead into the halftime locker room. On three occasions in the first half the Vikings built leads of seven points and all three times the Vandals came back. That included a 14-5 run to close out the first half as Idaho took a 35-33 edge into intermission. Jones scored seven points in the late run and had 15 at halftime. Parker had 11 points and five assists for PSU.
 
The lead changed hands five times in the second half before the Vikings finally took charge - tenuous though it was. PSU grabbed the lead on a Parker drive with 9:14 to play, going ahead 52-51.
 
The Vikings never trailed again, but could never pull away as Jones continued to work and score inside.
 
PSU was on top 67-60 with 2:49 left. Jones scored inside on Idaho's next two possessions while the Vikings had a pair of empty trips up the court. When Divant'e Moffitt made two free throws with 11.1 seconds to play, the Vandals had closed it to 67-66.
 
Parker was fouled with 9.7 seconds to go and calmly sank both free throws. A pair of desperation three-point attempts by Idaho at the end were no good.
 
Portland State improved to 10-13 with the win. The Vikings are 4-6 in the Big Sky. Idaho dropped to 8-16, 2-9.
 

GAME NOTES

• The Vikings ended a two-game home losing streak and are now 5-4 at home.
• Portland State is now 26-12 (.684) in the month of February over the last six seasons. PSU was 5-2 in February last year.
• PSU has won six of seven and nine of the last 12 against Idaho. With a 74-58 victory at Idaho, the Vikings have swept the season series.
• Bobby Harvey made a three-point field goal for the 19th consecutive game. He has made 40 this season and is shooting 39% from deep.
• Portland State takes on Eastern Washington Saturday at Viking Pavilion. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.