MONTANA GRIZZLIES (12-6, 3-2) at
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (11-8, 2-4)

Thursday, January 25, 2024, 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

---

Game presented by Pride Northwest Inc.

---

OPENING TIP

The Vikings are coming home. This week marks the start of a four-game home stand - the longest of the season - as Portland State will regroup after a rough week on the road. The Vikings host Montana in a Thursday night game at Viking Pavilion, beginning at 7 p.m. On Saturday, PSU takes on Montana State in a 4 p.m. start.
     
PSU (11-8, 2-4) has fallen on some hard times in recent weeks. After an 8-2 start to the season, the Vikings have won only three of the last nine games. Included were a pair of road losses last week as Portland State has fallen to a tie for seventh place in the Big Sky Conference.
     
Certainly, the absence of leading scorer and rebounder SR F KJ Allen (shoulder) was a factor. But the highlights were few and far between for the Vikings. JR F Kendall Munson matched his career high with 16 points (7-9 FG) at Northern Colorado, and SO G Ismail Habib averaged 12.5 points in the two games.
     
Looking ahead, the Vikings are 5-1 at home and it always helps to the have the home crowd on your side. Through 19 games this year, PSU has played 13 away from home. So the four home games (and six of the next eight at home) are much-needed for the Vikings to get their confidence back.
     
A clear divide in the Vikings team production can be found between the first 10 games of the season and the most recent nine. PSU was shooting .431 from the field, .325 from three-point range and averaging 74.6 points in their 10-game start. But since, they have managed to shoot over 40% in only three of nine games, combining for .392 as a team, .299 from distance and averaging only 66.6 points. No doubt, the Vikings need better rebounding production and to limit the 77.2 points they have allowed in the past nine games as well.
     
So, there is a lot to get turned around this week. And PSU will face the team with the best overall record in the league on Thursday night, Montana. On a positive note, the Vikings will be seeking a 12th win on the season, which would match last year's win total in 31 games (12-19).
     
The Grizzlies are 12-6 going into a Monday night home game with Weber State. Montana has won two in a row and 10 of its last 12 games. At 3-2 in Big Sky play, if Montana can beat the Wildcats (4-1, with their only loss to the Vikings), those teams will be tied for second place behind Eastern Washington (5-0).
     
The Griz are 5-4 on the road this season and have won their last three meetings with the Vikings. They feature one of the top offenses in the league as they average 79.1 points per game.
     
This week's games can be seen on ESPN+ with live statistics at www.ViksLive.com.
 

COMING UP

Portland State will host Montana State on Saturday at 4 p.m. That is the second of four in row at home. PSU hosts Sacramento State on Feb. 3, then Eastern Washington on Feb. 5.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Montana leads the all-time series with Portland State, 43-27, and the Big Sky Conference series, 35-18... the Vikings are only 13-15 at home in Big Sky games against the Grizzlies... Montana has won the last three meetings between the teams.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 28, 2023 at Viking Pavilion, UM 73, PSU 67: Portland State was unable to overcome its slow start and couldn't stay with the Grizzlies. The Vikings led 8-4 early in the contest, but soon gave up the lead as Montana was on top for the final 31 minutes. PSU shot only 10-31 from the field (.323) in the opening half, while the Griz were 14-26 (.538). That allowed Montana to pull out to a 38-27 lead at the break and they wouldn't give it up... Montana stretched its lead to 15 at 44-29 before the Vikings responded. An 11-2 run, highlighted by a pair of Hunter Woods' three-point field goals trimmed it to 46-40. Josh Bannan then scored six in a row to get the Griz' lead back to double-digits... Down 10 with six minutes remaining, the Vikings had another 10-2 charge. That brought them as close as they had been since the middle of the first half at 66-64 with 1:50 left. But, on the next possession, Bannan slipped behind the PSU defense for a dunk and soon the Vikings had to play the foul game to try and catch up. It would not happen as Montana went on to the six-point win.... Cameron Parker paced the Vikings with 21 points and 10 assists. Jorell Saterfield added 12 points and a team-high five rebounds. Woods scored 11... Bannan scored 17 points with 11 rebounds and six assists from his point forward role. He made 7-8 shots from the field. Dischon Thomas led all scorers with 25 points, six assists and three blocked shots. He hit five three-pointers for the Griz. Josh Vasquez scored 17 points. Feb. 23, 2023 at Missoula: The game between Portland State and Montana was postponed, and eventually canceled, due to travel issues with the Viking program. A winter storm dumped more than 10 inches of snow on the Portland Airport on the day prior to the game causing flight cancelations and PSU was unable to get out of Portland.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his third season as Head Coach and is 37-44 overall. Coburn is 0-3 against Montana. He spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach... the Grizzlies are coached by Travis DeCuire (Montana, 1994) in his ninth season. DeCuire has a career record of 189-118 and is 13-5 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 were 17-14 last season, 10-7 and fourth in the Big Sky Conference.
• This year the Grizzlies are 12-6 on the season, 3-2 in the Big Sky going into a Monday night game with Weber State. They average 79.1 points per game and allow 71.8 points to opponents. UM has the best overall record in the Big Sky and leads the league in free throw percentage (.775), while also shooting .485 from the field and .352 from three-point range.
• Senior guard Aanen Moody is the team's leading scorer at 15.4 points per game. He has made 40 three-point field goals and shoots .933 at the line. Freshman guard Money Williams averages 14.3 points and shoots .882 at the line. Senior forward Dischon Thomas averages 11.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Senior guard Brandon Whitney leads the team in assists at 4.2 per game and senior forward Laolu Oke averages a team-high 7.1 rebounds.

 

WHO IS HOT

• KENDALL'S NIGHT: Despite a rough night as a team at Northern Colorado last Saturday, JR F Kendall Munson had one of his best. Munson set a PSU career high with 16 points (7-9 FG, 2-4 FT) and had a team-high six rebounds. Munson had previously scored 16 points in a game in 2020 while playing for Pepperdine.
• BENCH BOOST: SR G Isiah Kirby has averaged 11.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in the last three games off the bench. He made 15-23 field goals in the three games (.652)... JR C Hayden Curtiss went for seven points (3-5 FG, 1-1 FT), a team-high seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 14 minutes at Northern Arizona, then had four rebounds and three more blocks at Northern Colorado... FR G Cole Farrell scored eight points at Northern Colorado and has averaged 7.3 points in his last three games after averaging 2.3 in his first 13 games.
• THE BENCH BUNCH: The Vikings have been producing all season when they make substitutions. PSU has scored 507 bench points (26.7 per game) to rank 48th in the nation and second in the Big Sky... last year, the Vikings averaged 27.9 points per game off the bench to rank 12th in the nation.
• GOOD DECISIONS: SR G Isiah Kirby is the team leader in assist-to-turnover ratio. In 15 minutes a game as a ball handler, Kirby has 35 assists and only 18 turnovers. Despite being eighth in minutes played, he is third on the Vikings in assists... Kirby also leads the team in shooting at .506 from the field.
• BLOCK PARTY: JR C Hayden Curtiss has seen a gradual rise in his minutes during the season. He has 25 blocked shots to lead the team. Twenty-two of those blocks have come in the last 10 games.
• SEEING DOUBLE: SR F KJ Allen last week's two games while nursing a shoulder injury. His status for this week is uncertain. Allen has been red-hot after posting 13 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Weber State (1/13). It was his third double-double in four games and fourth for the season. The 14 boards were also a career high... Allen continues to lead the Vikings in scoring (10.7) and rebounding (6.8).
• LATE GAME HEROICS: Once again this season Portland State has had numerous close games and game-winning shots. Through 19 games, 11 have been decided by seven points or less. The Vikings are 8-3 in those games.