Portland, OR – As basketball home openers go, Thursday night's Viking victory over Evergreen State was more of a track meet. Not that Portland State's 131-84 win over the Geoducks at Viking Pavilion was unexpected.
 
The Viking team improved to 1-1 on the season with the other game being an eight-point loss at Washington State. Evergreen State dropped to 0-3.
 
Portland State did what it was supposed to do. The Division I school dominated the NAIA school in every facet of the game. And, it caused for some perusing of the record book.
 
PSU's 131 points were the most scored in the Big Sky Conference era (1996 to present). The last time a Portland State team scored more was a 133-110 win over Rocky Mountain on Feb. 3, 1978 – a game in which Freeman Williams scored a career-high 81 points.
 
The Vikings had 35 assists, just short of the school record of 38, and PSU shot .684 from the field (52-76), coming up just shy of the school mark of .688 against Eastern Washington back in 2009.

Senior point guard Qiant Myers handed out 14 assists, tying for the Big Sky era record previously set by Will Funn (2005), but shy of the school record of 19, set by Terry Adolph in 1977.

"The best part about tonight's game was having 35 assists," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn. "We talk all the time about sharing the ball and we did that tonight. We were really connected as a team. There were a lot of really good individual performances and we played really well offensively."
 
Junior guard Ismail Habib led all scorers with 29 points, including 9-11 three-point field goals, in only 22 minutes of action. Even the threes weren't quite a record – they tie for second-most in school history behind 12 from Brian Towne (1998 vs. Idaho State, also a Big Sky record).
 
Habib was one of eight Vikings to score in double figures. Senior forward Hayden Curtiss tallied 17 points on 7-8 shooting with six rebounds. Senior forward Isaiah Johnson scored 14 points, and senior center Tre-Vaughn Minott added career-highs of 12 points and six rebounds with two blocked shots. Senior guard Shane Nowell scored 13 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field and grabbed six rebounds and senior guard Jaylin Henderson added 15 points.
 
Jourdan Joseph led the Geoducks with 23 points. Tyler No added 17.
 
PSU hit 11 of their first 13 shots in the game and raced to a 29-3 lead after seven minutes. Highlighting the opening burst was Habib, who entered the game three minutes in and hit five straight shots – four three-pointers. The junior guard had 14 points in just three minutes of action. And that's how it went for the Vikings.
 
By halftime, Habib had already passed his career-highs with 20 points and six three-point field goals made. The Vikings led 65-32. PSU made 21 of its first 24 shots from the field and was 26-37 at halftime (.703) with 11 three-pointers.
 
The Geoducks never drew closer than 33 in the second half.
 
Portland State hit 15-29 three-point field goals and 12-18 at the line. Evergreen State made 11-19 three-pointers and 27-33 at the line. PSU forced the Geoducks into 23 turnovers, converting them into 44 points.
 

GAME NOTES

• Ismail Habib's previous career-highs were 19 points and five three-pointers.
• The Vikings had 10 dunks in the game.
• PSU has won four straight home games dating to last season.
• Portland State returns to action on Tuesday with a game at the University of San Diego on Tuesday. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.