IDAHO VANDALS (7-9, 2-1) AT
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (9-6, 1-1)

Saturday, January 11, 2025, 2 p.m., Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
Live Stream: ESPN+ • Play-by-play: Matt Richert • Analyst: Devon Pouncey
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
 

OPENING TIP

The Vikings will try to make a weekend sweep of Big Sky Conference home games after salvaging a 64-59 win over Eastern Washington on Thursday. Now Portland State looks to a Saturday afternoon matchup with Idaho at Viking Pavilion.
     
PSU (9-6, 1-1) earned its first Big Sky win the hard way over the Eagles. The Vikings struggled offensively for the first 30 minutes of the game behind a depleted roster and trailed by nine points early in the second half. But they found their bearings down the stretch to pull out a win. PSU scored the final seven points of the game and made a pair of key blocked shots in the final minute to preserve the comeback win.
     
SR F Terri Miller Jr. got a spot start due to the absence of SR G Shane Nowell (knee) and responded with 16 points and seven rebounds. SR C Tre-Vaughn turned in perhaps his best game as a Viking with 13 points (5-6 FG, 3-4 FT), 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. And FR G Kelcy Phipps stepped up in the absence of SO G Cole Farrell (illness) with seven points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists off the bench. Portland State's defense also held a fourth straight opponent under 60 points (53.0).
     
PSU has won five of its last six games and is 5-1 at home this season. The Vikings moved up to the middle of the Big Sky standings in the early league season and now play the team just ahead of them, Idaho.
     
The Vandals (7-9, 2-1) pulled out an 80-67 win at Sacramento State on Thursday night. It was their third win in four games and second in row on the road. Idaho is 3-5 in road games overall.
     
Similar to Portland State, Idaho has numerous players in the lineup that provide contributions. Eleven Vandals are averaging double-digit minutes and six players average eight points or more.
     
Saturday's game, like all weekend games this season, tips off at 2 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with live statistics available at www.ViksLive.com.
     

COMING UP

The Vikings go on the road to play at Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona next week. That begins a stretch of six out of eight games on the road. PSU's next home game will be a Jan. 23 contest with Weber State.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State has won five straight in the series and eight of the last nine games over Idaho. The Vikings lead the all-time series, 22-17, and the Big Sky series, 12-7... PSU is 6-3 in Big Sky games against the Vandals in Portland.
• LAST SEASON: Dec. 30, 2023 at ICCU Arena, PSU 77, UI 72: Portland State came from behind with a big second half to upend the Idaho Vandals. The Vikings trailed by 11 late in the first half and by eight at intermission. PSU then turned on the offense after halftime, outscoring the Vandals 44-31... PSU went on a 20-6 run, at one point holding the Vandals scoreless for more than five minutes, to take control of the game... It marked the second year in a row that the Vikings have trailed at halftime at Idaho and come back for the win... KJ Allen led the way with 16 points, 11 rebounds and three assists for the Vikings... Jorell Saterfield was a big part of the comeback, scoring 10 of his 15 points in the second half... Tyler Linhardt scored 18 points with six rebounds for Idaho. Mar. 4, 2024 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 72, UI 57: KJ Allen matched his career high with 27 points on 10-18 from the field, 1-3 from three-point range and 6-6 at the free throw line while grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the Vikings to the win... The Vikings led by as many as 21 points in the first half and was up 57-37 with 12:10 to play. Idaho went on a nine-point run to make things interesting. But the Vikings responded and never allowed the Vandals to get closer. PSU essentially burned the clock out over the final four minutes of the game... Isaiah Johnson came off the bench for nine points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals... D'Angelo Minnis led Idaho with 16 points. Tyler Linhardt scored 12 off the bench.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his fourth season as Head Coach. He spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach. Coburn's overall record is 52-57. He is 5-1 against Idaho... the Vandals are coached by Alex Pribble (California, 2007) in his second season. He has a 18-30 record overall and is 0-2 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING IDAHO

• The University of Idaho is located in Moscow, ID. The Vandals were 11-21 last season, 5-13 and ninth in the Big Sky Conference. Idaho has been a member of the Big Sky from 1963-96 and 2014 to present. Idaho has won four Big Sky regular season championships, four Big Sky Tournament championships, and made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Idaho is 7-9 this season, 2-1 and third place in the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals average 74.8 points and allow 74.1 points per game. They shoot .455 from the field and lead the Big Sky with a .366 mark from three-point range and 9.6 three-pointers made per game.
• Kristian Gonzales leads a very balanced scoring attack at 12.1 points per game while shooting .500 from the field... Tyler Mrus averages 11.0 points and leads the Big Sky in three-point field goal percentage (.407) while ranking second in three-pointers made (37)... Kolton Mitchell averages 10.1 points and leads the team in assists (3.2).

 

HOT SHOTS

• NO DOUBTING THIS DEFENSE: Portland State has held its last four opponents under 60 points, winning three of the games. Opponents are averaging 53.0 points in the last four while shooting only .364 (79-217). The Vikings have forced 82 turnovers (20.5).
• SHOOT YOUR SHOT: Despite a pair of down shooting performances in the last two games, Portland State is still shooting .487 as a team this season... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the way at .692 (36-52) from the field. SR F Isaiah Johnson has also been excellent at .583 (63-108), SR F Hayden Curtiss is shooting .603 (44-73, including 11-24 three-pointers) and JR F Isaac Brice is at .625 (15-24).
• NEXT MAN UP: The Vikings had only eight available players on Thursday against Eastern Washington. SR F Terri Miller Jr. got a spot start due to the absence of SR G Shane Nowell (knee) and responded with 16 points and seven rebounds. SR C Tre-Vaughn turned in perhaps his best game as a Viking with 13 points (5-6 FG, 3-4 FT), 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in a career-high 33 minutes. And FR G Kelcy Phipps stepped up in the absence of SO G Cole Farrell (illness) with seven points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in a career-high 24 minutes off the bench.     
• STOLEN MOMENTS: SR F Terri Miller Jr. can do a lot of things - score inside and out, rebound and make the "wow" pass - but the really notable thing he has done this season is steal the ball. Miller has 30 steals in 15 games to rank third in the Big Sky at 2.0 per game. A closer look reveals he has the best steals-per-minute ratio in the league. Miller averages only 18.3 minutes per game, so his steals-per-40-minutes is 4.37. Big Sky steals leader Nic McClain of Eastern Washington (2.4 pg) averages 3.23 steals-per-40-minutes. Blaise Threat of Weber State (2.3 pg) averages 2.91.
• BLOCK PARTY: A pair of blocked shots in the final minute were key to the Vikings win over Eastern Washington. SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott had one with 58 seconds left that led to a go-ahead basket for the Vikings. Then SR F Hayden Curtiss blocked a tying attempt by the Eagles with 15 seconds to play... Portland State had a season-high nine blocked shots in the win at Pacific (12/18) and currently leads the Big Sky with 5.7 send-backs per game... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott has had a career-high four blocked shots twice this season (Wofford, Denver) and ranks second in the Big Sky at 1.73 per game.
• LEADERS: Portland State currently leads the Big Sky Conference in turnovers forced (16.5), turnover margin (+2.5), blocked shots (5.7), steals (9.5) and bench points (29.5)... SR G Qiant Myers leads the Big Sky in assists (6.6) and ranks 11th in the nation.

 

NOT SO HOT

• YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS: While Portland State's field goal shooting has been strong, the free throw shooting has floundered. For the season, PSU shoots .620 at the line and has had only one game better than .688... the Vikings rank last in the Big Sky in free throw shooting.
• LOST OFFENSE: Portland State averaged 83.4 points and shot .498 from the field in non-conference games... in the first two Big Sky games PSU averages only 58.5 points and is shooting 42-105 (.400).

 

DUNK YOU VERY MUCH

Stuff, slam, smash, cap, flush... whatever you call it, the dunk is always the highlight of a college basketball game. This season, the Vikings are poised to obliterate the Portland State dunk record in the Big Sky Conference era (29 seasons, no such records were kept prior).
     
For the season, the Vikings have 75 throw-downs (5.0 per game) led by SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott (23) and SR G Jaylin Henderson (20). Last season, the Vikings had 58 total dunks in 32 games.
     
Here are the best seasons for slams in PSU history:
 
2018-19: 84 - Sal Nuhu with a school-record 40
2019-20: 76
2024-25: 75 in 15 games
2015-16: 75
2021-22: 73
2004-05: 72