PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (10-6, 2-1)
at NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (12-5, 4-0)

Thurs., Jan. 16, 2025, 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT, Bank of Colorado Arena (2,734), Greeley, CO
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: https://uncbears.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 

OPENING TIP

Portland State embarks on what may be the most challenging road trip of the season this week as the Vikings take on first-place Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona.
           
PSU (10-6, 2-1) has won six of its last seven games, but will be facing a UNC team on Thursday night that has won six in a row. The Bears (12-5, 4-0) have the best record and the best offense in the Big Sky. That makes the game a matchup between the two hottest teams in the Big Sky Conference.
           
Saturday's game will be at Northern Arizona (10-7, 1-3). And although the Lumberjacks have started Big Sky play at just 1-3, they had the best non-conference record of any school in the league (9-4).
           
The Vikings are currently in third place, and feeling pretty good about how they played last week after a pair of home victories over Eastern Washington and Idaho. SR F Terri Miller Jr. (16.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, .500 FG%, .750 FT%) and SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott (14.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg, .923 FG%, .833 FT%) were the catalysts for victory in both games as the Vikings proved to be dominant inside.
           
Three of the games in PSU's six-out-of-seven stretch have come on the road. The Vikings won at Pacific and Bakersfield in non-conference games, but lost at Sacramento State - though by only three points. Defense has been a trademark of the recent success as the Vikings have allowed only 56.9 points per game and .354 shooting in the last seven contests. Only one opponent has shot better than .382 from the field.
           
All that said, Northern Colorado will prove to be one of the most difficult challenges of the season. The Bears go into this week's play averaging 83.9 points and shooting a remarkable .515 from the field as a team, .361 from three point range, and averaging 17.5 assists per game - all of which lead the Big Sky Conference. Of UNC's four league wins so far the most recent was a blowout of Montana in Missoula (81-57).
           
PSU is 3-4 in road games this season. Northern Colorado is 7-1 at home.
           
Thursday's game will tip off at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT and can be seen on ESPN+.
 

COMING UP

Following Portland State's game at Northern Colorado, the Vikings will travel to Northern Arizona for a Saturday game. It will also tip off at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT and available to watch on ESPN+.
           
PSU's next home game will be a Jan. 23 contest with Weber State.

 
GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN COLORADO

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 24-17, and the Big Sky Conference series, 20-17... PSU won the most recent matchup, an 82-72 overtime thriller last February at Viking Pavilion. UNC had won five straight meetings prior to that... the Vikings are 9-9 all-time in Big Sky games played in Greeley.
• LAST SEASON: Jan. 20 at Greeley, UNC 90, PSU 61: Northern Colorado got on a roll in the second half and never let up, beating the Vikings, 90-61. PSU led for the first 20 minutes of the game, but the Bears opened the second half on a 25-point run, effectively blowing the Vikings away. UNC out-scored PSU 54-22 after halftime... The Vikings got off to a good start and had their largest lead at 33-23 with 3:30 left in the first half. The Bears closed out the half on a 13-6 run to pull within 39-36. That was an omen of things to come... Northern Colorado came out red-hot to start the second half, taking its first lead after a minute and proceeding on a 25-0 run. The Bears made 18 of their first 24 shots after intermission. They finished at 33-64 for the game (.516). The Vikings were 22-61 (.361)... UNC's Saint Thomas, finished with game-highs of 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists... PSU's Kendall Munson was a lone bright spot for the Vikings, scoring a career-high 16 points on 7-9 from the field. Feb. 15 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 82, UNC 72 (ot): It was just another evening of mayhem at The Ship. Portland State built a 21-point, second-half lead over Northern Colorado, gave it all back to the Big Sky Conference's top scoring team, then proceeded to win the game going away in the extra session... Bobby Harvey had a career-game for the Vikings, scoring 26 points with eight rebounds, to lead the way. KJ Allen had 15 points and eight rebounds, including a clutch go-ahead jumper with 23 seconds left in regulation, and four straight free throws in overtime... Dejour Reaves hit a three-pointer with three second left in regulation to send the team to overtime... Reeves finished with a game-high 27 points. Saint Thomas had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Bears.
• 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 53-57. He is 3-5 against Northern Colorado... the Bears are coached by Steve Smiley (Northern State, 2004) in his fifth season. Smiley is 74-65 overall, 6-4 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO

• Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky Conference in 2006-07. The Bears have won one Big Sky Championship, playing in the NCAA Tournament in 2011... the Bears were 19-14 last season, 12-6 and tied for second place in the Big Sky.
• Northern Colorado is 12-5 overall, 4-0 and in first place in the Big Sky Conference. The Bears have won six games in a row... UNC leads the Big Sky in scoring (83.9), field goal shooting (.515), three-point field goal shooting (.361) and assists (17.5).
• Junior guard Langston Reynolds ranks second in the Big Sky in scoring (17.6) and third in shooting (.616), while averaging a team-high 5.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game... Senior forward Isaiah Hawthorne is averaging 16.5 points and has made 33 three-point field goals... senior guard Brock Wisne averages 11.4 points and shoots .639 from the field to rank second in the Big Sky.

 

HOT SHOTS

• NO DOUBTING THIS DEFENSE: In the Vikings' seven-game run of six wins, they have held opponents to 56.9 points per game, .354 field goal shooting and .205 three-point shooting. Only one opponent has shot better than .382 from the field, and only one has scored more than 63 points.
• SHOOT YOUR SHOT: Portland State is shooting .488 as a team this season to rank second in the Big Sky behind Northern Colorado... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the way at .729 (43-59) from the field. He is currently on a school-record pace (Julius Thomas, .671, 2009-10)... SR F Isaiah Johnson has also been excellent at .580 (65-112), SR F Hayden Curtiss is shooting .592 (45-76, including .423 on three-pointers) and JR F Isaac Brice is at .625 (15-24).
• TV RATINGS ARE HIGH: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott continues to impress with his improved play this season and last week was his best yet. Minott averaged 14.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the two Viking wins. Remarkably, he was 5-6 from the field against Eastern Washington and 7-7 against Idaho, for a 12-13 total (.923) to go with 5-6 free throws (.833)... Minott is averaging 7.1 points this season and a team-high 5.9 rebounds in only 18.0 minutes per game... in Big Sky games, Minott averages 11.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and shoots .933 from the field and .778 at the line.
• ANOTHER COUNTRY IS HEARD FROM: FR G Kelcy Phipps got his moment last week and took advantage of it. He stepped up in the absence of SO G Cole Farrell (illness) against Eastern Washington with seven points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in a career-high 24 minutes off the bench. Phipps followed with an almost identical line in the win over Idaho with seven points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. That's 7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, and 2.5 spg in 22 mpg 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 16 games to rank third in the Big Sky at 1.9 per game. A closer look reveals he has the best steals-per-minute ratio in the league. Miller averages only 19.0 minutes per game, so his steals-per-40-minutes is 4.00. Nic McClain of Eastern Washington (2.3 pg) averages 3.15 steals-per-40-minutes. Big Sky steals leader Blaise Threat of Weber State (2.4 pg) averages 2.98.
• 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 5.5 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 1.7 per game.
• LEADERS: Portland State currently leads the Big Sky Conference in turnovers forced (16.5), turnover margin (+1.9), blocked shots (5.5), steals (9.1) and bench points (28.4) and ranks second in six other categories... 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 .622 at the line and has had only one game better than .688... the Vikings rank last in the Big Sky in free throw shooting.

 

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 79 throw-downs (4.9 per game) led by SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott (26) and SR G Jaylin Henderson (21). 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
2024-25: 79 in 16 games
2019-20: 76
2015-16: 75
2021-22: 73
2004-05: 72