EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES (5-10, 1-1)
at PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (8-6, 0-1)

Thursday, January 9, 2025, 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
 

OPENING TIP

Portland State will have its Big Sky Conference home opener this week as the Vikings host Eastern Washington in a Thursday night game at Viking Pavilion. PSU follows up on Saturday afternoon with another Big Sky game against Idaho. Success this week will be very important to the Vikings as they play six of the following eight games on the road.
           
The Vikings (8-6, 0-1) will try to bounce back from a disappointing loss in their Big Sky opener last Saturday at Sacramento State. After a poor second-half showing, PSU lost the lead and the game, 56-53. Portland State entered the contest averaging a league-best 83.4 points, but came away with the fewest points in 67 starts - a span of more than two seasons.
           
That said, PSU has had a good season to this point, with wins over teams from four different Division I conferences and a four-game winning streak prior to last Saturday's loss. The Vikings are 4-1 at home and will try to knock off a recent nemesis in Eastern Washington on Thursday. The Eagles are the two-time defending Big Sky regular season champion (but lost their first game of the Big Sky Tournament each year) and have beaten the Vikings in the last nine meetings. PSU's last win in the series was a home game in 2019.
           
A lot has changed for Eastern Washington (5-10, 1-1) though, as former Head Coach David Riley left for Washington State (as did several players) in the off-season. Veteran collegiate Head Coach Dan Monson was hired in Cheney and rebuilt a program that had only three returning players.
           
The Eagles opened their Big Sky season at home last week, losing to Montana, 92-81, but defeating defending Big Sky Tournament Champion Montana State, 68-65. Eastern has won three of its last four games - all at home - but is still looking for its first road win (0-7).
           
Thursday's contest is the first of nine Big Sky home games for the Vikings this season. All weeknight games will tip off at 7 p.m., while all Saturday games start at 2 p.m. All Big Sky Conference games can be seen on ESPN+. Live statistics are available this week at www.ViksLive.com.
           

COMING UP

The Vikings host Idaho on Saturday in a 2 p.m. game. Next week they go on the road to play at Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona. That begins a stretch of six out of eight games on the road.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. EASTERN WASHINGTON

• ALL-TIME SERIES: On the strength of nine consecutive wins in the series, Eastern Washington leads Portland State all-time, 33-27, and in Big Sky Conference games, 32-24... the Vikings hold a 15-11 edge in Big Sky home games played in Portland... PSU's last win against the Eagles was a 78-65 home victory on Jan. 24, 2019.
• LAST SEASON: Dec. 28, 2023 at Reese Court, EWU 91, PSU 57: After a slow start, the Eagles got going offensively and eventually pulled away from the Vikings. The Vikings raced to a 12-2 lead in the opening four minutes. But that was short-lived as Eastern Washington came back with a 20-2 rally, led by 13 points from Cedric Coward. Eastern Washington made eight shots in a row and 11 of 12 over a stretch, extending their rally to 34-9 over the span of 11 minutes. By halftime, the Vikings trailed 46-27. Eastern continued to grow the lead in the second half.. PSU finished the game with a season-high 21 turnovers that the Eagles turned into 26 points. The Vikings were 20-50 from the field (.400) and got out-rebounded 34-25... Isaiah Johnson was the only Viking in double figures, scoring 10 points with four rebounds... Eastern Washington ended the night at 31-58 from the field (.534). The Eagles also made 11-19 from behind the arc for a .579 mark... Coward finished with 21 points. Dane Erikstrup had 18 points and five steals. Feb. 5, 2024 at Viking Pavilion, EWU 90, PSU 77: Eastern Washington proved its first-place bona fides by out-shooting and out-rebounding the Vikings. Though they shot a middling 25-58 from the field for the game (.431), the Eagles had a 10-12 shooting stretch in the first half, including four three-pointers, taking control of the game and ultimately leading to their victory. Eastern Washington led 45-32 at the break and by as many as 25 in the second half... Cedric Coward led six Eagles in double figures with 26 points and 11 rebounds... Isiah Kirby scored 18 points with seven rebounds and four assists. Cole Farrell added 16 points and four steals off the bench, hitting 6-8 shots from the field. Kendall Munson and Bobby Harvey each scored 11 points.
• 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 51-57. He is 0-6 against Eastern Washington as a head coach... Head Coach Dan Monson (Idaho, 1985) is in his first season at Eastern Washington. Monson, who has a 450-406 record in 28 seasons as a collegiate head coach, has never faced the Vikings in previous stops at Gonzaga, Minnesota and Long Beach State.

 

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON

• Eastern Washington was 21-11 last season, 15-3 and first place in the Big Sky Conference. However, the Eagles lost their first game in the Big Sky tournament for the second year in a row. EWU has won four Big Sky regular season titles and three Big Sky tournament titles in its history.
• In the off-season, Eastern Washington hired veteran coach Dan Monson to lead the program. So far, the Eagles are 5-10 this season, 1-1 in Big Sky games. They average 75.9 points per game, but rank last in the Big Sky in defense, allowing 78.7 points. The Eagles are shooting .467 from the field, and have a remarkable .783 free throw percentage to lead the Big Sky.
• Senior guard Andrew Cook leads the Eagles in scoring at 16.3 points per game while shooting .575 from the field and .883 at the line... junior guard Nic McClain averages 15.1 points and 4.1 assists per game... sophomore guard Mason Williams is averaging 13.2 points.

 

HOT SHOTS

• SHOOT YOUR SHOT: PSU is shooting .493 as a team this season (second in the Big Sky, 29th in the nation). This is notable as the Vikings have not shot above .448 over the last seven seasons. The school record for a season is .492, set by the 2004-05 Big Sky Conference regular season champion team... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the way at .674 (31-46) from the field. SR F Isaiah Johnson has also been excellent at .602 (59-98), SR F Hayden Curtiss is shooting .597 (43-72, including 10-23 three-pointers) and JR F Isaac Brice is at .625 (15-24).
• 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 29 steals in 14 games to rank third in the Big Sky at 2.1 per game. A closer look reveals he has the best steals-per-minute ratio in the league. Miller averages only 17.6 minutes per game, so his steals-per-40-minutes is 4.71. Big Sky steals leader Nic McClain of Eastern Washington (2.4 pg) averages 3.15 steals-per-40-minutes. Blaise Threat of Weber State (2.3 pg) averages 2.91.
• IT'S COLE'S WORLD: You will find him at @W0rldCole on social media. The Vikings are just glad to find SO G Cole Farrell doing his thing on the basketball court. He turned in a career-best game in the win at Pacific (12/18) with a career-high 18 points (6-10 FG, 2-3 3-pt, 4-6 FT), five rebounds, three assists, two steals and some stellar defense. Farrell had a steal, two rebounds and eight points in the final five minutes of the game as the Vikings held off the Tigers... that was part of a hot streak over the last five games in which Farrell has averaged 12.8 points and 4.4 rebounds, had nine assists and eight steals in 24 minutes per game off the bench. He shot 26-51 from the field in those games (.510), 7-14 from three-point range.
• TRIPLE THREAT OFF THE BENCH: Portland State has had a very balanced attack this season with eight players averaging 7.2 points or more per game. Playing a major role in the success have been three players off the bench: SR F Terri Miller Jr., SR F Hayden Curtiss and SO G Cole Farrell... Miller's all-around game has him averaging 8.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.1 steals in 17 minutes per game... Curtiss is averaging 7.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and shooting .597 from the field and .435 from three-point range in 16 minutes per game.. Farrell is at 7.7 points and 2.7 rebounds with 20 assists and 12 steals in 17 minutes per game... PSU leads the Big Sky in bench points (30.8).
• BLOCK PARTY: Portland State had a season-high nine blocked shots in the win at Pacific (12/18). PSU has had eight blocked shots on two occasions 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 1.64 per game.
• DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: The slam game has been strong for the Vikings this season. PSU had a season-high 12 dunks against Walla Walla. For the season, they have 72 throw-downs (5.1 per game). SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott (21) and SR G Jaylin Henderson (20) lead the way.
• LEADERS: Portland State currently leads the Big Sky Conference in turnovers forced (16.0), turnover margin (+2.4), blocked shots (5.7), steals (9.4) and bench points (30.8)... SR G Qiant Myers leads the Big Sky in assists (6.8) and ranks eighth 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... PSU was 5-13 at the line in last Saturday's three-point loss at Sacramento State... the Vikings rank last in the Big Sky in free throw shooting.
• NO POINTS FOR YOU: Portland State's 53 points scored at Sacramento State were the fewest in 67 starts dating back to Dec. 10, 2022, and the third-fewest in Head Coach Jase Coburn's 108 games.

 

FUN FACTS AND MEANINGLESS TRIVIA

• CONNECTIONS: SR G Jaylin Henderson and SR F Terri Miller Jr. were teammates at Louisiana Tech last season... JR F Isaac Brice is the son of a former Vikings assistant football coach, Alundis Brice (2007-08)... FR G Kelcy Phipps and SR F Isaiah Johnson attended the same high school (Bishop Montgomery) in southern California.
• TWO HANDS ARE BETTER THAN ONE: SR F Terri Miller Jr. is ambidextrous and will shoot with both hands during a game. He tends to shoot right handed from distance and left handed when playing inside. He said he doesn't think about the hand he shoots with, it just occurs naturally.
• TV ON THE RADIO: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott can play seven musical instruments and also enjoys producing music. His mixes can be found on YouTube at Tellavision_topic... Minott is also the long-time boyfriend of Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever (they met at South Carolina).
• BIG BRO IN THE BIG LEAGUES: SR G Shane Nowell's older brother, Jaylen, has spent parts of six seasons in the NBA. He is currently a member of the G-League's Capitol City Go-Go.
• THAT WINNING FEELING: Head Coach Jase Coburn has a 25-22 record in non-conference games in his four years at the helm of the Viking Ship. That includes a respectable 11-15 road record in those games... PSU was 9-4 in non-conference play last season, and 8-5 this season.