PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (4-2) at
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (5-3)

Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, 7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT • Sanford Coyote Sports Center (6,000), Vermillion, SD
Live Stream: MidCo Sports (www.midcosportsplus.com)
Live Audio: thevarsitynetwork.com
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.livestats.us

 
OPENING TIP

The Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge takes place this week as the two conferences will match up team for team with each school getting a home game and a road game. Portland State will face a pair of schools it has never played in its history. The Vikings go on the road to play South Dakota on Wednesday evening, then host Omaha on Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
     
The Vikings (4-2) go into the week's action on a high note, having won three straight games including a 68-63 victory at Utah Tech last Tuesday. PSU trailed by five with less than 90 seconds on the clock, but scored the final 10 points of the game to pull out a comeback win.
     
Despite shooting poorly (.397), the Vikings used a huge rebounding edge (44-26) and made six straight free throws in the final minute to ice the game. SR F Terri Miller Jr. led the way with 19 points (7-11 FG, 1-1 3pt, 4-6 FT) despite playing only 20 minutes due to foul problems. SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott had another stellar performance, matching his career high of 16 points for the third time this season and grabbing 16 rebounds. SR G Jaylin Henderson tallied 10 points and dished off a career-high eight assists.
     
PSU's win puts it at 1-2 in road games this season, with 10-point losses at both Stanford and San Francisco. The Vikings will be seeking a four-game overall winning streak for the first time since Dec. 14-31 of last season.
     
South Dakota (5-3) will be an interesting test. Like the Vikings (87.0/+11.2), the Coyotes are a high-scoring team (84.8) and a strong rebounding team (+5.0 margin). Utah Tech is a common opponent, but South Dakota lost their home-opener to the Trailblazers, 81-79, in overtime. Since that loss, USD has won four in a row at home. With a neutral-site win over Air Force last Saturday, the Coyotes have now won two in a row overall and four of their last five games.
     
South Dakota was 19-14 last season, 9-7 in the Summit League, another close comparison to the Vikings' 19-13/11-7 marks.
     
Wednesday's game tips off at 7 p.m. CT in Vermillion, SD, 5 p.m. PT. The game airs on MidCo, a pay streaming service in the midwest (www.midcosportsplus.com). Live audio can be found by navigating to the www.goyotes.com website.
     
Omaha (2-5) will play Northern Colorado at home before coming to Viking Pavilion on Saturday.
           

COMING UP

PSU hosts Omaha on Saturday as the second game in the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge.
     
Non-conference play concludes with a Dec. 13 home game against George Fox, followed by road games at Colorado (Dec. 17) and Tulane (Dec. 20).
     
The Big Sky Conference schedule begins on Jan. 1 at Weber State.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SOUTH DAKOTA

• ALL-TIME SERIES: This will be the first meeting ever between Portland State and South Dakota.
• THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE-SUMMIT LEAGUE CHALLENGE: This is the third season of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge. Portland State is still looking for its first win in the series. The Vikings lost at Kansas City during the 2023-24 season, 83-67, then to Denver, 68-67, last season at home. This is the first year that PSU will play two games during the Big Sky-Summit week. The Vikings were limited to one game previously due to an uneven number of opponents between the leagues.
• PORTLAND STATE vs. SUMMIT LEAGUE: Portland State has played six programs that are current members of the League, but only three while a member of the league (St. Thomas, Kansas City and Denver). PSU is 5-15 all-time against current members of the league.... the Viking program has never faced South Dakota or Omaha.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his fifth 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 66-66. He has never faced South Dakota... the Coyotes are coached by Eric Peterson in his fourth season. Peterson is 48-56 and has never faced the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING THE COYOTES

• South Dakota is a member of the Summit League located in Vermillion, SD. The Coyotes were 19-14 last season, 9-7 and fifth place in the Summit League.
• The Coyotes are 5-3 this season, including 4-1 at home. South Dakota averages 84.8 points per game and allows 79.5 points. USD holds a +5.0 rebounding margin edge and a +1.9 turnover margin edge over opponents.
• Junior guard Isaac Bruns leads the team in scoring at 17.4 points per game, while averaging 4.0 rebounds... junior guard Jordan Crawford has a 12.3 scoring average and a team-high 12 three-point field goals... freshman guard Uzziah Buntyn averages 9.9 points and 3.5 assists... senior center Cameron Fens averages 9.3 points, a team-leading 5.4 rebounds and has blocked 12 shots.

 

HOT SHOTS

• JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: In the last three games, SR F Terri Miller Jr.  is averaging 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, shooting .647 from the field, .714 from three-point range and .778 at the line... he scored a season-high 20 points (7-9 FG, 3-4 3-pt, 3-3 FT) with an excellent shooting line against CSUB. He added five rebounds and five assists... Miller followed with 17 points (8-14 FG, 1-2 3-pt), a career-high 14 rebounds, four assists and two steals against Evergreen State... then, he put up 19 points (7-11 FG, 1-1 3-pt, 4-6 FT) in only 20 minutes against Utah Tech.
• FREE IS A VERY GOOD PRICE: SR G Jaylin Henderson has made 24 consecutive free throws over the last three games. He is shooting .881 at the line this season, a big jump from his .679 of last season.... Henderson leads PSU and the Big Sky in scoring (19.8). He is second in steals (2.5) and fourth in assists (5.5).
• SWEET 16: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott had 16 points (7-14 FG, 2-3 FT) and 16 rebounds in the win at Utah Tech. It was his second double-double of the season... Minott has scored 16 points three times this season matching his career-scoring high, which he also produced twice last season.
• CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: Portland State had a dominant rebounding performance in the win over Utah Tech, out-boarding the Trailblazers, 44-26. For the season, PSU has out-rebounded opponents by an average of 11.2 per game. The Vikings lead the Big Sky in rebounding margin and offensive rebounding (15.0 pg)... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the Big Sky with 9.8 rebounds per game. JR G Keyon Kensie Jr. ranks fourth at 7.8 per game. And SR F Terri Miller Jr. is 11th with 6.4 rebounds per game.
• MORE GOOD STUFF THAT DOESN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in rebounding margin (11.2), offensive rebounds (15.0) and turnovers forced (14.7)... the Vikings have two games in which they have shot at least 60%: vs. Northwest Indian (.617) and Cal State Bakersfield (.600)... JR F Charles Chukwu is 9-10 from the field this season... SO G Kelcy Phipps made his first career start in the 33rd game of his Portland State career against Evergreen State. You might say things went pretty well as Phipps posted a career-high 17 points (6-10 FG, 5-8 3-pt) with two rebounds in 23 minutes.

 

NOT SO HOT

• TURNOVER TALLY: Portland State made 17 turnvoers in its win over Utah Tech - the second-highest total of the season. PSU is averaging 15.2 turnovers per game, up from 12.7 last year.

 

SHIP SHAPE

• PSU has a 14-game home-court winning streak at Viking Pavilion.
• PSU is 27-3 at home since the start of the 2023-24 season.
• The Vikings have won 12 straight Big Sky Conference home games dating back to the 2023-24 season.
• In three home games this season, PSU has trailed for only 27 seconds with two wire-to-wire wins.
• With a 13-1 home record last season, Portland State trailed in only five of the 14 games, winning wire-to-wire in nine games. In a total of 560 minutes played in Viking Pavilion, the Vikings trailed for only 67 minutes and 59 seconds. And the Vikings' lone home loss came by a single point.
• THE SHIP TURNS 100: When Portland State's Viking Pavilion opened for the 2018-19 season it was a long overdue upgrade for the Viking basketball program. PSU's Nov. 19 win over Evergreen State marked the 100th game for the men's basketball program in Viking Pavilion. PSU won 70 of the first 100 games, and more recently has turned "The Ship" into a house of horrors for opponents.
• Portland State's Feb. 19 game with Idaho has been added to the ESPNU schedule. It will be televised nationally with a 6 p.m. tip time. PSU games have been live streamed on ESPN+ in past seasons, but this will be the first nationally-televised basketball game at Viking Pavilion since it opened in 2018. PSU basketball has had one previous home game televised on ESPNU – a Feb. 21, 2009 contest with Boise State (and 93-81 Viking win). That game aired from the old Stott Center gymnasium.

 

STUFF STUFF

• DUNK-O-METER: The Vikings have 30 dunks through six games this season. That is on pace for 150 on the season, which would obliterate the school record of 123 dunks, set last season.
• SEASON HIGH: PSU had a season-high 11 dunks against Northwest Indian (11/7). The school record for the team in a game is 13.
• SEASON HIGH, PART TWO: SR G Jaylin Henderson had five dunks against Northwest Indian (11/7) to tie a school record set by teammate SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott last season in a game against Idaho. Minott tied it again with five dunks against San Francisco (11/2).
• A SLAMTASTIC SEASON: Last year, Portland State set a school record with 123 dunks as a team... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott set an individual record with 44 dunks.

 

VIKINGS, NEW AND OLD

• At Stanford (11/4), Portland State started its three preseason All-Big Sky Conference selections in SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott, SR G Jaylin Henderson and SR F Terri Miller Jr. Also starting were RS FR G Alex Dupre and JR G Keyon Kensie Jr., a transfer from San Diego... FR G Colt Ness made his first start against Northwest Indian (11/7)... SO G Kelcy Phipps made his first career start against Evergreen State (11/19).
• Seven Vikings made their first-ever appearance in the green and black at Stanford (11/4). They included: RS FR G Alex Dupre, JR G Keyon Kensie Jr., RS JR G Sebastian Tidor, SR G Mozae Downing-Rivers, SR G Brycen Long, FR G Colt Ness and FR F Brayden Barron... JR F Charles Chukwu and SR G Samuel Stewart IV played in their first game against Northwest Indian (11/7).
• EVERYBODY PLAYS, NEARLY EVERYBODY STARTS: On Head Coach Jase Coburn's teams everybody plays... and nearly everybody starts at some point as Coburn routinely adjusts lineups based on a myriad of factors. In his 132 games as head coach, Coburn has started 45 different lineups... of the 66 active players on Coburn's five teams, 44 have started - including 7 of 16 this season. 

 

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Portland State Head Coach Jase Coburn is 2-0 on challenged calls this season.
Game                                                         Call                   Result
Nov. 17 vs. Cal State Bakersfield   OOB to CSUB  successful, possession reversed to PSU
Nov. 25 at Utah Tech                           OOB to UT       successful, possession reversed to PSU