Portland, OR – Snow days are fun. And the Portland State basketball team made today's snow even better, by turning in a defensive gem against Northern Arizona and picking up a 58-46 victory at Viking Pavilion.
 
The 46 points allowed were the fewest given up to a Division I team in four seasons by the Vikings. And they did it with style, holding the Lumberjacks to 13-56 from the field (.232), blocking eight shots and making seven steals. 
 
"The guys re-committed themselves to playing our style of defense tonight. If we play defense like that we will find a way to win most nights," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn.
 
On the other end, the Vikings were efficient enough, shooting .442 from the field and .667 at the line and winning the rebound battle, 42-34.
 
The big guys led the way for PSU. Senior forward Terri Miller hit 5-9 shots and 4-4 at the line for 15 points, adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Senior forward Isaiah Johnson scored 13 points on 6-8 from the field, grabbing seven rebounds. And, senior center Tre-Vaughn turned in another career high with 15 big rebounds, 11 points on 5-5 from the field and he blocked two shots.
 
In fact, the Vikings out-scored Northern Arizona in the paint, 42-10.
 
Portland State's win kept it in third place in the Big Sky at 7-5. The Vikings are 15-10 on the season. They have now won seven straight at home and are 9-1 in Viking Pavilion overall.
 
The key once again for Portland State was stopping the Big Sky Conference's leading scorer, Trenton McLaughlin. Averaging over 21 points per game, McLaughlin did not make a field goal in the first half, finished at 3-14 for the game and scored only 11 points. In a Viking win over NAU back in January, PSU held McLaughlin to seven points.
 
"Jaylin Henderson did a really good job on McLaughlin again. We challenged him to do that," said Coburn. "TV did a great job on their big guy, (Carson) Towt, as well. Everybody else played a big role in that, taking turns in getting stops. It was a complete team effort."
           
The pace of the game was slow, as if the teams were afraid to slip on the snow piling up outside that had cancelled classes on the Portland State campus. But the Vikings took the lead from the start and held it throughout the first half. They were up 28-20 at the break behind eight points each from Minott and Miller.
 
The Vikings held Northern Arizona to 6-26 shooting in the first half, including misses on their last 12 shots. The Lumberjacks had seven free throws and no made field goals for the last 9:10 of the half. McLaughlin, the nation's third leading scorer, was 0-7 from the field.
 
The 'Jacks ended up missing 16 shots in a row until McLaughlin finally made a shorter jumper at the 16:42 mark of the second half.
 
Portland State would not allow the Lumberjacks to make a significant run. They trimmed the deficit to five points, but the Vikings held NAU to 1-15 from the field to close out the game. PSU pushed the lead back to double digits and came away with the home win.
 
Diego Campusano led the Lumberjacks with 14 points. Carson Towt, the nation's leading rebounder at 13.0 per game, had 10 boards and was held to five points.
 
Northern Arizona dropped to 14-12 on the season, 5-8 in the Big Sky.
 

GAME NOTES

• Portland State has won eight straight Big Sky home games dating to last season… PSU has beaten NAU in seven of the last eight meetings.
• The Vikings led wire-to-wire once again. It marks the seventh time in 10 home games in which PSU has never trailed its opponent.
• The last time a Division I opponent scored fewer points was a 71-40 Portland State win at Idaho on Feb. 20, 2021.
• Qiant Myers had nine points, five assists and three blocked shots.
• Tre-Vaughn Minott got three more dunks and with 40 on the season has tied the school record.
• Portland State beat Northern Arizona, 80-69, on Jan. 18 in Flagstaff.
• The game time was moved up to 4 p.m. due to inclement weather conditions in Portland. The doors were closed to the public as Portland State University was closed for the day.
• The Vikings host first-place Northern Colorado on Saturday. Game time is 2 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. Tickets are on sale at www.GoViks.com. The game will be televised on ESPN+.