NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (19-7, 11-2)
AT PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (15-10, 7-5)

Saturday, February 15, 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 home court has been kind to Portland State this season, but this Saturday brings the Vikings their biggest test yet. PSU hosts first-place Northern Colorado in a 2 p.m. game at Viking Pavilion.
     
Portland State (15-10, 7-5) has been impressive in its own right, coming off a 58-46 win over Northern Arizona on Thursday at home. The Viks held the 'Jacks to a lowly .232 shooting percentage on the way to their seventh straight home win and eighth straight Big Sky Conference home win dating to last season. PSU is now 9-1 in games at The Ship this season, and in fact has only trailed in three of those games, winning seven in wire-to-wire fashion.
     
PSU holds down third place in the Big Sky Conference but is only one game ahead of Idaho and Idaho State (both 6-6).
     
Thursday's win was as good as any as PSU stifled the NAU offense on 13-56 shooting, blocked eight shots, made seven steals and won the rebound battle, 42-34. The 46 points allowed were the fewest by a Division I opponent in four seasons.
 
The inside game was particularly good as the Vikings out-scored the Lumberjacks 42-10 in the paint. SR F Terri Miller Jr. had 15 points (5-9 FG, 4-4 FT), five rebounds and four assists. SR F Isaiah Johnson added 13 points (6-8 FG, 1-1 3-pt) and seven rebounds. SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott set another career high with 15 rebounds and scored 11 points (5-5 FG, 1-2 FT).
     
Holding down the Northern Colorado offense is another thing entirely. UNC (19-7, 11-2) leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring (81.2) and shooting (.504), assists (16.6), three-point shooting (.365) and scoring margin (+7.8). UNC beat the Vikings, 72-69, on Jan. 16 in Greeley.
     
The Bears have the best record in the Big Sky and are tied with Montana for first place. Northern Colorado picked up a 77-61 win at Sacramento State on Thursday night to improve to 7-5 on the road and 5-1 in Big Sky road games.
     
Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN+. Tickets are available at www.GoViks.com. Live statistics are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings' final road trip is next week at Idaho State (Feb. 20) and Weber State (Feb. 22). PSU then comes home to host Montana State (Feb. 27), Montana (Mar. 1) and Sacramento State (Mar. 3).
     
The Big Sky Conference Tournament takes place Mar. 8-12 at Boise's Idaho Central Arena.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN COLORADO

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 24-18, and the Big Sky Conference series, 20-18... UNC won an earlier meeting in Greeley and has won six of the last seven in the series... the Vikings are 10-6 in Big Sky games played at home against the Bears.
• EARLIER THIS SEASON: Jan. 16, 2025 in Greeley, UNC 72, PSU 69: It was a four-point game with eight minutes to play, and the teams traded scores from there. In fact, it wasn't until the Vikings got free throws on consecutive possessions in the final minute that the string was broken. When Qiant Myers hit a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left, PSU trailed only 70-69. The Vikings then fouled and the Bears answered with one free throw. But a late turnover by Portland State ended their hopes... Portland State never led in the game, but was within single digits almost the entire way... Myers led the Vikings with 19 points and seven assists. Isaiah Johnson and Tre-Vaughn Minott each scored 14 points... Isaiah Hawthorne scored 23 points with seven rebounds to lead the Bears. Brock Wisne added 15 points... Northern Colorado shot 26-52 for the game (.500). The Vikings hit 11-27 three-pointers (.407) to keep things close.
• 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 58-61. He is 3-6 against Northern Colorado... the Bears are coached by Steve Smiley (Northern State, 2004) in his fifth season. Smiley is 81-67 overall, 7-4 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING THE BEARS

• 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 19-7 overall, 11-2 and tied for first place in the Big Sky Conference with Montana... UNC leads the Big Sky in scoring (81.2) and shooting (.504), assists (16.6), three-point shooting (.365) and scoring margin (+7.8).
• Junior guard Langston Reynolds averages 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He shoots .600 from the field... Senior forward Isaiah Hawthorne is the leading scorer at 17.2 points with 5.7 rebounds and he has made 52 three-point field goals... senior guard Jaron Rillie averages 10.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

 

HOT SHOTS

• FRONT RUNNERS: With a 9-1 home record, Portland State has trailed in only three of 10 home games this season, winning wire-to-wire in seven games. In a total of 400 minutes played in Viking Pavilion, the Vikings have trailed for only 30 minutes and nine seconds.
• SHOOT YOUR SHOT: Portland State is shooting .483 as a team this season to rank third in the Big Sky... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the way at .690 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 .562, SR F Hayden Curtiss is shooting .584 (including .407 on three-pointers), JR F Isaac Brice is at .615 and SR F Terri Miller Jr. shoots .507 from the field.
• THE BIG THREE: Portland State has had excellent play from its three big men in recent games. On Thursday, they combined for 39 points, 27 rebounds and shot 16-22 from the field (.727). SR F Terri Miller Jr. had 15 points (5-9 FG, 4-4 FT), five rebounds and four assists. SR F Isaiah Johnson added 13 points (6-8 FG, 1-1 3-pt) and seven rebounds. SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott set another career high with 15 rebounds and scored 11 points (5-5 FG, 1-2 FT)... in the last three games, Johnson averaged 17.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals while shooting 23-35 from the field (.657). Included was a career-high 22 points at Eastern Washington (2/8)... for the season, Johnson is averaging career-highs of 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting .562 from the field.
• MORE MILESTONES: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott seems to set a new career-high of some sort every game. On Thursday it was a career high 15 rebounds, which means his previous career high of 13 boards lasted only five days. In the last two games Minott has averaged 13.5 points, 14.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 2.0 steals.
• BLOCK PARTY: Portland State had a season-high nine blocked shots in a win at Pacific (12/18) and has four games of eight blocks this season, including Thursday against Northern Arizona. PSU currently averages 5.2 send-backs per game to lead the Big Sky... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott has had a career-high four blocked shots four times this season (Wofford, Denver, Weber State) and ranks second in the Big Sky at 1.8 per game.
• TRENDY: Portland State is 12-2 when leading at halftime... the Vikings are 12-4 when out-rebounding an opponent and 13-2 when out-shooting an opponent... PSU is 5-5 in games decided by six points or less.
• LEADERS: Portland State currently leads the Big Sky Conference in turnovers forced (15.1), turnover margin (+2.0), steals (8.8), blocked shots (5.2), field goal percentage defense (.426) and fast break points (12.5)... SR G Qiant Myers leads the Big Sky in assists (6.3) and ranks 11th in the nation... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott ranks 37th in the nation in blocked shots (1.76).
• 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 119 games as head coach, Coburn has started 40 different lineups. The Vikings currently have the longest stretch of the same five starters at 11 games (Myers, Henderson, Johnson, Miller, Minott) in Coburn's career. They are 7-4 as a group... of the 50 active players on Coburn's four teams, 39 have started. 

 

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 a school-record 107 throw-downs (4.3 per game) led by SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott (40) and SR G Jaylin Henderson (28). Minott has tied Sal Nuhu (2018-19) for the school record for dunks in a season.
     
Last season, the Vikings had 58 total dunks in 32 games.
     
Here are the best seasons for slams in PSU history:
 
2024-25: 107 in 25 games (Tre-Vaughn Minott, 40)
2018-19: 84 - Sal Nuhu with a school-record 40
2019-20: 76
2015-16: 75
2021-22: 73
2004-05: 72