PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (16-10, 8-5)
AT IDAHO STATE BENGALS (11-13, 6-7)

Thursday, February 20, 2025, 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT, Reed Gym (3,040), Pocatello, ID
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
 

OPENING TIP

Portland State made the most of its time at home last week, and now seeks a strong finish to its Big Sky Conference road schedule this week with games at Idaho State and Weber State.
           
The Vikings (16-10, 8-5) won a pair of home games last week against Northern Arizona and formerly-first-place Northern Colorado to solidify its position in third place in the Big Sky standings. PSU has a 1.5 game lead on Montana State (7-7) and a two-game lead on three others. Included in that group is Thursday's opponent, Idaho State (6-7). PSU beat the Bengals, 76-59, on Jan. 25 at Viking Pavilion and now seeks a season sweep. The Vikings also beat Saturday's opponent Weber State (3-10), 74-56 on Jan. 23 at Viking Pavilion.
           
If PSU can beat those two teams again it would go a long way toward sewing up a number-three seed in next month's Big Sky Tournament, and a quarterfinal round matchup with the number-six seed (see below).
           
There is plenty of work to be done between now and then, though. After this week's play, PSU wraps up its regular season with three games at home between Feb. 27 and Mar. 3. 
           
The Vikings have won three of their last four contests after last week's home sweep. Defense was a key as PSU held UNC and NAU to 57.5 points, .333 field goal shooting, made 16 steals and blocked 15 shots in the two games.
           
Portland State's big men were dominant in the 58-46 win over the Lumberjacks. Then, the perimeter players stepped up in knocking off the Bears, 82-71. SR G Jaylin Henderson had one of his best games of the year with 21 points (9-15 FG) and career-highs of seven rebounds and seven assists. SR G Qiant Myers added 16 points and six assists, while SO G Cole Farrell came off the bench for 15 points.
           
The Vikings take a 5-8 road record to Pocatello. They are 2-5 in Big Sky road games. A win would put PSU seven games over .500 for the first time since Dec. 21, 2017 and guarantee a winning record for the season overall.
           
Idaho State (11-13, 6-7) lost a pair of road games last week at Montana and Montana State. The Bengals feature high-scoring Dylan Darling (19.3 ppg) and Big Sky shot-blocking leader Evan Otten (2.3 bpg). Idaho State is also the league's best rebounding team by margin at +9.2 per game.
           
The Bengals are 8-3 at home this season, including 4-2 in Big Sky home games.
           
Thursday's game tips off at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT in Pocatello. It can be seen on ESPN+. Live statistics are available at www.ViksLive.com.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings play at Weber State on Saturday afternoon in a 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT game. 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. IDAHO STATE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Idaho State, 42-24, and the Big Sky series, 38-20... the series is tied 13-13 in Big Sky games played in Pocatello... PSU has won seven of the last nine in the series and 10 of the last 13.
• EARLIER THIS SEASON: Jan. 25, 2025 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 76, ISU 59:  Jaylin Henderson was simply spectacular scoring 31 points, the most by a Viking in 58 games. The 6-3 senior guard hit 12-18 from the field, 3-6 from three-point range and all four free throws... Terri Miller Jr. was a great complement inside, scoring 14 points with a career-high 11 rebounds... The Vikings jumped to a 19-5 lead after nine minutes and led 37-32 at halftime... Portland State's defense stepped up midway through the second half, holding the Bengals to two field goals over a 10-minute span. The Vikings lead shot up from eight points to 18 points and PSU coasted to victory... The Bengals finished at 21-67 from the field (.313) and 3-20 from three-point range (.150). Meanwhile, the Vikings shot 50% from the field on 27-54, making 7-18 threes (.389).
• 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 59-61. He is 6-2 against Idaho State... the Bengals are coached by Ryan Looney (Eastern Oregon, 1998) in his sixth season. Looney is 54-110 overall, 3-9 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING THE BENGALS

• Idaho State is an original member of the Big Sky Conference. The Bengals have won four Big Sky regular season championships, four Big Sky Tournament Championships and made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Bengals are 11-13 this season, 6-7 and tied for fifth place in the Big Sky Conference... ISU averages 74.1 points per game and allows 69.9 points... the Bengals shoot .426 from the field, .335 from three-point range and .741 at the free throw line... ISU leads the Big Sky in rebounding margin at +9.2.
• Sophomore guard Dylan Darling is averaging 19.3 points per game to rank second in the Big Sky. He also averages 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals... senior guard Jake O'Neil averages 13.0 points and 9.9 rebounds to rank second in the Big Sky... senior forward Isaiah Griffin is scoring at an 11.1 per game clip... freshman center Evan Otten's 55 blocked shots are the most in the Big Sky.

 

HOT SHOTS

• FRONT RUNNERS: With a 10-1 home record, Portland State has trailed in only three of 11 home games this season, winning wire-to-wire in eight games. In a total of 440 minutes played in Viking Pavilion, the Vikings have trailed for only 30 minutes and nine seconds.
• THE BIG THREE: Portland State has had excellent play from its three big men in recent games. In Thursday's win over Northern Arizona, 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).
• THE NOT-AS-BIG THREE: Saturday's performance by PSU's guards in a win over Northern Colorado seemed to be an answer to the larger teammates from Thursday. The Viking's top three perimeter players combined for 52 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists. SR G Jaylin Henderson had a game-high 21 points (9-15 FG, 1-3 3-pt, 2-3 FT) with career-highs of seven rebounds and seven assists. SR G Qiant Myers went for 16 points (5-12 FG, 3-3 3-pt, 3-5 FT) and six assists. SO G Cole Farrell came off the bench for 15 points (5-10 FG, 2-6 3-pt, 3-3 FT), three rebounds and two assists.
• WATCHING TV: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott has averaged over 10 rebounds per game in the last 10 contests. He averaged 12.5 boards in last week's two games... Minott also has 10 blocked shots in the last three games.
• SHOOT YOUR SHOT: Portland State is shooting .484 as a team this season to rank third in the Big Sky... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the way at .692 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 .556, SR F Hayden Curtiss is shooting .584 (including .407 on three-pointers), JR F Isaac Brice is at .630 and SR F Terri Miller Jr. shoots .504 from the field.
• 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. PSU currently averages 5.3 send-backs per game to lead the Big Sky... PSU has 137 total blocks in 26 games. The school record is 153 in 32 games in 2006-07... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott has had a career-high four blocked shots five times this season (Wofford, Denver, Weber State, Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado) and ranks second in the Big Sky and 33rd in the nation at 1.85 per game.
• 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 120 games as head coach, Coburn has started 40 different lineups. The Vikings currently have the longest stretch of the same five starters in Coburn's coaching career at 12 games (Myers, Henderson, Johnson, Miller, Minott). They are 8-4 as a group... of the 50 active players on Coburn's four teams, 39 have started. 
• TRENDY: Portland State is 13-2 when leading at halftime... the Vikings are 12-4 when out-rebounding an opponent and 14-2 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 (15.0), turnover margin (+1.9), steals (8.8), blocked shots (5.3), field goal percentage defense (.426), scoring margin (+7.2) and fast break points (12.5)... SR G Qiant Myers leads the Big Sky in assists (6.3) and ranks 12th in the nation... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott ranks 33th in the nation in blocked shots (1.85).

 

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 110 throw-downs (4.2 per game) led by SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott (40) and SR G Jaylin Henderson (30). 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: 110 in 26 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