PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (14-9, 6-4)
AT EASTERN WASHINGTON (8-16, 4-7)

Saturday, February 8, 2025, 2 p.m., Reese Court (5,000), Cheney, WA
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.com
 

OPENING TIP

The Portland State Vikings go into Cheney, WA on Saturday afternoon looking to further solidify their third-place standing in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings will take on the Eastern Washington Eagles in a Big Sky game at 2 p.m. It can be seen on ESPN+.
     
PSU (14-9, 6-4) picked up a convincing road win at Idaho on Thursday night and are now one game up on Idaho State (5-5) and a game-and-a-half ahead of three other schools. For the time being, the Vikings will be looking up at Northern Colorado and Montana (both 9-2) as they are tied for first.
     
Portland State swept the season series with Idaho, winning 76-69 in Moscow. PSU led for almost the entire game, and at one point by 25 in the second half. The Vandals made a late run but only knocked down the deficit to single digits in the closing moments. SR F Isaiah Johnson had a big game with a career-high 22 points (10-13 FG, 1-1 3-pt, 1-2 FT), seven rebounds and three steals. PSU turned over the Vandals 21 times, scoring 20 points off turnovers.
     
Continuing to play well has been SR F Terri Miller Jr., who has averaged 19.5 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last four games while shooting .633 from the field.
     
PSU's win ended a two-game losing streak for the Vikings and improved their road record to 5-7 this season. Another win on Saturday would be huge as PSU then plays five of its final seven games at home where it has gone 8-1 this season and 19-3 over the last two seasons.
     
The Vikings and Eagles met on Jan. 9 in Portland - a 64-59 PSU win. It was Portland State's first win over Eastern Washington in more than four seasons. Since that time, PSU has gone 5-3 while Eastern has been 3-5. However, the Eagles have won their last two games, including an 83-80 decision over Sacramento State on Thursday.
     
Eastern Washington (8-16, 4-7), under first-year Head Coach Dan Monson, has gone 6-4 at Reese Court.
 

COMING UP

Portland State returns home for five of its final seven regular season games starting with Northern Arizona on Feb. 13 and Northern Colorado on Nov. 15.
     
The Vikings' final road trip us Feb. 20-22 at Idaho State and Weber State. 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. EASTERN WASHINGTON

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State broke a nine-game Eastern Washington winning streak in the series on Jan. 9 with a 64-59 win. The Eagles still lead the series all-time, 33-28, and in Big Sky Conference games, 32-25... the Vikings are 8-20 in Big Sky games played in Cheney.
• EARLIER THIS SEASON: Jan. 9, 2025 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 64, EWU 59: Portland State scored the final seven points of the game and made two critical blocked shots in the final minute to eke out a win. PSU trailed 59-57 with 1:43 left in the game. That's when an Isaiah Johnson's tip dunk off a Viking miss tied the game and ignited the crowd... Tre-Vaughn Minott came away with a big block at the 58-second mark followed by a Terri Miller Jr. score on his patented lefty hook shot for a 61-59 PSU lead... then Hayden Curtiss got a second big blocked shot with 13 seconds left. PSU grabbed the ball and was able to convert three of four free throws in the closing seconds for the 64-59 final... Miller Jr. led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds. Minott had 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Andrew Cook and Mason Williams each had 12 points for the Eagles.
• 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 57-60. He is 1-6 against Eastern Washington... Head Coach Dan Monson (Idaho, 1985) is in his first season at Eastern Washington. Monson, has a 453-412 record in 28 seasons as a collegiate head coachs at Gonzaga, Minnesota and Long Beach State. He is 0-1 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

• 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 8-16 this season, 4-7 in Big Sky games. They average 72.9 points per game and allow 75.0 points. The Eagles are shooting .457 from the field, and have a remarkable .768 free throw percentage to lead the Big Sky.
• Senior guard Andrew Cook leads the Eagles in scoring at 15.4 points per game while shooting .543 from the field and .863 at the line to lead the Big Sky... junior guard Nic McClain averages 12.5 points, 3.8 assists per game and 2.1 steals to lead the Big Sky... sophomore guard Mason Williams is averaging 14.7 points.

 

HOT SHOTS

• SHOOT YOUR SHOT: Portland State is shooting .486 as a team this season to rank second in the Big Sky behind Northern Colorado... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the way at .684 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 .558, SR F Hayden Curtiss is shooting .592 (including .423 on three-pointers), JR F Isaac Brice is at .615 and SR F Terri Miller Jr. shoots .510 from the field.
• ZAY'S DAY: SR F Isaiah Johnson posted a career scoring high for the second time this season with 22 points in the win at Idaho. Johnson hit 10-13 shots, 1-1 three-pointers and 1-2 free throws. He added seven rebounds and three steals... Johnson previously had a career-high of 21 points in a win over Wofford in November... for the season, Johnson is averaging career highs of 11.0 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting .558 from the field.
• MILLER TIME: SR F Terri Miller Jr. logged a career-high 25 points at Montana on 10-15 from the field, 3-5 three-pointers and 2-2 at the line. He added six rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot. He followed that with 25 points at Montana State on 10-16 from the field, 1-2 three-pointers, and 4-4 at the line with six more rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block... Since joining the starting lineup nine games ago, Miller has averaged 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds... in Big Sky games he leads the team with 14.8 points and averages 6.1 rebounds while shooting .538 from the field.
• BLOCK PARTY: Portland State had a season-high nine blocked shots in the win at Pacific (12/18) and has three games of eight blocks this season. PSU currently averages 5.0 send-backs per game to rank second in the Big Sky... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott has had a career-high four blocked shots three times this season (Wofford, Denver, Weber State) and ranks second in the Big Sky at 1.6 per game.
• FRONT RUNNERS: With an 8-1 home record, Portland State has trailed in only three of nine home games this season, winning wire-to-wire in six games. In a total of 360 minutes played in Viking Pavilion, the Vikings have trailed for only 30:09.
• TRENDY: Portland State is 11-2 when leading at halftime... the Vikings are 11-3 when out-rebounding an opponent and 12-2 when out-shooting an opponent... PSU is 5-4 in games decided by six points or less.
• LEADERS: Portland State currently leads the Big Sky Conference in turnovers forced (15.3), turnover margin (+2.3), steals (8.6) and fast break points (12.7) and ranks second in three other categories... SR G Qiant Myers leads the Big Sky in assists (6.6) and ranks ninth in the nation.