NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (11-6, 1-3)
AT PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (9-5, 3-0)

Thursday, January 15, 2026, 7 p.m. • Viking Pavilion (3,094), Portland, OR
Live Stream: ESPN+ • Play-by-play: Matt Richert • Analyst: Devon Pouncey
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.livestats.us
 
OPENING TIP
The first-place Portland State Vikings will enjoy another week of Big Sky Conference play at home as they host Northern Colorado on Thursday and Northern Arizona on Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
     
The Vikings (9-5, 3-0) sit alone at the top of the heap after two weeks of Big Sky action. There is little room for error though as Montana, Montana State and Weber State are all tied for second place, just one-half game back, at 3-1.
     
PSU has put themselves in an excellent position early in league play. The Vikings now need to take advantage of what lies ahead with five of the next seven games at home. Portland State extended its Big Sky home court winning streak to 13 games with a rout of Sacramento State last Saturday, 96-69. It was a remarkable day for the Vikings with a number of notes for the highlight reel:
 
• The Vikings won their 13th straight Big Sky home game (the PSU record for consecutive Big Sky home wins is 15 (1-3-98 to 2-18-99)). PSU is 5-1 at The Ship this season, 29-4 over the last three seasons.
• Portland State went to 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Only twice in PSU's Big Sky history has it reached 4-0 before taking a loss: 2004-05 and 1997-98.
• SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott recorded the first 20-20 game by a Viking in 10 seasons with career highs of 23 points and 20 rebounds while blocking four shots. The 20 rebounds matches a PSU record for boards in a Big Sky Conference game (Cameron Forte had a 20-20 game at Idaho on 1-13-16).
• SR F Terri Miller Jr. turned in the second triple-double of his Viking career and only the third in PSU history with 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists. Only twice has a Viking had more assists in a Big Sky game.  
• SR G Jaylin Henderson had 26 points (10-19 FG), including a sequence of back-to-back highlight reel dunks, to continue his brilliant Big Sky play. He averages 26.3 points in league.
• The Vikings shot .547 from the field, .400 from three-point range, .800 at the line and out-rebounded the Hornets 47-25 in the blowout victory.
 
This week, PSU opens action with Northern Colorado (11-6, 1-3) on Thursday night. The Bears lead the Big Sky in scoring (84.6) and shooting (.491) and are deadly from outside, averaging more than 10 three-pointers per game. That will be a great challenge for a Viking defense that currently leads the league in field goal percentage defense (.408).
     
The Bears have won only one of their first four league games, however they have the best overall winning percentage in the Big Sky (.647). UNC and PSU have four common opponents: Omaha, South Dakota, Idaho State and Weber State. PSU is 3-1 against that group as is UNC.
     
Thursday night's game tips off at 7 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and the live statistics link can be found at GoViks.com.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN COLORADO

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 25-18, and the Big Sky Conference series, 21-18... the Vikings are 11-6 in Big Sky home games against the Bears, including wins in the last two in Viking Pavilion... the teams split the season series last year with each winning on its home court... UNC has won six of the last eight meetings.
• LAST 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. Feb. 15, 2025 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 82, UNC 71: The backcourt trio of Jaylin Henderson, Qiant Myers and Cole Farrell combined for 52 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists and four steals as the Vikings posted another wire-to-wire win at home. Henderson scored a game-high 21 points. He added career-highs of seven rebounds and seven assists. Myers scored 16 points with six assists and Farrell came off the bench for 15 points.... In the end, defense was key for PSU. UNC scored 10 points under its season average (81) and shot well below the season percentage of .504 (.426 for the game). The Vikings blocked seven shots by the Bears and made nine steals... Portland State shot 30-59 for the game (.508), 9-19 from three-point range (.474) and 13-18 at the line (.722). Rebounding was even at 35-35... Jaron Rillie and Isaiah Hawthorne each scored 19 points to lead the Bears. Hawthorne had eight rebounds and Rillie had four assists.
• 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 71-69. He is 4-6 against Northern Colorado... the Bears are coached by Steve Smiley (Northern State, 2004) in his sixth season. Smiley is 98-76 overall, 7-5 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 25-10 last season, 15-3 and tied for first place in the Big Sky. They lost in the Big Sky Tournament Championship to Montana, but advanced to the NIT, losing to UC Irvine.
• This season, UNC is 11-6 overall, 1-3 in the Big Sky Conference. The Bears average 84.6 points per game and allow 77.4 points. They shoot .491 from the field, .371 from three-point range and .760 at the line. They also have a +5.8 rebounding margin... UNC leads the Big Sky in shooting, scoring, assists and three-point percentage.
• Senior guard Quinn Denker averages 17.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. He leads the Big Sky in assists... senior forward Brock Wisne averages 16.4 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting .570 from the field... senior guard Zach Bloch is averaging 13.4 points and has made a league-leading 55 three-pointers at a .487 clip.

HOT SHOTS

• 20-20 VISION: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott had one of the rarest of games in Portland State history, posting career-highs of 23 points and 20 rebounds in the win over Sacramento State. It was only the second time it has occurred in PSU's Big Sky Conference history with the first coming 10 seasons against by Cameron Forte (20-20 vs. Idaho in 2016). The 20 rebounds is tied with Forte for the most by a Viking in a Big Sky game... Minott shot 9-11 from the field and 5-7 at the free throw line, adding four blocked shots in the game... he currently leads the Big Sky in rebounding for the season (9.2) and in league play (14.7). He leads the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.727) and blocks (3.0) in conference games only.
• TRIPLING DOWN: SR F Terri Miller Jr. is having a remarkable season and he one-upped himself on Saturday against Sacramento State. Miller had a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists. It was the second such game of his career and only the third in PSU history (also Cameron Forte, with 20 pts, 15 reb, 10 ast vs. NAU in 2016)... for the season Miller averages 18.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He shoots .577 from the field and .489 from three-point range. Miller ranks among the top seven in the league in those categories... in Big Sky games, Miller averages 22.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists while shooting .692. He leads the Big Sky in three-point shooting in league games at .615.
• IRON MAN: SR G Jaylin Henderson has played the entire game in the last five contests (210 consecutive minutes), averaging 42.0 minutes per game due to overtimes. He has played six full games overall and leads the Big Sky in minutes played at 36.4 per contest. All of that is impressive, but his production is most impressive of all. Henderson scored 26 points with five assists in the win over Sacramento State. He leads the Vikings with 19.0 points, 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. In conference games, Henderson averages 26.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists... Henderson was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Jan. 6 after road wins over Weber State and Idaho State in which averaged 26.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists... his career-high was 34 points at Weber State, and it was the most by a Viking since Holland Woods scored 39 on Jan. 30, 2020, a span of 169 games.
• CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: Portland State has been dominant on the boards this season.  The Vikings have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 6.1 per game, 7.7 in Big Sky games. The Vikings average 12.8 offensive rebounds per game to lead the Big Sky... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the Big Sky with 9.2 rebounds per game. JR G Keyon Kensie Jr. ranks third at 7.3 per game. And SR F Terri Miller Jr. is seventh with 6.5 rebounds per game.
• TRENDING: Portland State is undefeated when leading at halftime (6-0), out-rebounding an opponent (7-0) and scoring 80 or more points (7-0).
• MORE GOOD STUFF THAT DOESN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage defense (.408), offensive rebounds (12.8), blocked shots (4.6), scoring margin (10.4) and turnovers forced (13.1)... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott ranks seventh all-time in blocked shots (78), second all-time in field goal percentage (.628) and second in dunks (78) at Portland State... JR F Charles Chukwu is 13-14 from the field this season (.929). Throw in his 30-game career at Tulsa a couple of seasons ago and Chukwu is a remarkable 29-37 from the field (.784) as a Division I player.

NOT SO HOT

• TOO CHARITABLE: Portland State has allowed opponents to shoot 78 more free throws through 14 games. The Vikings have been outshot at the line .742 to .697 and rank ninth in the Big Sky. The good news is PSU comes off a pair of solid free throw shooting games 38-46 (.826).

SHIP SHAPE

• Portland State is 5-1 at The Ship this season... PSU has won wire-to-wire in two home games and has only trailed for 29:15 over six games.
• The Vikings have won 13 straight Big Sky Conference home games dating back to the 2023-24 season... the longest Big Sky home winning streak in PSU history is 15 (Jan. 3, 1998 to Feb. 18, 1999). Interestingly, those games were played at three different home venues: old Stott Gym (5), Memorial Coliseum (4), Rose Garden (6).
• PSU is 29-4 at home since the start of the 2023-24 season.
• 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.

 
BIG SKY HOME COURT WINNING STREAK (13)
W. F.15.24 Northern Colorado*(ot)    82-72
W F.17.24..... Northern Arizona*       83-68
W M.4.24........................ Idaho*       72-57
W J.9.25 Eastern Washington* 64-59
W J.11.25......................... Idaho*       75-63
W J.23.25.............. Weber State*       74-56
W J.25.25............... Idaho State*       76-59
W F.13.25..... Northern Arizona*       58-46
W F.15.25... Northern Colorado*       82-71
W F.27.25......... Montana State*       69-52
W M.1.25............. Montana*(ot)       79-76
W M.3.25..... Sacramento State*       59-56
W J.10.26..... Sacramento State*       96-69