Moscow, ID  – Portland State was missing a spark plug in the second half against Idaho but Terri Miller Jr. kept the engine running as the Vikings pulled out a 69-66 Big Sky Conference victory over the Vandals at ICCU Arena.
 
With do-it-all Jaylin Henderson on the bench for much of the half with foul trouble, Portland State turned to the Big Sky Conference's leading scorer and Miller was happy to oblige as he scored 20 of his game-high 29 points after intermission.
 
Portland State's win kept it perfect in the Big Sky Conference at 7-0. The Vikings are off to their best Big Sky start ever, and now have their longest winning streak since winning nine straight games during the 2007-08 season. The Vikings are 13-5 overall, including 6-4 in road games.
 
"We are a really resilient group," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn. "Every time (there is adversity) this team responds and figures out a way to get it done. Idaho is really good, we have nothing but respect for them."
 
Miller was 11-19 from the field, 2-5 from three-point range and 5-8 at the line for his 29 points, which was two off his career high. He added five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot. In the second half, he made 9-12 from the field, scoring 20 of PSU's 36 points.
 
"He's a matchup nightmare," said Coburn. "There are a lot of different things Terri can do. He has added improved shooting this year and he has been really difficult to guard."
 
The Vikings led most of the game and the entire second half but could never pull away from the Vandals. They were up 59-49 with just under seven minutes to play before Idaho chipped away at the deficit. Biko Johnson provided a spark of his own for the Vandals scoring 12 points down the stretch.
 
Idaho carved PSU's lead all the way down to one point in the final seconds. That's when Henderson made a pair of free throws to ice the game with 8.2 seconds to play.
 
Johnson scored 20 for Idaho but his desperation three-pointer to tie the game at the end was off.
 
Early on, Portland State was beating Idaho at its own game. The Vandals lead the Big Sky in three-point field goals made, but PSU was 4-6 from long range while Idaho was 2-12 in the first half. That had Portland State ahead 33-26 at halftime.
 
The Vikings were 12-24 (.500) from the field, while the Vandals were 10-28 (.357).
 
PSU had its first double-digit lead of the game, 37-26, on a basket inside by Tre-Vaughn Minott. But a few minutes later, Henderson picked up his fourth foul. He had to come out of a game for the first time in nine contests. Henderson sat for 11 minutes before returning late in the second half.
 
So, with a mixture of players off the bench making key contributions and Miller being… well, Miller, the Vikings managed to succeed without their floor leader for 11 minutes. Miller scored 14 of PSU's 17 points while Henderson was on the bench.
 
Portland State finished the game shooting 26-54 from the field (.481), 6-13 from three-point range (.462) and 11-16 at the line (.688). The Vikings, who lead the Big Sky in field goal percentage defense at .408, held Idaho to 21-51 (.412) and only 7-24 from outside the arc (.292).
 
Henderson had 13 points and five assists for the Vikings. Minott added 12 points and six rebounds.
 
Idaho entered the game tied for the third in the Big Sky. With the loss, the Vandals drop to 12-8 overall, 4-3 in the Big Sky.
 
Isaiah Brickner had 22 points and six rebounds to lead Idaho. Johnson added 20 points and six rebounds.
 

GAME NOTES

• With four more dunks, Tre-Vaughn Minott has broken his own school record for dunks in a season with 45. Last season, Minott had 44 in 32 games.
• Terri Miller Jr. had his eighth 20-point game of the season and now averages 19.6 points on the year.
• When Henderson came out of the game in the second half, it ended a run of 354 consecutive minutes played over nine games.
• PSU has beaten Idaho 11 of the last 13 meetings.
• Portland State returns home from three straight games beginning next week. The Vikings take on Montana on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. Montana State comes to town on Saturday, then Idaho State on Monday, Feb. 2. All games can be seen on ESPN+.