Portland, OR  – Portland State's offense went missing at Viking Pavilion on Thursday night. Montana took advantage. Behind 24 points from Money Williams, the Grizzlies beat the Vikings, 64-60.
 
PSU shot its worst percentage of the season, hitting just .383 from the field. That might have been something the Vikings could overcome, but coupled with 17 turnovers, it wasn't happening.
 
The loss ended Portland State's perfect start to Big Sky Conference play as they dropped to 7-1 in league. The loss also ended a 15-game Big Sky home winning streak that dated back two years.
 
The good news is the Vikings still maintain their position in first place as second-place Montana State lost at Sacramento State and dropped to 7-2. That makes Saturday's game with the Bobcats at Viking Pavilion another big contest with the winner owning first place in the Big Sky.
 
Montana, the defending Big Sky Champion and consensus number one pick in this year's preseason polls, are also now 7-2. 
 
The Vikings made their first three shots of the game, then the offense went sideways. PSU made only two of their next 12 shots and mixed in eight turnovers. The result was a 30-18 Montana lead - Portland State's largest home deficit of the season - with 5:36 to go in the half.
 
PSU finished the half on a 10-3 run to narrow the deficit to 33-28. Montana out-shot the Vikings .500 to .417. Otherwise, the numbers were virtually even. 
 
Offense was hard to come by again in the second half. The Vikings did not make a field goal for eight-and-a-half minutes until Tre-Vaughn Minott threw down a dunk. Unfortunately, they were just 5-10 at the free throw line during that span. That allowed the Griz to push their lead back to 11 at 44-33.
 
Then PSU's defense started forcing turnovers and slowly the Vikings crept back into the game. When Brycen Long hit a three-pointer with 4:48 to play, Portland State trailed by a single point, 56-55. That was as close as the Vikings would get. Montana made 6-8 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
 
"We're a team that is never going to give up, but give credit to Montana. They are a really good team and they had a good plan tonight," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn. 
 
"We pressed a little bit and uncharacteristically turned it over 17 times. They did some things to us tonight that we have to go back and look at. They had a good plan for sure."
 
Portland State finished at 18-47 from the field (.383), 3-16 from three-point range (.188). Montana was 21-45 (.467) and made 20-25 at the line (.800).
 
Terri Miller Jr. led the Vikings with 15 points and four steals. Minott had his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jaylin Henderson had 13 points and five assists.
 

GAME NOTES

• Portland State is now 13-6 overall this season… the Vikings are 7-2 at home.
• Portland State will host Montana State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Idaho State comes to town on Monday at 7 p.m. Both games can be seen on ESPN+. Tickets are available at www.GoViks.com.