MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (13-9, 7-2) at
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (13-6, 7-1)

Saturday, January 31, 2026, 2 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

Redemption is but a day away in the Big Sky Conference.
     
The Portland State Vikings will need to heed that thought as they play a second crucial Big Sky Conference game in a row on Saturday. The first-place Vikings host second-place Montana State at Viking Pavilion. The winner of the game will hold outright first place in the conference standings at the midpoint of the league season. Tip-off for the game, presented by Les Schwab Tires, is at 2 p.m.
     
PSU (13-6, 7-1) will need to bounce back from a rare home loss on Thursday night to Montana (at 7-2 also tied with MSU for second place). The Vikings suffered through their poorest shooting night of the season (.383) and combined with 17 turnovers did not have enough offense to overcome a talented Grizzlies team. Emphasizing those offensive struggles, the Vikings lost for the first time this season when out-rebounding an opponent (10-1).
     
The loss ended PSU's seven-game winning streak which was the program's longest in 18 seasons. It also ended a 15-game Big Sky Conference home winning streak that dated back to 2024. The good news about the loss is the Vikings did not relinquish their top spot in the Big Sky standings as MSU lost at Sacramento State, 83-80. PSU has been in first place in the Big Sky since day one of the league season.
     
Offense will be a focus for Portland State. Thursday's game marked the fourth straight they have failed to reach 70 points (although they did win the previous three). PSU had been averaging 83 points per game prior to that. In addition, Montana State has a talented offensive squad, averaging just under 80 points with excellent shooting splits (.469/.371/.754), more than 10 successful three-pointers per game and the fewest turnovers in the league (10.5 pg).
                       
Both teams will be looking to get their mojo back. Prior to Thursday's losses, PSU had won seven in a row and MSU had won nine of its previous 10.
     
Portland State has the firepower to get back on track. SR F Terri Miller Jr., the reigning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, leads the conference in scoring at 19.4 points per game. SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the Big Sky in rebounding at 8.9 per game. SR G Jaylin Henderson averages 17.4 points, 6.2 assists and ranks in the top 10 in seven stat categories.
     
Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN+. Tickets are available at www.GoViks.com. Live stats can also be found at GoViks.com.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings turn around to play another home game on Monday night, facing Idaho State at 7 p.m. They will then be off until Saturday, Feb. 7 when they play at Sacramento State.
     
All Big Sky Conference games can be seen on ESPN+.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA STATE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Montana State leads the all-time series, 42-29, and the Big Sky series, 35-26.... Portland State leads 19-11 in Big Sky games played in Portland.... the teams split the season series each of the last two seasons.
• LAST SEASON: Feb. 1, 2025 in Bozeman, MSU 74, PSU 73: A frenetic late rally came up just short for Portland State as the Vikings by a single point. PSU trailed 70-58 with 3:09 to play in the game, but created chaos on the defensive end, forcing Montana State into seven turnovers down the stretch. Jaylin Henderson scored seven of the Vikings final 15 points and his three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left pulled PSU within 74-73. The Vikings needed a miraculous play to pull off the comeback and almost got it. The Bobcats struggled to inbound the ball and had to call a timeout. Finally, they were able to get the ball in and end the game... Remarkably, the Vikings scored nine points in the final 32 seconds. However, among the flurry of Bobcat turnovers in the last three minutes, they managed to make 4-4 free throws. Tyler Patterson made two with 18 seconds left. That proved to be just enough to hold off the Vikings... Terri Miller Jr. had his second straight 25-point game and kept the Vikings alive in the second half. Miller made 10-16 shots from the field, 4-4 at the line, had six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Henderson added 17 points and three steals for the Vikings. Qiant Myers scored 14 points with four assists... Patrick McMahon scored 21 points with nine rebounds off the bench to lead the Bobcats. Feb. 27, 2025 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 69, MSU 52: Portland State was able to assert its dominance inside. Big-man play stood out in what was an all-around, well-played 69-52 Vikings' win over Montana State at Viking Pavilion... Isaiah Johnson scored on an array of drives to the basket for a game-high 16 points. Tre-Vaughn Minott hauled down 17 rebounds to go with 12 points and two blocked shots. Terri Miller Jr. weathered a broken nose in the first half, but managed to still play 20 minutes, scoring 12 points on 6-9 field goals. Hayden Curtiss, the tallest Viking at 6-11, played 16 minutes, scoring nine points with three rebounds and made one of his patented roof-raising blocked shots. Those four combined to shoot 21-35 from the field (.600), lead a 43-25 rebounding edge over the Bobcats and block five shots... PSU had a wire-to-wire win. The Vikings committed only five turnovers and had a 48-28 edge in scoring in the paint... Montana State was led by 15 points and seven rebounds from forward Brandon Walker.
• 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 75-70. He is 2-6 against Montana State... the Bobcats are coached by Matt Logie (Lehigh, 2003) in his third season. Logie is 45-45, including 2-2 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

• Montana State is an original member of the Big Sky Conference. The Bobcats have won five regular season Big Sky Championships, five Big Sky Tournament titles and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances... the Bobcats were 15-18 last season, 9-9 and fifth place in the Big Sky Conference.
• This season, Montana State is 13-9 overall, 7-2 in the Big Sky Conference... the Bobcats average 79.2 points and allow 71.2 points per game. They also average 10.2 three-point field goals per game and commit a league-low 10.5 turnovers.
• Senior guard Jed Miller leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game. He shoots .502 from the field, .438 from three-point range and .852 at the line. In addition, he leads the team in rebounding (5.5), assists (58) and steals (38). Miller ranks second in the Big Sky in three-pointers... senior forward Patrick McMahon averages 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds... senior guard Davian Brown and sophomore forward Christian King each average 12.7 points.

 

HOT SHOTS

• WINNING: Before Thursday's loss, Portland State reached 7-0 in league play for the first time in its Big Sky history (30th year). The Vikings had gotten to 4-0 twice previously (1997-98, 2004-05)... the Vikings' win at Eastern Washington was its first at Reese Court since 2014-15. PSU had lost nine straight in that venue... PSU has won four in a row on the road. The school record for consecutive road wins is five (1954-55).
• MILLER TIME: SR F Terri Miller Jr. proved last week that the second half of games is Miller time for the Vikings. Leading by a single point at Eastern Washington, Miller scored seven points with a blocked shot and an assist in the final 1:47 of the game, leading the Vikings to a 65-61 win. With SR G Jaylin Henderson on the bench with foul trouble for most of the second half at Idaho, Miller scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in a 69-66 win. For his performance, Miller was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday... earlier this season, Miller hit a three-pointer at Idaho State with three seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime and an eventual Viking win.... Miller currently leads the Big Sky in scoring (19.4) while ranked in the top eight in rebounds (6.2), assists (4.0) and shooting (.536)... in conference play he averages 21.4 points and 4.8 assists. 
• DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott broke his own school record for dunks in a season and set a new school record for dunks in a career last week. After Thursday's game, Minott now has 47 dunks (previous record, 44). He has 94 career dunks, passing Scott Morrison (91) for the career for that record... Minott's 47 dunks account from more than half of his field goals (90).
• THREE OUT OF FOUR AIN'T BAD: With apologies to the late, great Meatloaf (if you know, you know) SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott is proving three out of four ain't bad. Minott is shooting .755 from the field in league games to lead the Big Sky. Minott is 40-53 from the field while averaging 12.8 points, and Big Sky-bests of 10.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots in league games.
• IRON MAN: SR G Jaylin Henderson played the entire game in eight straight contests (330 consecutive minutes) before having to sit down in the second half at Idaho due to foul problems. His stretch of consecutive minutes played was 354. He leads the Big Sky in minutes (36.7) and ranks in the top 10 in the nation... Henderson averages 17.4 points and a team-leading 6.2 assists and 1.7 steals.
• CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: Portland State has been dominant on the boards this season.  The Vikings have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 5.9 per game, 6.1 in Big Sky games, to lead the league... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the Big Sky with 8.9 rebounds per game. JR G Keyon Kensie Jr. ranks third at 7.4 per game. And SR F Terri Miller Jr. is eighth with 6.2 rebounds per game.
• TRENDING: Portland State is undefeated when leading at halftime (9-0) and scoring 80 or more points (7-0)... the Vikings are 10-1 when out-rebounding opponents, 12-1 when out-shooting an opponent.
• BIG SKY CONFERENCE LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage defense (.411), scoring defense (70.4), blocked shots (4.3), steals (7.7), scoring margin (8.5), rebound margin (+5.9), turnovers forced (13.4) and winning percentage (.684)... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads in rebounding overall (8.9) and in league (10.6) as well as field goal percentage (.755) and blocked shots (1.9) in league games... SR F Terri Miller Jr. leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring (19.4)
• MORE GOOD STUFF THAT DOESN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott had his sixth double-double of the season against Montana (12 pts, 12 reb). JR G Keyon Kensie has five double-doubles this season... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott ranks sixth all-time in blocked shots (83), second all-time in field goal percentage (.643) and first in dunks (94) at Portland State... JR F Charles Chukwu is 14-16 from the field this season (.875). Throw in his 30-game career at Tulsa a couple of seasons ago and Chukwu is a remarkable 30-39 from the field (.769) as a Division I player.
• STRANGE BUT TRUE: Although they are 13-6, the Vikings have only led at halftime in nine games (9-0) while trailing 10 times (4-6).

 

NEW VIKING RECORDS

• Best undefeated start in Big Sky Conference Play: 7-0 (previous 4-0, twice)
• Consecutive Big Sky Conference Home Wins: 15, 2/15/2024 to Jan. 17, 2026 (tied)
• Most Dunks, Season: 47, Tre-Vaughn Minott (previous 44, Tre-Vaughn Minott, 2024-25)
• Most Dunks, Career: 94, Tre-Vaughn Minott (previous 91, Scott Morrison, 2005-09)
• Most Rebounds, Big Sky Conference Game: 20, Tre-Vaughn Minott (tied, Cameron Forte, 2016)