Portland State University Athletics

RENO, Nev. — Portland State men's basketball fans eager to see their Vikings in action for the first time since they won the Big Sky regular-season title last March would have liked what they saw Sunday despite a 77-71 exhibition loss to Nevada.
 
The Vikings played themselves into a position to potentially win it late against a Nevada team that received votes in the Associated Press (AP) Preseason Top 25. Additionally, the Wolf Pack had already won one exhibition game this season, beating Utah 71-61 on Oct. 17.
 
The Vikings took a 68-66 lead with 3:32 remaining when Charles Chukwu tipped in a layup. That capped an 8-0 run for the Vikings over the previous three minutes that started with back-to-back three-pointers from Luke Kearney and Yaroslav Nikonov.
 
The Vikings again led at 70-68 with 2:36 remaining after two free throws from Nikonov. But the Vikings missed their last seven shots from the field as Nevada did enough to separate themselves late.
 
"Nevada is a really good team. They're highly respected in the Mountain West. So, I feel like we did a really good job today," Portland State head coach Jase Coburn said afterwards. "I felt like we legitimized ourselves as a contender. We have some things to work on, but I feel like it was a really good experience for us to get on the road and play a really good team."
 
The cold finish came as part of a tough second half for the Vikings offensively, as they shot just 20.5 percent (8-for-39) after halftime. The Vikings shot better in the first half, though, when they made 51.6 percent (16-for-31) of their shots, including 50.0 percent (6-for-12) from three-point range.
 
Three-point shooting proved to be a major advantage for the Vikings against the Wolf Pack. While the Vikings cooled in the second half, they still outshot Nevada 10-to-0 from beyond the arc. Nikonov and Kearney both went 4-for-7 from downtown while scoring 23 and 12 points, respectively. Koren Johnson added two three-pointers as part of his 14 points in the game.
 
The Vikings figure to have improved from beyond the arc this season, even over last year's championship team. For comparison, 10 three-pointers would have tied for the Vikings' third-highest total in a game last season, when they averaged 6.7 three-pointers per game.
 
"That was something we set out in the offseason to do is recruit some guys who could really shoot the ball. That whole part of things has really helped. We're excited that we have some guys who can knock down some shots. We're always going to be a team that plays through the paint but add in some shooting and we should have a good offensive year," Coburn said.
 
Nevada made up for its lack of three-point shooting by getting to the free throw line. The Wolf Pack shot 55 free throws (39 makes) against the Vikings. That's only four off the most ever by a PSU opponent in a game, which is a record that has stood for 59 years ever since Southern Oregon had 59 free throw attempts against the Vikings on Dec. 17, 1967.
 
In comparison, the Vikings went 13-for-16 (.813) from the line, meaning the Wolf Pack outscored them from the charity stripe by 26 points in a six-point game.
 
"We're never going to use that as an excuse, but it's definitely hard to win a game when another team shoots 40 more free throws. But we'll look at it and see if it's something we need to correct. If it is, we'll correct it," Coburn said of the foul discrepancy.
 
The free throws didn't come in a flurry at the end of the game, either. Nevada had 19 free throw attempts through the first 13 minutes of the game, at which point five different Vikings had two fouls.
 
The early free throws helped the Wolf Pack build their largest lead of the game at 38-30 with 6:04 remaining in the first half. But the Vikings responded behind Nikonov and Johnson. They led the Vikings to a 16-5 finish to the first half while scoring or assisting on 13 of the 16 points between them.
 
Defensively, the Vikings also stepped up their pressure without fouling. After Nevada shot 61.5 percent through the first 12 minutes while also getting to the foul line, the Vikings held them to just one of their last seven shots in the half.
 
Nikonov led the Vikings with 23 points on 7-for-18 shooting overall to go with five rebounds and two assists.
 
Johnson scored 12 of his 14 points in the opening 20 minutes. He led all players with six assists in the game while also contributing four rebounds.
 
Kearney finished with 12 points and four rebounds in just over 20 minutes of game action.
 
Elijah Price led the Wolf Pack with 21 points, on 6-for-11 shooting overall and 9-for-12 from the free-throw line. Vaughn Weems – the other of Nevada's two Mountain West preseason all-conference picks along with Price – also went into double figures with 12 points, eight of which came from the free throw line.
 
Defensively, the Vikings held the Wolf Pack to 38.8 percent (19-for-49) shooting overall. They were just 7-for-25 (.280) in the second half when both teams went long stretches without a made field goal.
 
The Vikings officially begin their season on Nov. 3, when they host Lewis & Clark College for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The players and coaches who were on last year's Big Sky regular-season championship team will receive their rings before the game.
 
Perhaps that will help motivate this year's team that appears every bit as talented based on their showing against a good Nevada team Sunday.
 
"Everything is for real for now," Coburn said. "I'm really proud of the growth that the team has made. It doesn't feel like we have 13 new guys. It feels like these guys have been playing together for a while and that's a credit to them."
 
"It's back to work and we'll focus on our standard that we set for ourselves and achieving that."
 
GAME NOTES:

• The Vikings assisted on 16 of their 24 field goals in the game.
• Nevada out-rebounded the Vikings 42-to-40, but the Vikings had four more offensive rebounds (16-to-12) while outscoring the Wolf Pack 16-14 in second-chance points. KC Ibekwe and Jaquay Randolph tied for the team lead with six rebounds despite both getting into foul trouble in both halves.
• The Wolf Pack were +4 in the turnover battle (13-9). They only outscored the Vikings off turnovers by one (15-14), however.

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